I have always loved feminist fractured fairy tales, of which there are plenty published. But Gender Swapped Fairy Tales by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett (Faber) is an anthology like no other. Rather than fracture and rewrite the traditional tales, what the creators have done is ‘simply’ switch the genders in each story. Nothing less, …
I am a big fan of fairy tale retellings, whether in picturebook form or in novels, and therefore I was intrigued by the idea of Sophie Anderson’s The House with Chicken Legs (Usborne), particularly as I knew very little of Baba Yaga and Slavic fairy tales. It did not disappoint. The House with Chicken Legs tells the …
Do illustrators really draw all day? I am delighted that Jane Ray, one of Britain’s most talented and admired illustrators has agreed to write about what her working days are like. Jane has illustrated over sixty books, many of which she also wrote. Her latest book, The Glassmaker’s Daughter is written by Diane Hofmeyr (with whom she …
Full of the landscapes one expects and looks forward to in Russian fairy tales, Hortense and the Shadow (Puffin) by Natalia and Lauren O’Hara is both elegant and ominous, poetic and dark, and enchanting. It tells the story of Hortense, a little girl who lives in the heart of the forest, and who hates her …
Unexplained disappearances. A strange boy whom nobody wanted. A world so scared of the freedom of dreaming and imagining that they are willing to burn all the books. A wood where darkness and fairy tale creatures lie. A journey to find one’s truth and save the world in the process. Here are a few ingredients …
Bears Don’t Read! Emma Chichester Clark (HarperCollins Children’s Books) The story of George the Bear who discovers there is more to life than doing usual bear things after finding a book in the forest, this a wonderful tale of how life-changing learning to read can be. Teamed with Emma Chichester Clark’s glorious artwork, which adorned with …
At this year’s FCBG conference, I was delighted to meet Abie Longstaff at last and had the pleasure to attend the seminar she led on her Fairytale Hairdresser picturebook series. It was a truly inspiring talk, explaining and illustrating how her fairy tale had come to life and how much thought had gone into every single …
Abie Longstaff (text) & Lauren Beard (illustrations) (Picture Corgi) Another happy working day begins at Kittie’s Cuts, until the latest edition of The Looking Glass brings the worrying news that Snow White has disappeared and is in danger, with the Wicked Queen is on her trail. With the help of seven musical dwarves and a rather dashing …
While I would not call myself a complete snob when it comes to TV/Film tie-ins, I would say that I definitely avoid them. Yet, I have never stopped my children from reading them, particularly picturebooks linked to children’s series. Even though their interest in them is often time-limited (lots of interest for a short time, …
