All at Once upon a Time
by Mara Rockliff; illus. by Gladys Jose
Preschool, Primary    Abrams    48 pp.
9/24    9781419768170    $18.99
e-book ed.  9798887070315    $17.09

This clever mash-up of traditional folk and fairy tales comes together to make a whole new twisted plot to revel in: “Once upon a time (now, tell me if you’ve heard this one before), locked up in a tower, lived a princess with the ­longest…” The key to appreciating this comedy is in that parenthetical phrase. It’s not Rapunzel locked in the tower but rather a dishonest princess with an extremely long nose that grows longer when she fibs. The prince must climb a beanstalk to save her, but somehow that leads to a table in a castle in the clouds with three different-sized bowls of what appears to be porridge of varying ­temperatures. A giant is not far behind. There are wells, frogs, gingerbread houses, wolves, baskets, and many other favorite tropes, which come together wildly and with funny and unexpected details. One bowl contains not porridge but rather tapioca pudding; the princess in the ball gown loses not her shoe but her temper. Bright cartoon art makes exaggerated use of perspective and expressively rendered characters to heighten the dramatic plot twists and the humor. For readers with enough background knowledge to catch the jokes, this fast-paced adventure offers an opportunity to keep the story going even after the book has closed.

From the ">September/October 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.