Tales From the Brothers Grimm & The Sisters Weird

Tales From the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde is simply too much fun to resist. Vivian Vande Velde re-envisions thirteen familiar fairy tales and adds sparkle, wit, humor, and irony. I enjoyed each and every story in the collection. I can't really do the book much justice by my review, but I thought I'd share some first lines from the stories. If they don't convince you to pick up the book, nothing will.

Once upon a time, in the days before Social Security or insurance companies, there lived a miller and his daughter, Della, who were fairly well-off and reasonably happy until the day their mill burned down.

Once upon a time when princes still set out to seek their fortunes and when cranky old women still sometimes turned out to be witches, a prince named Sidney came to a well where an old woman asked him for help in getting water.

Once upon a time in a land and time when animals could speak and people could understand them, there lived an old woman whose best friend was a wolf.

Once upon a time, after the invention of teenagers but before there were shopping malls for teenagers to hang around in, there lived a young man named Jack.

Once upon a time before there were toll bridges, there were troll bridges.

Once upon a time, before the invention of water-beds or air mattresses or Craftmatic adjustable beds, there lived a prince named Royal.

Once upon a time, before Medicare or golden-age retirement communities, there lived a beautiful young girl named Isabella, who stayed at home to take care of her parents.

Once upon a time, in a land where even parents had magic, a mother got so upset with her son's bad temper, sloppy clothes, messy room, and disgusting table manners that she said: "If you're going to act like a beast, you might as well look like one, too."

In addition to these stories (from the thirteen) are some fairy-tale themed poems. These are wonderful as well. (I plan to devote at least one or two Poetry Friday posts to these delightful little poems.)

I definitely recommend this one.