January 5, 2009 at 10:00 pm (ages 10-12, ages 4-6, ages 7-9, fantasy, geared at girls, picture books, re-thinking fairy tales)
Title: The Good Stepmother
Author: (Retold by) Marguerita Rudolph
Illustrator: Darcy May
Publisher: Simon And Schuster Books For Young Readers
ISBN: 0-671-68270-9
Summary: Princess Elena has everything she could ever want except a mother. When she brings this up to her father, he says he has been afraid to choose a wife in case she should be a bad mother. Elena soon convinces him to let her choose- so begins the quest for a good stepmother.
Butterfly: Stepmothers tend to get a bad rap in fairy tales and fantasy. Here is a book that sets out to prove stepmothers are not all bad. Illustrations will fascinate young girls.
Categories: ages 4-6, ages 7-9, ages 10-12, re-thinking fairy tales, fantasy, picture books, geared at girls
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January 3, 2009 at 7:05 pm (ages 10-12, ages 7-9, chapter books, fantasy, geared at girls, picture books)
Title: Tatsinda
Author: Elizabeth Enright
Illustrator: Katie Thamer Treherne
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
ISBN: 0-15-284280-2
Summary: Tatsinda, an abnormal girl adopted into the community on Tatrajan Mountain, has fallen hopelessly in love with Prince Tackatan. But before she can give the prince a birthday present magicked to expose her love, the kingdom is threatened by giants, and Tatsinda is captured! Tatsinda and the prince are forced to use not only magic but cunning and competence to save the mountain and themselves.
Butterfly’s notes: Tatrajan Mountain is a gorgeous, complete world that readers will gladly fall into. I especially like that Tatsinda and Prince Tackatan are both strong characters who must work together to end the crisis.
Categories: ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fantasy, picture books, chapter books, geared at girls
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January 3, 2009 at 6:46 pm (ages 10-12, ages 4-6, ages 7-9, fairy tales, fantasy, geared at girls, mythology and legends, picture books)
Title: The Story Of The Tooth Fairy
Author: Tom Paxton
Illustrator: Robert Sauber
Publisher: Morrow Junior Books
ISBN: 0-688-12987-0 (trade)
0-688-12988-9 (library)
Summary: The young fairy Glynnis is accidentally discovered by a mortal girl, Emily. Together they form a bond that will make Glynnis one of the most famous fairies of all time.
Butterfly’s notes: It is sad that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t have a previously established story of her own. Luckily, this book provides one! Every child that loses a tooth should hear this story.
Categories: ages 4-6, ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fairy tales, mythology and legends, fantasy, picture books, geared at girls
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January 2, 2009 at 11:02 pm (ages 10-12, ages 7-9, anthologies, fairy tales, fantasy, geared at girls, mythology and legends, picture books)
Title: Father And Daughter Tales
Author: (Retold by) Josephine Evetts-Secker
Illustrator: Helen Cann
Publisher: Abbeville Kids
ISBN: 0-7892-0392-8
Summary: Stories about young women and their relationships to fathers and husbands.
Butterfly’s notes: Not all father-daughter relationships are perfect. This book tells about good relationships and more difficult ones. The fathers in the tales work to love, learn from, and bless their daughters.
Categories: ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fairy tales, mythology and legends, anthologies, picture books, fantasy, geared at girls
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January 2, 2009 at 10:19 pm (ages 10-12, ages 7-9, fairy tales, fantasy, geared at girls, picture books)
Title: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Author: (As told by) Marianna Mayer
Illustrator: K. Y. Craft
Publisher: Morrow Junior Books
ISBN: 0-688-08051-0
0-688-02026-7 (lib. bdg.)
Summary: A strange dream prompts the farmer Peter to go to the castle where he hopes to help the king break a spell ensnaring his twelve daughters.
Butterfly’s notes: I like this story because while Peter does set out to rescue the princess Elise, in the end she is the one who breaks the spell.
The magical world in this book is beautiful and enchating, but it makes the princesses haughty and cold. Throughout the story, Elise learns what it means to really love someone and why it is better than the false love she enjoys within the enchantment. In a way, this is a story about growing up, because only by leaving the world of fantasy that they have discovered can the princesses begin to truly live.
Categories: ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fairy tales, picture books, geared at girls, fantasy
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