Books for Preschool - 2nd Grade

Fractured Fairy Tales*

*Stories that sound familiar, but aren't quite the way you remember them.

Author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith reawakened an interest in fractured fairy tales with their 1989 picture book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, in which Mr. Wolf finally gets to tell his side of the story. (He was framed!)

Since then, characters like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming have been leading much more exciting lives! Hold onto your glass slippers, because these aren't your grandmother's fairy tales...

JE/BUEHNER
Buehner, Caralyn - Fanny's Dream
Fanny dreams of marrying a prince, but while she waits for her fairy godmother to show up, she meets a friendly farmer and lives happily ever after.

JE/CALMENSON
Calmenson, Stephanie - The Principal's New Clothes
Principal Bundy, a very snappy dresser, orders a new suit from a pair of tricky tailors who promise that it will have "special powers."

JE/CHILD
Child, Lydia Maria - Over the River and Through the Wood
(Illustrated by David Catrow) The traditional Thanksgiving poem becomes a breath-taking adventure when a family's trip to grandfather's house is interrupted by run-ins with a traffic jam, a gorilla, a jet and an alligator float from the Thanksgiving Day parade.

JE/COLE
Cole, Babette - Prince Cinders
Prince Cinders is small and skinny, but when his fairy godmother casts a spell to make him as big and hairy as his older brothers, the spell goes terribly wrong!

JE/EGIELSKI
Egielski, Richard - The Gingerbread Boy
A freshly-baked gingerbread boy escapes from an apartment and runs through the city streets, chased by an odd assortment of hungry people and animals.

JE/ERNST
Ernst, Lisa Campbell - Little Red Riding Hood
After a hungry wolf stops to chat with a red-hooded, bike-riding girl, he high-tails it over to her Grandmother's house for a snack, but finds that Granny is more than he can handle.

JE/HARRIS
Harris, Jim - Jack and the Giant: A Story Full of Beans
A cowpoke named Jack grows a magical beanstalk and follows it up through the clouds to the castle of the ornery, cattle-rustling giant, Wild Bill Hiccup.

JE/JACKSON
Jackson, Ellen - Cinder Edna
Cinderella and her next door neighbor, Cinder Edna, both work hard and live with cruel stepmothers and wicked stepsisters. However, when they get a chance to go to the King's ball, they each make very different choices.

JE/KELLOGG
Kellogg, Steven - The Three Little Pigs
After starting a successful waffle business, Percy, Pete and Prudence Sow build lovely new homes for themselves. When a wily wolf comes calling, they use their waffle iron to turn him into a "woffle."

JE/KETTEMAN
Ketteman, Helen - Bubba the Cowboy Prince
Bubba lives on a ranch with his wicked stepdaddy and his nasty stepbrothers. His fairy godcow drops in to help him prepare for the big ball thrown by Miz Lurleen, the "purtiest" rancher in Texas.

JE/LATTIMORE
Lattimore, Deborah Nourse - Cinderhazel
Cinderhazel, the messiest witch around, attends the Halloween Ball where she discovers that Prince Alarming likes dirt as much as she does.

JE/LOWELL
Lowell, Susan - The Bootmaker and the Elves
When a poor bootmaker is down to his last piece of leather, he gets some help from a pair of bootmaking elves.

JE/LOWELL
Lowell, Susan - Little Red Cowboy Hat
Little Red saddles up her pony to take a jar of cactus jelly to her Grandma, but finds someone else in Grandma's bed when she gets there. Luckily, Grandma can handle any crisis.

JE/MEDDAUGH
Meddaugh, Susan - Cinderella's Rat
An innocent rat relates the story of how he was trapped by a fairy godmother, turned into a coachboy, and sent to a ball at the castle with a strange girl named Cinderella.

JE/MINTERS
Minters, Frances - Cinder-Elly
Cinder-Elly's godmother sends her off to the big basketball game in a miniskirt and glass sneakers, where she meets the star player, Prince Charming.

JE/PETACH
Petach, Heidi - Goldilocks and the Three Hares
The Hare Family steps out for a McCarrot breakfast, and then returns home to find a blonde stranger sleeping in their bed, in a story that abounds with puns and clever asides to the audience.

JE/ROSENTHAL
Rosenthal, Paul - Yo, Aesop! Get a Load of These Fables
Aesop's works are dusted off and brought up-to-date in this wacky revision of some of his classic fables.

JE/SCIESZKA
Scieszka, Jon - The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Scieszka and Lane, masters of the fractured fairy tale genre, turn several familiar stories into madcap adventures.

JE/SCIESZKA
Scieszka, Jon - The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Mr. Alexander T. Wolf finally gets a chance to tell his side, explaining what really happened when he met up with those nasty little pigs.

JE/STANLEY
Stanley, Diane - Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter
Although Rumpelstiltskin's daughter can't spin straw into gold like her famous father, she does have a plan to teach the greedy king how to save his kingdom.

JE/TRIVIZAS
Trivizas, Eugene - The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
Three little wolves build stronger and stronger houses to protect themselves from the Big Bad Pig.

JE/VOZAR
Vozar, David - RAPunzel: A Happenin' Rap
A whiny girl, an evil witch and our hero, Fine Prince, rap their way through a thoroughly modern version of Rapunzel.

JE/VOZAR
Vozar, David - Yo, Hungry Wolf!
Follow a hapless wolf who raps and rhymes his way through three favorite fairy tales, searching for a decent meal.

Prepared by SRP, May 1998