Brave Red, Smart Frog: A New Book of Old Tales by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Rohan Daniel Eason

When I was a kid, my mom bought my sister and me a big book of fairytales we were supposed to share. Neither one of us liked the tales we read very much, and the book basically became a dust collector. So when my Kiddo came along, I told my mom "No. More. Fairytales. Please." But had Emily Jenkins' Brave Red, Smart Frog been around, I certainly would have encouraged her to give a copy of it to my Kiddo.

Here are seven classic fairytales that have been turned on their ear and are just wonderful. Yes, well-known favorites like the Brothers Grimm's Snow White and Hansel and Gretel are here. Jenkins has also included three by Charles Perrault, The Fairy is renamed Frog and Pearls and The Three Ridiculous Wishes has become simple The Three Wishes, and of course, there is Red Riding Hood. The Frog Prince is here, but not exactly the one originally by the Brothers Grimm; and you couldn't retell fairytales without including the story of The Three Great Noodles.

The fairytales that Jenkins chose are more or less faithful to the original versions we know, but not totally. Instead she has written them as she would want to tell them herself.  Her justification: the organic nature of stories. Fairytales were originally told orally and with each telling, each teller made little changes. Even after they were written down, they continued to change bit by bit. Jenkins intention was to "bring out what's most meaningful to [her] in the stories" in the tradition of those earliest tellers of fairytales. The seven stories chosen for this volume are all familiar to you, but there is the delight of discovering what Jenkins has done to them.

And as you read, you will noticed that there are small ways in which the tales connect to each. Some of the characters live in "a frozen forest, cold as cold ever was." Nothing grows, the streams are always frozen over, even horses can not walk through this forest. Other characters live in a sunny, warm place on the outskirts of the frozen forest but almost all find themselves there for different reasons. A woodcutter who is granted three wishes lives there, a huntsman goes there to cut the heart out of a vain queen's beautiful stepdaughter, a young girl in red walks through this forest to meet her dying grandmother for the first time, and two children, taken to the forest by their father, discover a candy house after they are abandoned there. And sometimes one character passes through the story of another. I found that by connecting the stories through the setting made the characters feel less isolated and therefore, their stories felt less dangerous, and I could see the point of each one in a new way.

Each tale is introduced with a watercolor and ink illustration by Rohan Daniel Eason that really captures the cold, dangerous, haunting atmosphere of the forest and you can see, the cover reflects the interconnectedness of the stories placing Red Riding Hood and The Frog Prince in the same picture.

While there isn't really much new in these stories, Jenkins has managed to bring back some of their magic and charm by making what was old into something new.

Back matter includes an Author's Note, but there is not sourcing for the stories used. And you can find a useful Educator's Guide to download produced by the publisher, Candlewick Press HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was as ARC received from the publisher, Candlewick Press

Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola, illustrated by Emily Carroll

After her mother passed away, tween Masha was basically raised by her beloved grandmother, who used to tell her stories about her experiences as a young girl with Baba Yaga, the fearsome old crone from Slavic folklore who flies around in a mortar and pestle.  But when Masha's grandmother also passes away, she is left alone with only a absentee father.

Now, her father has proposed to the woman he's been spending all his time with, and who has a very bratty young daughter, Dani.  After being attacked and bitten by Dani, Masha decides to go for a walk and visit the cemetery where her mother and grandmother are buried.  While there, she recalls her grandmother's stories, then discovers a Help Wanted ad from Baba Yaga, who is looking for an assistant.  The ad finishes with "Enter Baba Yaga's House to apply" so you know this isn't going to be easy for Masha.

That night, after leaving a note for her dad, Masha sets off to find Baba Yaga's house located somewhere in a dark, creepy forest.  Finding the house, Baba Yaga tells Masha that in order to become her assistant she must pass a series of tests, but first she must find a way to get into a house which stands high up on long chicken legs without any steps.

Using flattery and cunning, not to mention a cherry lollipop for the keyhole, Masha finally makes it into the house.  There, she faces a series of very tricky tests - cleaning the house, caring for the pets and finally preparing dinner.  Did I say tricky tests?  Oh yes, and passing them won't be easy with Baba Yaga thwarting everything Masha accomplishes.

It is the third test that really taxes Masha creativity and ingenuity when dinner consists of three children, one of them her soon-to-be stepsister Dani.  Will Masha be able to trick Baba Yaga or spare the children and still get the job of assistant?

Baba Yaga Assistant is such a fun graphic novel to read and Marika McCoola has done a wonderful job of re-imagining Baba Yaga and adding to the tales people tell about this old witch and her tricky magic while retaining her nature as a fickle witch who may or may not help those who ask for help, but who will reward those who trick her.

Young readers who like their fairy tales witty and somewhat dark or who enjoy stories like Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Graveyard Book, will find themselves attracted to and enjoy reading this book that mixes modern reality with old fashioned fantasy.  I personally don't think it is creepy, or scary, and kids will like seeing that even without magic,  Masha is a strong opponent to Baba Yaga's witchery.

Artist Emily Carroll has added to the story with her wonderful digital illustrations.  Largely using earthy tones of bright, light oranges and yellows for the reality of Masha's life, and dark ethereal  shades of greens and blues for the fairytale part of Baba Yaga's story, Carroll manages to perfectly compliment and highlight their differences, giving depth and width to the tale.

And as with all fairy tales, there's a lesson to be learned in the end.

Oh, you want to know if Masha get hired as Baba Yaga's assistant?  Umm...

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Candlewick Press

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

In this retelling of Han Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Snow Queen, Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard, 11, and her sister Alice, 16, travel north with their father to an unnamed country where it always snows.  It is three days before Christmas and the opening of the world's greatest exhibit of swords.  Mr. Whittard is a sword expert who will be helping the museum's curator, Miss Kaminski, with the exhibit, and he is hoping that the trip will help his daughters better cope with their mother's death.  She was a fantasy writer who believed in anything and everything, including that which is magical.

Ophelia, on the other hand, is a realist, possessing the logical mind of a budding scientist.  But she is also a shy, rather timid girl who is an asthmatic and frequently relies on her inhaler, or puffer, as she calls it.  On their first day at the museum, Miss Kaminski takes Alice, a very attractive girl, under her wing almost immediately, ignoring Ophelia to the point of even getting her name wrong and leaving her to wander around the exhibits by herself.

And that is how she meets the Marvelous Boy, locked away in a room at the far end of this enormous museum, a prisoner of the Snow Queen, for the last 300 years.  The Marvelous Boy begins to tell her his story through the keyhole and convinces her to search for a key that will help free him.

Reluctantly, Ophelia plucks up some courage to look for the key, promising herself that would be that once the boy was free.  But over the next few days, Ophelia finds herself looking for two more keys, encountering hungry Misery Birds, ghosts of young girls begging her not to leave them, and vicious wolves, among other dangers.  Luckily, throughout her questing, she is accompanied by the voice and memory of her mother, encouraging her onwards.

While all this is going on, Ophelia begins to notice changes in Alice under Miss Kaminski's mentoring. Slowly, Ophelia begins to get a sense of something evil about the curator, as Alice falls more and more under her spell, becoming as cold and cruel as Miss Kaminski, interested only in the nice things she is allowed to wear.  The incredibly beautiful, but cold curator is also beginning to suspect that Ophelia is getting wise to who she really is and to her purpose for setting up "Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the History of the World."  The last quest the Marvelous Boy sends Ophelia on is to find his magical sword and the One Other who will know what to do with it, before it falls into Miss Kaminski's hands.  If it does, at the stroke of midnight Christmas Eve, Miss Kaminski will have the power to rule the world with it.

At first, I didn't care much for this story since fairy tale retellings are not my favorite subgenre.  But the more I read this book, the more I liked it.  And even after I finished, I found myself thinking about Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy and remembering bits that I particularly enjoyed.  For example, as Ophelia went around the museum, she keep consulting her map of it, and if you look at the end papers, you will find a rendering of the map drawn by illustrator Yoko Tanaka.

I particularly liked that the voice in Ophelia's head was a good kind mother who really was accepting and encouraging, even if she was dead.  It just goes to show that those we loved really can live on in an important way in our memories.

I also really liked the way Foxlee mixed the magic past of the Marvelous Boy that seems confined to the museum only and the present reality of Ophelia's world outside the museum's perimeter.  Computers, airplanes, Ophelia's inhaler, mix nicely with the Marvelous Boy, the magical sword and a Queen who can make it snow for 300 years, and morph into a museum curator.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a fun story, a little slow at times, but still very readable.  It is well written with a well developed protagonist, and although this is predictable good vs. evil fairy tale type story, it has a very exciting, satisfying ending.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from a friend