S.J. Parris
S.J. Parris writes about her inspiration for Heresy, which masterfully blends true events with fiction into a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Adam Haslett
A conversation with Adam Haslett, author of Union Atlantic, a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Leaping Beauty: Summary and book reviews of Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire, plus links to an excerpt from Leaping Beauty and a biography of Gregory Maguire.
Leaping Beauty and other animal fairy tales
by
Gregory Maguire
Hardcover: Aug 2004,
208 pages.
Paperback: Mar 2006,
224 pages.
Who better to wreak havoc with eight beloved fairy tales than Gregory Maguire, the brilliant, funny, and nationally best-selling author of the adult novel Wicked as well as the hilarious middle-grade series the Hamlet Chronicles.
Zany animals of all species run through these fractured tales with alarming speed and dexterity. Who would have thought that the ageless, exquisite Cinderella could be recast as the silly story of an enormous yet lovable elephant who plods along to the ball with glass pie plates on her feet; or that Sleeping Beauty, that most regal of all fairy tales, could be twisted into the story of a frog with a most unusual and promising dance career? Get ready to meet a gorilla queen and a psycho chimp, seven giant giraffes, and one very bad walrus.
Accompanying these hilarious stories are delightfully witty pictures by Chris L. Demarest, master of black line and droll humor.
Book Reviews
BookBrowse Leaping Beauty looked just the thing for our nine-year old daughter, so I handed Leaping Beauty over one evening and left her to it. Not long after, chuckles were heard from her bedroom, followed by full blown laughter, followed by the tap tap of little feet as she came to find us in order to share a particularly good bit. After that I read most of the stories with her and not only enjoyed her enjoyment of them, but have to admit that I found them quite fun myself. One of the reviewers commented that he thought much of the humor was pitched over the heads of the middle grade (11-14 year old) target audience. This is a sentiment often repeated by reviewers about children's books and one that I can't help thinking is a little patronizing; I dread to think how many references go over my head when I read a book, but it doesn't stop me enjoying it, so why should it be different for children?
Browse a complete short story from the book, exclusively at BookBrowse.
School Library Journal - Eva Mitnick
While kids will laugh out loud at the irrepressible youngest sibling in "The Three Little Penguins" and the "Big Bad Walrus", some of the selections, including "Leaping Beauty", seem labored and uninspired. However, fans of Dav Pilkey and Jon Scieszka will appreciate the zany situations and the joyful fracturing of traditional tales. Grade 3-6.
Publishers Weekly
Maguire (Wicked; the Hamlet Chronicles) pitches much of the humor over the heads of middle graders. But there's clever wordplay...and Demarest's wild and scratchy line drawings help pump up the child appeal. A good choice for those whose tastes run to silly and sillier. Ages 8-12.
Booklist - Kay Weisman
More upbeat than Vivian Vande Velde's Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird (1995) and more complex than Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man (2002), this is a delightful collection, sure to be popular with sophisticated readers. Gr. 5-8.
When his daughter, Amy, died suddenly of a heart condition, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife moved in with their son-in-law and their three young grandchildren. His story tells how a family makes the possible out of the impossible.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.
The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
I read this book in two days and found it so refreshing. Although you will learn a great deal about barn owls by reading it, the book is not just ...
read more
I enjoyed reading this book, however, feel that this is not completely her own ideas. This books remembers me of a cross between 'ghost','Sixth ...
read more
Lisa See has written a great book! This story is satisfying on many levels, some scenes horrifying, but seemingly truthful, and her handling of the ...
read more
Amazon 'buy button' rumors abound(Mar 18 2010) Rumors swirled today that Amazon could revoke the buy buttons for books by Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, or Hachette if the major publishers can't...
Full Story
Amazon's e-pricing threats(Mar 18 2010) With Apple's iPad launch just weeks away, Amazon raised the stakes again when it threatened to stop directly selling the books of some publishers online...
Full Story
Leaping Beauty
School Library Journal - Eva Mitnick
Booklist - Kay Weisman
RSS feed
