Tales From the Brothers Grimm and 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.