Fairy Tales by Terry Jones (my fairy tales example)

 

          Fairy Tales is a great collection of alternative fairy tales for children written by Terry Jones (one of the members of Monty Python) and beautifully illustrated in watercolors and ink by Michael Foreman. It was first published in 1981 by Pavilion Books in England and by Schocken Books in New York, and is 127 pages in length.

The thirty fairy tales presented in Fairy Tales are highly creative new takes on the classic fairy tale, giving readers wonderful new realms to explore within its pages. The stories are fun and slightly off-the-wall in an awesome way, which makes these fantastic stories appealing to read (and read again). And though some of the tales have sad endings, they are written with hilarious comic genius (like Monty Python) that will leave readers laughing long after they are done reading. A few of my favorite and most memorable tales are “Katy-Make-Sure” about a girl who takes so long worrying about her magical trip with her newfound goblin friend to Goblin City that the goblin rescinds his invitation, and “Tim O’Leary” where a goblin tricks Tim O’Leary’s farmer friend into going on an adventure to steal a witch’s treasure only to steal the money from the farmer in the end. And while Jones' short stories are modern, updated, and hilarious new interpretations on the fairy tale, they follow the standard format and themes of the fairy tale canon (like Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm, for example) by starring imaginary creatures and having the main characters go on wild adventures to teach children about life lessons and morals in western society.

I recommend Fairy Tales for children ages eight and up to adults. The stories are written in 12-point font and single spaced, but there are a couple of illustrations in every tale to break up the text and keep younger readers engaged, and the stories are short (about four pages each) to keep up younger reader interest. Also, I really like that the fairy tales in Fairy Tales are independent from each other, so they can be read either one at a time in the order that they are presented or at random based off reader interest and desire. This format makes them suitable and manageable for children as young as eight to read independently or with their family or teachers. Finally, I would limit my recommendation for children ages eight and older because some of the stories could be scary for younger readers and some of the humor and language-use in Fairy Tales is more on the older children/adult side. However, that aside, this book of wonderfully out-of-the-norm fairy tales is a definite must-have that will be read over and over.  

          --Ashley Cleeves