Monthly Special
Fairy Tales

Picture Books | Fiction 

The books recommended below were reviewed within the last several years. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.

Picture Books
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

Extra! Extra!: Fairy-Tale News from Hidden Forest written by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Leslie Tryon (Atheneum)
Three cleverly detailed issues of the Hidden Forest News relate worrisome local happenings concerning a giant beanstalk, as well as numerous small tongue-in-cheek fairy-tale headlines. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

The Ugly Duckling written by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Stephen Mitchell, illustrated by Steve Johnson (Candlewick)
Mitchell preserves Andersen’s tart, bracing voice (balanced by Johnson’s lacy, luminous art) in this tale of a misfit cygnet who must contend with opinionated creatures from barnyard, marsh, and forest. Grade level: 2–5. 48 pages.

Seven Stories written and illustrated by Ed Briant (Porter/Roaring Brook)
A girl in an apartment building recounts a wakeful night peopled with fairy-tale characters apparently suggested by the seven books stacked by her bed. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together written by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Michael Emberley (Tingley/Little)
This lap-friendly volume includes a handful of rhyming short stories, each a mild but clever takeoff on a familiar tale, designed to be read aloud by two readers. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

The End written by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Richard Egielski (Levine/Scholastic)
This riotous fairy tale is told from the end to the beginning, playing with fairy-tale world icons as the story unfolds. Grade level: K–3. 40 pages.

The Bearskinner retold by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Max Grafe (Candlewick)
This dark, graceful narrative and its atmospheric, almost monochromatic illustrations retell the Grimm tale of an ex-soldier’s hard bargain: he’ll be rich forever if, for seven years, he wears the skin of a bear, but failure means eternal perdition. Grade level: 4–6. 40 pages.

Carmine: A Little More Red written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Houghton)
“Red Riding Hood” is updated in an abecedarian version in which Carmine’s bike ride to Granny’s house comprises an alphabetical catalog of warnings, distractions, and events. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Levine/Scholastic)
In a slow-simmering but rewarding retelling of “Rumplestiltskin,” newly orphaned sisters Charlotte and Rosie struggle to keep the family mill solvent in the face of multiple disasters. Grade level: 7 and up. 411 pages.

The Runaway Princess by Kate Coombs (Farrar)
A young princess conspires to nullify a contest for her hand in marriage by rescuing the dragon, witch, and bandits named in the challenge — despite the hordes of determined princes that stand in her way. Grade level: 4–8. 279 pages.

Into the Woods written by Lyn Gardner, illustrated by Mini Grey (Fickling/Random)
Drawing on well-known fairy tales, Gardner creates a layered, relationship-driven tale of three sisters pursued by a dangerous villain. Grade level: 4–8. 438 pages.

Rapunzel’s Revenge written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury)
In this graphic novel, Rapunzel escapes from her fabled tower by becoming a gutsy, hair-whip-toting cowgirl, then joins with stolen-goose rapscallion Jack to end her stepmother’s reign of terror. Grade level: 4–8. 144 pages.

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Houghton)
Ben, a spoiled fifteen-year-old princess, learns conjuring and enchantment following her parents’ death in this frothy yet substantial (political intrigue and self-actualization are woven into the plot) fairy tale. Grade level: 7 and up. 344 pages.

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