What's up with fairy tales, you might say.
937889
There was always feminism in the fairy tales. We just weren't listening close enough. But it was always there. We know the story. We keep hearing the story. We keep thinking we heard the whole story. Maybe not, says Carmen Giminez-Smith. And maybe really is maybe, though. We think like the big minded poetry readers that we are that we have heard the stories. We are feminists. It's the 21st Century. But maybe we elide the stories instead of telling them to ourselves. Maybe mom's have been telling some of the story to their daughters, but some of the story isn't the whole story. Goodbye, Flicker isn't telling the whole story. Women have motives, too. There is a whole story that's outside of a fairy tale. Goodbye, Flicker is aware of this. Awareness is not the whole story. It need not be. It cannot be. Broaching the subject is subject enough. It should be. Maybe it is. Carmen Giminez-Smith keeps telling her part of the story. That's not the whole story. Especially when you're pushing against being told stories that you're told are the whole story. Once upon a time. Sunsets. Princes that don't even realize what a gift it is to have a whole story about them. Carmen Giminez-Smith tells only a quarter of their story. Maybe less. It's only right to see what the other shoe looks like when it's on someone else's foot. That metaphor doesn't really hold. It's OK. The prince has enough metaphors serving him these days. Even these days.
277638
This was an interesting book that makes you look at fairy tales in a different way. While these stories have been told to children in Europe for some time, for the most part this was the first time that I had seen or heard of these stories before. The stories were funny and some heart warming. They were easy to read and all had something to say to the kids about life in general. I was happy to have had the opportunity to review this and my kids loved experiencing these new tales too!

*I received this for review - all opinions are my own*
563900
This is an anthology of 17 fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders. In the foreword, Manning-Sanders states that most stories about dwarfs come from the "northerly parts of the world," yet also includes tales discovered in Japan and Arabia. Of dwarfs, she summarizes: "[M]ost of them are good-hearted and if you treat them well they will lavish wonderful gifts and kindnesses upon you. But beware of taking liberties with even the best of them! Of course a few of them are bad-tempered and as for these -- well, keep out of their way, if you can. But if you can't keep out of their way, trying pitting your good feeling against their bad feelings, and you will generally come off best. At least that is what the story books say."

Table of contents

1. Knurremurre (Zeeland)

2. Freddy and his Fiddle (Norway)

3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Germany)

4. The Field of Ragwort (Ireland)

5. Thumbkin (Germany)

6. The Girl Who Picked Strawberries (Germany)

7. Little Mukra (Arabia)

8. Bottle Hill (Ireland)

9. The Skipper and the Dwarfs (Jutland)

10. The Three Little Men in the Wood (Germany)

11. The Hazel-Nut Child (Bukovina)

12. The Silver Bell (Rgen)

13. The Adventures of Billy McDaniel (Ireland)

14. Timimoto (Japan)

15. The Cobbler and the Dwarfs (Germany)

16. The Story of Maia (Denmark)

17. Fir Cones (Germany)
3061582
Stories are full of imagination. They are somewhere between fairy tales and science fiction- maybe even scripts for Twilight Zone. There was violence in struggle between good and evil.
1377596
For a change it is nice to read light stories, though in fantasy they were fun to read the three stories. I f you want yoy can think of them as real love stories that can happen every day without the element of magic.
2602681
This book is fascinating. At times it is somewhat predictable, but only because it employs many of the familiar archetypes of the Western/European fairy tale tradition; however, it most usually does so with an intriguing and inventive twist. What you *know* is going to happen either doesn't...or does BUT in a different and eye-opening way.

I believe that the childhood stories of any culture reflect the norms and zeitgeist of that culture at that time, and that how these change can be traced through how the stories evolve. Witness the Brothers Grimm transformation to Disney, for example. No shoes full of blood in our modern Cinderella or our modern acknowledgement of how life either *is* or *ought* to be (even though this defies reality for some). If I knew more on the subject, it would be fascinating to see what Stardust says about who "we" are now in relation to the canonized tradition.

Further, Stardust strikes an enjoyable and "believeable" transition in tone between the mythic and the mundane. For perspective, I found "The Finovar Tapestry" lacking in this regard--it wavered jarringly between something like "The Silmarillion" and Tad Williams or Charles De Lint at their least inspired.

In spite--or perhaps because--of this, Stardust is *not* a children's story. Kids are accustomed to the bad guys dying, so that's probably no big deal, but there are 2-3 scenes that are not appropriate for young audiences due to either graphic sex or profanity. However, once you've read it, you could likely get away with an only mildly edited out-loud read to your kids; it's by no means pervasive.
721988
I love the fairy tales -- i enjoy trying to read the Romanian
regrettably i am not a great deal more fluent in Romanian ....

i am not certain but IT doesn't seem the English translation does justice to the flow of the stories--
460042
This is a collection of four short stories from the author. The first is that kind of fantasy where it is really just alternative historical without any magic or anything, and that's not really my genre of choice. The second is an interesting fantasy about a girl with wings that definitely raises more questions than it answers. The third is a parody fairytale about a prince rescuing a princess from a dragon, but with a twist that seemed a bit odd to me (and not because I'm against love triangles going that direction, ha). Finally, Tide of Shadows is the fourth story and from which this collection takes its name. I was excited to get to it since it seemed like the main attraction, and it was interesting, but didn't really tell a satisfying story. All of these short stories were artistic in a way that didn't really appeal to me, but I'm sure will appeal to other readers.
3907361
A fairy tale retelling with diverse heroines and great clothes. What more could you want?
2965361
Andrew Lang (1844-1912) wrote a number of books of fairy tales and differentiated each from the other by color; for example, this one is green, another is pink, and another is blue. This volume contains over forty tales, a dozen of which are well-known:
  Jack and the Giant killer  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
  Goldilocks  Rumpelstiltzkin
  Little Thumb  Beauty and the Beast
  Hansel and Grettle  Puss in Boots
  Sleeping Beauty  Little Red Riding Hood
  Cinderella  Sleeping Beauty

 As can be expected, even the lesser-known tales have delightful familiar features that children will enjoy and some outdated improper statements. The Bronze Ring is an example. It has royalty, love by a princess of a commoner, a genie, magic, an evil magician, magic numbers, the need to help the unfortunate, and adventures.

A king has a large piece of land that does not grow beautiful plants. His advisors tell him that he is using gardeners who have no pedigree. If he would find a gardener whose parents and grandparents were gardeners, he would take care of the land properly. The soldiers search for such a man and find him. He comes to the palace with his wife and son. The king has a sixteen year old daughter, and she and the son fall in love.

 The king wants to marry his daughter to the son of a prominent man. His daughter rejects him and says she want to marry the gardener's son. The king's advisors suggest a test. During the test, the son of the prominent person fails to help an old woman. The gardener's son helps her and she tells him how to get hold of a bronze ring which contains a genie who will grant wishes. The genie helps the son attain the king's daughter. A bad magician hears about the ring and is able to get it from the king's daughter. The gardener's son has to find a way to get it back.

 The story is filled with many adventures, the magical number three is mentioned frequently, and there is a prejudicial statement in the tale about blacks.
1732051
I don't usually read this type of book, but it was kind of interesting in a fairy tale way. I only gave it 3 stars because for me it wasn't a book that I
couldn't wait to get back to read some more.
4331574
A collection of fairy tales retold with humor. Clever, but sparse and predictable (as fairy tales usually are). I read this to see if it would be appropriate for a seven year old to read. In that regard, I don't see anything wrong with recommending the book to that age, but I wonder if some of the jokes might not resonate with someone so young. As an adult book, it should be read as Grimm stories are read--with the understanding that they are written for children but can still be of light interest to adults.
2722652
We all have our little fairy tale dreams, but when they are based on reality, odd as it is, it makes them so much more allurimg, don't you think???
3095015
This review is for the unabridged audio CD version and some of the production issues associated with it.  In total, there are fifteen discs that come in a generic plastic case.  One case holds all 15 discs.  There is no table of contents.  Most of the tales a casual fan will not recognize.  Many are extremely short.  Less than a minute or two in some cases.  They do tend to get repetitive at times using the same themes, tones, character types, etc.  Overall, worth reading for the most part.

My main issue is some of the tales get cutoff suddenly at the end of any given CD.  You get the rest of the story once you insert the following disc but it can be annoying.  Take Cinderella, only about one minute of the story was left to be told on the following disc.  Couldn't they fit one more minute of audio on the first disc?  Its odd and seems completely avoidable.  Even more annoying, it happens to many of the more well known tales....Rapunzel, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, and possibly Hansel and Gretel.  I could be wrong about the last one.  These fairly tales start to run together at some point.

If I had known of this problem I probably would have passed on purchasing this item.  Admittedly, its a minor issue.  Just thought I'd share since there are no current reviews for the audio CDs.
1451546
Dark, sometimes gory retellings of classic Fairytales.  That about sums up Lies, Knives, and Girls In Red Dresses by Ron Koertge, with illustrations by Andrea Dezso.

The fairytales you hold near and dear to your heart are completely twisted and will open up your eyes to a darker side of storytelling.  Inside you'll find a different side to stories such as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Frog Prince, The Princess and the pea, among others.  Cleverly written, original, and delightfully entertaining.

Not only are many of the stories written in short verse, but there was one in particular that stood out in my mind.  The retelling of Little Red Riding Hood where Red Riding Hood explains to her mother what happened in the woods when she encounters the wolf, told in the voice of your modern day teenager.  I was chuckling all throughout that one.

Accompanying these stories are some fantastic illustrations by Andrea Dezso which just seem to pop out of the pages and assists in getting my more gruesome imagination going.

Not for the faint of heart, Lies, Knives, and Girls In Red Dresses is a quick read for anyone interested in more of the darker side of a fairytale, with voices from the characters you least expect.  A quick read that will turn your fairytale world upside down.
223586
I love the remakes of fairy tales. I find it very interesting how the stories are different , & similar. I think that it's cute how the stories are romance between the characters. If your looking for something fun to read , and enjoy a sizzling romance , you've found it .
1442848
I guess I'd call this a fairy tale. It was well written and as Hemingway said...Wouldn't it be pretty to think so." ( or something like that) quite well written.