div#ContactForm1 { display: none !important; }

Friday, December 15, 2017

2017 Fairy Tale Round-Up




Hello, my lovelies!

Today I thought I would do something a little different and share with you all the picture books and graphic novels I read this year that were based on fairy tales or had a fairy tale feel to them and give you a short little bit about my thoughts on them:


Princeless Vol 3: The Pirate Princess
1 Star
I started out the year on a major graphic novel kick (as this and the next several books will prove). I picked this one up on a trip to the library along with a large stack of others not realizing this was the third volume.

Because of this, I won't fault the book for being hard to get into, because clearly I was coming into it without having read the others that came before it. But I still had some major issues with it. To put it simply the book was so set on being an empowering book for girls that they thought in order to accomplish that they needed to tear guys down. Literally every guy in this book was either clueless or a genuinely horrible person.

I'm all for being honest about the fact that there are awful guys out there but I find it hard to believe that not a single good guy exists in this world. And I hate when a story feels the need to tear down one group of people in order to build another up.

Hereville Vol 1-3
5 Stars
I don't even know how to describe this series but I'll try.

It's about an eleven-year-old orthodox Jewish girl who wants nothing more than to fight monsters. And it's GOOD. I not only learned a lot about Jewish tradition/culture but was also able to clearly see the respect and love the author has for it. And of course it was an entertaining and exciting read as well.

The series overall is lighthearted and whimsical but there are some surprisingly deep themes (such as the importance of observing Shabbat- or the Sabbath- and respecting those older and wiser than us even when we might not see them as such). I adored this series so much more than expected to and while I'll admit at first it was strange to get into it grew on me pretty fast. I can't say enough good things about it, nor can I recommend it more highly.

Monster on the Hill
5 Stars
Yet another graphic novel. And while it wasn't as deep as the last series, I really adored this book. It was quirky and funny and I really loved it.

I honestly don't remember huge chunks of it, just little scenes and such. But every time I think about it I get really happy so it must have been good.

I'll have to give it a reread next time I'm on a graphic novel kick.

Forty Fortunes: A Tale of Iran
5 Stars
This story is one I tell people all the time because I love it so incredibly much. It's not actually from the 1001 Nights, but it reminds me very much of something you'd find within it.

This is a picture book, one I read while babysitting, and I fell in love right from the beginning. The pictures are bright and colorful and fun. The story is lighthearted and silly and makes me so incredibly happy just thinking about it.

I need to add a copy of this to my collection because it's just such a good story.

The Legend of the Persian Carpet
4 Stars
So according to Goodreads, when I read this back in February my thoughts were "What can I say? It's a Persian Fairy Tale- of course I loved it <3 <3"

I have only the vaguest recollection of reading this book and by that I mean I remember babysitting and pulling the book out of the library bin. And then I sort of remember some shadowy impressions of the pictures.

But I have no idea what the story is or what exactly the Persian Carpet has to do with anything. Another book to add to my reread list!

The Princess and the Pea
5 Stars
This is another book I read while babysitting. And it's another one I loved!

It sticks pretty closely to the Princess and the Pea story most people know but the illustrations are quirky and fun and I would highly recommend it for those.

King George and the Dragon
5 Stars
Okay but this book is too cute!! This is a really fun book about imagination and every little kid needs to read it! I loved this one so much. I will definitely be adding this to my library someday and look forward to read it to my kids someday.

The Princess and the Pea
4 Stars
This is another one I have no recollection of reading but I rated it four stars on Goodreads. I didn't even bother to write a review of it though so it can't be all that spectacular.

I'm sure it was a fairly decent copy though and it's a board book which always makes me happy. I love seeing fairy tales put into board books.

Rapunzel's Revenge
4.5 Stars
I reviewed this book in depth back in September but I'll say again that I love this book. It's a graphic novel that retells Rapunzel in an Old West-esque setting.

You read that right- it's a fairy tale retelling that's also a western. No, it doesn't get any better than that. That is and forever will be as good as it gets.

Snow White and Rapunzel
5 Stars
I bought these while buying my nephew a whole lot of other books because I wanted them. I figured if my sister didn't want them for her son then I could just keep them for myself. But she's smart enough to recognize good books when they're offered to her so of course she snatched them up.

These are fairly true to the original stories though they do gloss over or omit the gruesome parts- keeping them friendly for baby- but what makes the stand apart from others is the illustrations. They. Are. Gorgeous.

Snow White is set in China and Rapunzel in Brazil so you can imagine how visually stunning those are. And the best part part is the illustrators for them are Chinese and Brazilian respectively. That's what made me the happiest about this entire series- which I haven't had the chance to read in entirety yet, unfortunately- that the art and cultures represented here are done so by people of those cultures.


And there it is, the end of my round-up!! It's been fun looking back on my year and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. And I hope you now have a list of recommendations for the little people in your life (or yourself!)

Until the next time we meet, don't forget to live happily ever after <3
~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

P.S. Let's Chat! Which of these books looks the most interesting to you? What fairy tale (or fairy tale-esque) books did you read this year? Which one was your favorite?

No comments:

Post a Comment