Mary Catelli's Erraticly Updated and Exceedingly Ill-Organized Journal

Fairest of All: The Graphic Novel by Sarah Mlynowski

A lightsome fairy-tale twist. Jonah and Abbey investigate a mirror in the basement after a move, and find themselves in Snow-White's lands.

( Read more... )

Beauty and the Beast by Nancy Willard

This is border-line picture book, because it has a lot of text. The pictures aren't particularly striking, either.

But -- Beauty and Beast transposed to late 19th century New York. A lot of details, the text is used to expand nicely. Curse never gets any sort of veneer of explanation, though.

Ashpet: An Appalachian Tale by Joanne Compton

An American Cinderella variant, starting with her being the hired girl, and getting aid after being tested by a magical being. Shorter than some variants of this I have read. Illustrations are perfunctory.

The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South by Robert D. San Souci

A version of the kind and unkind girls from Louisanna, with the sweet and kind Blanche and the spoiled Rose. It starts out with Blanche giving an old woman a drink at a well, but then her mother and sister throw her out for being slow, and she stays at the old woman's very strange place, and it's that that Rose tries to emulate.

Julia's House Moves On by Ben Hatke

The second Julia picture book.

Julia decides that they need to move the house. Everyone's unhappy. So she makes plans. . . .

Plans meet reality. Adventure ensues.

Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman

A faithful retelling of the Grimm tale -- first edition, so it's still the mother, not a stepmother.  With some developments -- such as a war to cause the famine.  A little flat in words, and the illustrations are only so-so.

Helga's Dowry: A Troll Love Story by Tomie dePaola

A light-hearted tale of how Helga works out her problems from troll-law.

The Fortune-Tellers by Lloyd Alexander

A delightful little tale of some sillies and a man who discovers the trick of being a fortune-teller.

Beauty and the Beast by Mahlon F. Craft, illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft

Of which the second is the important thing. The tale is the familiar one, and the illustrations are gorgeous. No bad notes in the lot.

Return by Aaron Becker

The triumphant conclusion of the trilogy! Yes, you do want to read the first books first to lead into this sweet wordless tale.

Again, the little girl can't get her father to play and so goes through the door to the wonder-world. This time, her father notices and follows. Her being unappeased is interrupted by the villains of the first two. Problems ensue, leading to an excellent conclusion.