La Cenerentola: Performer's Perspective

Here's a short piece sitting in my draft pile and I need to move it out, so here it is, as it is.

Thought I'd share one performer's perspective on playing Cinderella...

Found in The appeal of 'La Cenerentola', mezzo-soprano Betany Coffland answer questions about playing Cinderella in the opera for the San Jose Opera.

Q What do you love about this role?

A It's been interesting for me to ask, "Why has this story of this young girl in unfortunate circumstances — why has it resonated for so many cultures, through so many centuries?"

She's a good person, and sometimes a clumsy person. She's audacious at times. She gets distressed and angry, and it all makes her real. I think we're all attracted to the inherent sweetness and genuine goodness of Cinderella. She knows what's important in life.

Q Specifically?

A It's this idea of karma, in a way, that you put good things out there and good things happen in return. And I think this idea resonates with all of us. We want to believe that good behavior is rewarded.

Q Is it a contemporary story? Is it relevant, or just a fairy tale?

A It's both contemporary and age-old. It's like Shakespeare; we do his plays over and over again, because they hold the keys to what we as humans are interested in watching play out in drama.

In the opera, Cinderella's stepsisters and stepfather — they're completely greedy. We all have aspects of that in us, along with the humor and the clumsiness we see in the opera. That's why we keep coming back to opera, because we recognize ourselves. It may be exaggerated, but it's real.

Q How does Cinderella change over the course of the opera?

A She learns to trust herself more. I think that when you live through a big experience and you come out the other side still holding onto those values that you had going into it, that gives you a new sense of confidence and renewal.

I often enjoy performers' interpretations of their roles, learning their thoughts about the role since they have to be the character to entertain us well.

Video Games: Big Brain Wolf

Okay, here's a video game I'm tempted to download because these are my preferred type of games--I've actually played Big Brain Academy and My Word Coach on the Wii more than any other console games in my life--so perhaps at some point I will get this to play. I like brain teasers and puzzle and logic games.

Publisher's description:

Big Brain Wolf is a hilarious point and click adventure game for puzzle lovers. The player takes upon the role of an asthmatic vegetarian wolf studying to become a genie. In the course of his adventures the player will encounter a large cast of famous funny characters and solve sixty different puzzles. Six neuroscientist designed highly replayable brain training exercises will earn the player precious hints to help solve the more difficult puzzles.

60 Different challenging puzzles and enigmas to solve

20 Puzzle filled scenes spanning a 5 chapters captivating story

A funny new take on universal characters that will appeal to all

6 brain training exercises designed and approved by the neuroscientists of Brain Center International

10 Original STEAM achievements

Great original soundtrack by a jazz quartet

Here are some articles:

Puzzle game Big Brain Wolf takes the 'bad' out of the Red Riding Hood story by Nellie Johnson

The game is mainly a wink-wink nudge-nudge version of the Red Riding Hood story but throws in other familiar fairy tale characters like the seven dwarves and the three little pigs for good measure. In this fractured fairy tale, the Big Bad Wolf isn't bad at all—in fact, he hates eating people and if he had his way, would sit around all day playing chess and eating boca burgers.

Against his will, he's pulled into an adventure through the course of which, he'll (read: “you'll”) have to solve over sixty puzzles and engage in six brain-training exercises. Get those brain cells ready because the exercises in BBW (which are designed to sharpen specific brain functions) were designed in collaboration with the neuroscientists of Brain Center International, who are responsible for the famous NeuroActive Program.

Big Brain Wolf Now Available on Steam: Geeky, vegetarian wolf stars in a puzzle-filled point and click adventure.

With a cast of familiar characters, including Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, and the Seven Dwarves, Big Brain Wolf gives a modern twist to all of your favorite tales!

A classic point and click adventure, Big Brain Wolf takes players through a fantastical world as a not so big, not so bad asthmatic vegetarian wolf studying to become a genie. This humorous tale has players solving sixty unique puzzles while trying to untangle a sordid murder mystery. To add another layer to the game, Frima Studio teamed up with the neuroscientists of Brain Center International to develop six fun brain training exercises for Big Brain Wolf. Completing these exercises will grant players useful hints to help them solve the game's hardest puzzles while also sharpening essential mental functions like memory, processing speed, decision making, and multitasking.

Big Brain Wolf is available now on Steam for $9.99. A downloadable trial is also available at Big Brain Wolf's official website.

And note that Little Red Riding Hood is in another video game. She really is the queen of the video game world when it comes to fairy tales.

No sales affiliations on this game folks, just news. There rarely are affiliations unless there are Amazon links. If I buy and try it out, I will post about it again.

Fairy Godmother Academy: Weaving a World for Girls

The Fairy Godmother Academy #1: Birdie's Book, the first book in a series that will run at least eight books, if not more, came out in August. The next two books aren't due out until next year (see below for more details).

Product description from Random House, the publisher:

For girls who are fans of Harry Potter and have outgrown the Disney Fairies series and the American Girl books, the Fairy Godmother Academy is the perfect series—fantasy books filled with magic and adventure but grounded by contemporary girls and issues.

The series boasts an amazing Web site that allows girls to enter the world they visit in the books. There they can do activities both on- and offline, vote for things they'd like to see in the books, and connect with other Fairy Godmother Academy fans.

Zally Guevara always knows where she's going. She has a passion for maps of all kinds and can't wait to pack her suitcase and explore the world. But Zally doesn't have to wait to get her wish. With the help of a cup of magical cocoa from her grandmother, she travels to a place that only girls training to become fairy godmothers can get to—the enchanted dreamland of Aventurine, a place that has no map.

In Aventurine, Zally is given her quest: to save a fairy queen who has lost her will to live. Zally's companions are a young fairy with a broken wing, and a stallion prince. The trio's journey proves to be even more challenging than they could have imagined as they meet monsters and get lost in a ruined fairy city. All the while, Zally is making a map of Aventurine and discovering that she has a talent, passed down from generations of women in her family: understanding the thoughts of animals. But will this be enough to save the fairy queen and ensure that Zally can continue her fairy-godmother training?

Join the Fairy Godmother Academy!
Visit the Web site for games, activities, and networking with friends!
www.fairygodmotheracademy.com

While these books had been on my long list for a while, finding this article about the author, Jan Bozarth, and the series sparked my interest further, Weaving a world for girls: Austin author creates literary and online realm where fairy godmothers help tweens listen to their inner voices by Sharyn Wizda Vane.

Note: These fairy godmothers don't flit around warbling "Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo" while they swathe their young charges in ivory silk to impress Prince Charming. In Bozarth's parlance, fairy godmothers are women who help young girls listen keenly to their inner voices — in part to keep from getting swept up in a Bratz-meets-"Mean Girls" culture, in part to keep them asking the right questions: What makes me strong? What nourishes me? What challenges me?

In "Birdie's Book," 12-year-old Birdie Cramer Bright discovers her own answers to those questions. Happiest surrounded by nature near her California home, Birdie grumbles about being sent to New York while her mother travels on business. The only upside is finally meeting her fabled grandmother, who introduces her to the family secret — her fairy lineage. Once at Granny Mo's, Birdie finds a magical dream book, a collection of nocturnal yearnings and insights from all the women in her family, that leads her to the mystical land Aventurine.

As is the case with almost any site with minors as a primary audience, registation is required. I didn't do so, so I could only preview a small amount of the content, but there appears to be much to explore. There is another article about the website at 'Fairy Godmother' is a big project on the Web, too.


The Fairy Godmother Academy #2: Kerka's Book will be released on April 27, 2010according to Amazon but on December 22 of this year according to the Fairy Godmother Academy website.


The Fairy Godmother Academy #3: Zally's Book will be released on August 24, 2010.


When I created a Fairy Godmother t-shirt on CafePress years ago, it became somewhat of a bestseller for the store and I have added it to Zazzle, too. I even bought one for myself.

Over the years of building SurLaLune, Fairy godmothers aren't discussed very often, but they have a definite fan base. Women especially seem to grow past the "princess" stage at some point and begin to embrace the fairy godmother image. It is certainly more appealing culturally to the crone image. I still plan to cross stitch that Fairy Godmother by Lavender and Lace I shared last week.

Anyway, I'm surprised there isn't more scholarship on fairy godmothers. The topic is just begging for further exploration.

On Stage in November and December: Part 1

Oh, to be in London for the holidays....

Thought I'd share this link to an article listing several theatre productions for the holidays, several with holiday themes. Yes, panto season is upon you UKers and I'm jealous. But there is more than pantos, too.

The 20 must-see Christmas shows that are waiting in the wings.

Other than this there are several productions of Into the Woods, Hansel and Gretel, La Cenerentola and of course The Nutcracker coming around. Surprisingly, a few Bluebeards (one that is ick! so I won't link) which definitely does NOT say holiday celebrations to me.

New Book: Aesop’s Mirror: A Love Story

Consider this new book to be 'on the slant' since it isn't directly about fairy tales but is a memoir about antique collecting, specifically about a mirror featuring images from Aesop's The Fox and the Grapes carved into its frame, this book is a nice first cousin once removed to our usual topics. Aesop’s Mirror: A Love Story by Maryalice Huggins came out this week. I discovered it through some of its online publicity which I will share below.

First, I discovered this article about the book with some ruminations about mirrors that bring to mind Snow White and other fairy tales indirectly at least.

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ — Huggins’ book reflects upon a quest for a mirror’s provenance by Gloria S. Redlich

Huggins glimpsed herself in the mirror, which she ended up purchasing for over $8,000, at two angles. “Something mysterious,” she notes, “seemed to be taking place.” She recalls the words from a study on antique mirrors: “From antiquity onward, mirrors were believed empowered to capture the souls of those reflected in their lifetimes.” Had hers been thus ensnared?

Mirrors, she writes, “are fanciful … a mirror never lies. They reflect how we feel about ourselves in every possible way.”

Huggins’ new mirror then takes her on an odyssey that is at once historic, not a little fantastical, and also, if incidentally, a road to self-discovery.

Another great article, more about the author this time, Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall by Mimi Read:

Ms. Huggins’s book fits into no recognizable genre: it is partly a memoir about growing up on Block Island, an evocative re-creation of the lives of an illustrious 19th-century American family, a detective story about the provenance of an object, and a rare glimpse behind the curtain of the politely conniving, overwhelmingly male world of high-end antiques. There’s also a history of mirrors slipped in. (Apparently, our deep-seated desire to behold our reflections existed eons before technological advances finally made it as easy as whipping out a compact.)

Her story starts in the mid-1990s. One day, she played hooky from her restoration studio in Chelsea to attend an auction in rural Rhode Island. The musty contents of a house were being sold off, and Ms. Huggins arrived with no money, thinking she’d just enjoy the chance to glimpse an immaculate horse farm.

Among the inventory, Ms. Huggins spied something that ignited her object lust: a filthy eight-foot-tall Rococo Revival mirror too big and nutty to attract decorators and most collectors. A giant golden romp of a thing, its chipped gilt frame was decorated with broken carvings based on Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes.”

Playful and naïve, the carvings jutted out extravagantly, luring her into their narrative.

The article also included this photo by Erik Jacobs for The New York Times:


And, here's a description from the publisher, Macmillan:

“Everything I needed to know about Fox and Grapes mirror, I knew the moment I first I saw it.”

What antiques restorer Maryalice Huggins knew when she stumbled across the mirror at a country auction in Rhode Island was this: She was besotted. Rococo and huge (more than eight feet tall), the mirror was one of the most unusual objects she had ever seen. Huggins had to have it.

The frame’s elaborate carvings were almost identical to a famous eighteenth-century design. Could this be eighteenth-century American? That would make it rare indeed. But in the rarefied world of American antiques, an object is not significant unless you can prove where it’s from. Huggins set out to trace the origins of her magnificent mirror.

Fueled with the delightfully obsessive spirit of Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief, Aesop’s Mirror follows Huggins on her quest as she goes up against the leading lights of the very male world of high-end antiques and dives into the historical archives. And oh, what she finds there! The mirror was likely passed down through generations of the illustrious Brown family of Providence, Rhode Island.

Throughout history, mirrors have been seen as having mystical powers, enabling those who peer into them to connect the past and the future. In Aesop’s Mirror, Maryalice Huggins does just that, creating a marvelous, one-of-kind book about a marvelous, one of-a-kind American treasure.

The reviews are positive so far, such as this blurb:

“A surprisingly complex story of American beginnings . . . In an age in which art’s bottom line is generally thought to be the bottom line, the book attests to the true reasons we cherish rare objects that have come down to us from the past: the way they elicit our desire to possess their beauty and their mystery.”

—Benjamin Moser, Harper’s Magazine

The book also interests me because it follows the journey of trying to learn, the need to find answers, to understand, the joys and tribulations of research in general--all experiences I relate to when I research fairy tales and their histories. I've been rabidly working on a Sleeping Beauties collection (including Sleeping Beauty and an even greater abundance of Snow White tales) this past month and the quests for tales and more information has been quite heady. But more about that in a few weeks when the collection is complete...

Guess Aesop's Mirror goes on my wish list...

Bargain Shopping: Folklore on DVD

Here are a few bargains for early holiday shopping:


For fans of Shelley Duvall's fairy tale and folklore series, Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends: The Complete Series was rereleased to DVD in September and is currently $14.49 on Amazon for the complete set, the cheapest I've ever seen it at 42% off the list price.

There are nine episodes in the series, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Pecos Bill, Casey at the Bat, Darlin’ Clementine, Johnny Appleseed, Ponce de Leon, John Henry, Davy Crockett, and Annie Oakley.


Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Complete Collection is also a great price at $33.99 at 43% off list price. This is the best set because it includes extras previous sets did not have, especially the fan favorite 'Grimm Party'.

Contains 26 Tales and extras:

Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
Beauty and the Beast
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
Cinderella
The Dancing Princesses
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Little Mermaid
Little Red Riding Hood
The Nightingale
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Pinocchio
The Princess and the Pea
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
Puss in Boots
Rapunzel
Rip Van Winkle
Rumpelstiltskin
Sleeping Beauty
The Snow Queen
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Tale of the Frog Prince
The Three Little Pigs
Thumbelina

ALSO INCLUDES ENCHANTING EXTRAS:

Lost Episode: "Faerie Tale Theatre’s Greatest Moments" ("Grimm Party")

Vintage Faerie Tale Theatre Presentation Reel with Shelley Duvall

B-Roll Promo Footage

AND EXCLUSIVE COLLECTOR’S ITEMS:

Photo-Rich 112-Page Storybook

"3-In-1" Faerie Tale Theatre Game (custom playing cards, memory match and trivia)


Finally, the Storybook International Collection 10 Disc Set is also bargain priced at $20.99 (48% off retail). This is a much different type of series, not campy or filled with Hollywood actors, and surprisingly entertaining but low-key so expect subtlety over intensity. It would be excellent in the classroom. It's not glossy but when I originally viewed it, I was surprisingly entertained with the multicultural tales. I won't include the full list here--there are 65 tales in the set--but look for my original review of the series on the product page on Amazon or see the page I made for it on SurLaLune long ago (and have never updated).

So if you are one of the few who don't own one or the other already and are a fan, this is the time. I'm not sure how long the pricing will last, but I thought I would share. Especially since none of these are guaranteed to stay in print. I noticed that the Jim Henson Storyteller series is once again out of print and selling used for several times its original list price. Such a shame with the Sesame Street 40th anniversary this week, too...

Disney's First Black Princess article

Because I haven't posted anything in a few weeks about Princess and the Frog and we are after all a month away now, I offer: Black parents teach young girls significance of Disney's first black princess by Megan K. Scott

Tiana has already sparked a merchandising frenzy - beauty products, dolls, a cookbook, a cooking set. There is even a new Tiana wedding dress as part of the "Kirstie Kelly for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings" line.

The Halloween costumes sold out quickly in some cities, according to Disney Consumer Products, and the "Just One Kiss" doll was named one of the "Hot Dozen" toys for the holiday season in FunFare Magazine, a toy industry publication. On Oct. 1, all 5,000 Tiana-themed Magical Beauty Collection Gift Sets were sold on carolsdaughter.com before noon, the first day the products were available.

Little girls don't see colour distinctions as much as older girls, said Charlotte Reznick, a child educational psychologist and author of "The Power of Your Child's Imagination."

But she said Tiana will register on some level with little black girls and boost their sense of themselves even if it's subtle.

Chinese Cinderella Ball

From Chinese flock to "Cinderella" ball for monetary bliss by James Pomfret:

Thousands of Chinese women are vying to attend a lavish ball in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, lured by the dream of a possible fairytale match with a millionaire.

More than 7,000 women from all over the country are applying for one of just 40 tickets to attend China's version of Cinderella's ball, where several multi-millionaires will pay around $5,400 for the privilege of meeting them, the organiser of the event told Reuters.

"It's not just about the women finding their Prince Charming, but also the men finding their princess," said Cheng Yongsheng of the organisers, matchmaking website www.jiayuan.com.

"There are more and more single women in China nowadays who just want to find a good man. And if this man has money, that's much better."

I find I have nothing to say about that...

New Book: The Complete Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault

The Complete Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault, a new translation by Christopher Betts was released last month. As usual, I haven't seen a physical copy to review it, so this is a newsy post.

From the publisher, Oxford University Press:

A pumpkin is transformed into a coach. Bluebeard's young wife unlocks the door of the forbidden room. Children lost in the forest find shelter, but the house belongs to an ogre. These and many other scenes from the stories of Charles Perrault reach deep into the imagination and are never forgotten.

Now, in this scintillating new translation, the fairy tales of Perrault--stories that are known and loved around the world--are available in a beautiful gift edition. This superb translation by Christopher Betts exactly captures the tone and flavor of Perrault's world, and the delightful spirit of the originals. In addition to the classic prose tales--including The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Little Red Riding-Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, and Hop o' my Thumb--this new translation adds Perrault's tales in verse: a long poem on the subject of Patient Griselda; the notorious Donkey-Skin, often expunged from nineteenth-century collections; and the comic Three Silly Wishes.

Bett's introduction deftly illuminates why in Perrault's hands these humble fairly tales have such great imaginative power, showing how they transmute into vivid fantasies the hidden fears and conflicts by which children are affected--fears of abandonment, conflicts with siblings and parents--and resolve so satisfactorily the problems experienced by children during the process of growing up. The volume also includes appendices on related tales and selected variants, a bibliography, chronology, and notes.

With twenty-six stunning illustrations by Gustave Dore, an attractive ribbon marker, and colorful end papers, this wonderful collection of Perrault's fairy tales will make a delightful gift for children of any age.

And here is an excerpt from an excellent and helpful review, A New Translation of Old Fairy Tales by Jenny Williams:

Some of the stories and verses have translated correspondence paired with them. Perrault sent the letters along with a copy of the applicable story to someone he knew. They are very interesting to read, too, and they made me giddy with anticipation to read the stories themselves. With the verse stories, I was surprised to find that I had no trouble reading them and following the plot. Poetry usually puts me off, but not in this case. Some words that I would use to describe Three Silly Wishes, for example, are hilarious, sarcastic, clear, playful and excellent.

The book’s valuable front matter includes an extensive Introduction which goes into Perrault’s life and his writings with plenty of footnotes. Especially fascinating to me was the Notes on the Text and Translation. Here Betts talked about what he changed while translating and what he left alone. He said he believed this “to be the first complete English translation in which verse is rendered in verse.” He placed importance on fidelity to the original tales, while still making the story readable. I think he succeeded. Simple language intended for kids can still have some subtleties that are hard to translate, especially since the meaning of some words has changed over time. So, he consulted 17th century dictionaries. Translating verse is additionally difficult because of maintaining rhyme and meter. Translating is a lot more than just changing words from one language to another. The meaning of the passage has to be considered and also brought across.

I admit that as much as I'm excited about a new translation of Perrault, I'm just as excited by the Dore illustrations. It is very difficult to find the Donkeyskin illustrations since the tale is often omitted from collections, too. I'm hoping all of the illustrations are included. The above collection from Dover has been the most comprehensive to date, but Donkeyskin doesn't appear in it.



To date, The Fairy Tales in Verse and Prose/Les contes en vers et en prose: A Dual-Language Book by Charles Perrault and edited and translated by Stanley Appelbaum has been one of my personal favorites since I like comparing the French to the English when referencing the tales. Of course, there are other excellent translations in other collections, too, including Zipes' Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments, also available in a condensed paperback version. The full version was reprinted earlier this year and I recommend it over the small paperback if you want the full Beauty and the Beast by Villeneuve.

So I will add this one to my extensive reference library sometime soon.

And I leave you with a Donkeyskin illustration by Dore. And a link to the Charles Perrault page on SurLaLune.

Wanna Beer With Your Tale?

Men launch Loveland-based Grimm Brothers Brewery by Shelley Widhalm:

Don Chapman and Aaron Heaton, who share a love of crafting beer, decided to go into business together after one or the other kept winning local and national home-brewing competitions.

Chapman and Heaton met three to four years ago through the Liquid Poets home-brew club in Fort Collins. They worked together to refine their recipes, deciding last year to open a brewery.

Because they particularly like German-style lagers and ales, they named their brewery Grimm Brothers Brewhouse after the German source of folk and fairy tale collections. The name of each microbrew will refer to one of the 18th century tales.

“They’re a little darker, a little bit whimsical ... more adult story lines,” Heaton said.

Loveland is in Colorado, by the way.

Never say I'm not an equal opportunity poster about fairy tale related stuff...I don't even drink alcohol, but this one amused me. I think the Three Billy Goats Pub should serve Grimm Brothers Beer, that's a link to the official site.

And I admit the thought of naming beers from fairy tale elements is almost as much fun as naming nail polishes. The site currently lists The Golden Key, The 13th Door, Big Bad Wolf, Seven Eighths and Old Rinkrank.

On Stage: New Twist on Bluebeard

Saw this intriguing article about a new interpretation of Bluebeard on stage. My excerpt is but a part of the article as always, so click through to read more.

From Bluebeard’s Dark Bunker Intrigues Young New Wife: London Stage Review by Warwick Thompson:

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned and raped his daughter in a secret bunker, has entered the world of lyric drama.

Daniel Kramer’s new production of Bartok’s “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle” for English National Opera is specific in its references. This contemporary Bluebeard dresses in a central-European, Tegernsee-style jacket. He keeps his family in a concrete cellar. His psychopathic behavior flips on a coin: He’s brutal one minute, and childishly silly the next.

This is the man who brings home a new young wife called Judith. She begs him to open the seven locked doors that she sees around her and to reveal what lies behind them.

There are pluses and minuses to Kramer’s this-represents- that approach. There’s no doubting the modern relevance of the famous fairytale, or its chilling force.

The review isn't stellar--claims the intensity is missing--but the interpretation is certainly current and even relevant with all of the recent news of women held captive and/or murdered of late.

It's a scary world out there, but fairy tales have always known that even if pop culture thinks they don't.

The Goat-Faced Girl by Leah Marinsky Sharpe and Jane Marinsky

The Goat-Faced Girl by Leah Marinsky Sharpe and Jane Marinsky was released this past October. It's the first time this Italian tale has been featured in its own picture book.

Product Description from publisher:

Like many good fables, this story opens with a foundling left – rather inconveniently, if not surprisingly – in the woods. A large lizard, ever conscious of tripping hazards, picks up the infant and takes her home, where she soon grows into a pretty, pampered, and generally useless young woman named Isabella. Despite her adoptive mother's efforts (for the lizard is really a witch in disguise) to shape her up, the girl prefers the alluring life offered her by the charming Prince Rupert, a world of cooks and servants, palaces and jewels, luxury and indolence.

Luckily, the lizard woman is a canny, concerned parent. She does not suffer fools lightly and is not about to let her daughter's too-easy transition to palace life go unchallenged. And so she arranges a surprise transformation for her daughter – one that puts the prince's marital plans on hold and gives the witch just enough time to hammer home a few lessons about the downside of idleness, the inanity of vanity, and the satisfactions of self-reliance.

In this witty, modern interpretation of a classic Italian folktale, Leah Marinsky Sharpe has crafted a light-hearted mother-daughter fable with a moral that is sure to strike a chord with readers of all ages. The illustrations by Jane Marinsky glow with rich color and playful humor. Together, words and pictures provide a zesty treat for parents and children alike.

It also has a nice review from Kirkus that can be read on its Amazon page.

Here is a great article about the book with an excerpt, but click through because the article is much longer: The girl who grew up not needing a prince by Jean Westmoore

The original “Goat-Faced Girl” tells of lazy, beautiful Renzolla, who is set to marry a king when her lizard-godmother curses her with a goat face for her ungrateful ways and the king locks her in a tower with tasks to perform so he won’t have to marry her. (The most shocking moment may be when Renzolla throws a puppy out the window because she is too lazy to take care of it.) At the end, the king is happy to marry her when she is beautiful again.

“I would tell it different ways, depending on the mood, but the general theme was that after the prince spent the entire time treating her badly, she never ended up with him,” says Marinsky Sharpe.

In this mother-daughter update, the lazy young woman, renamed Isabella, is cursed with a goat face and then rejected by Prince Rupert, but in doing the tasks he requires –planting turnips, cooking a meal and sewing a ballgown –she discovers the joy of taking care of herself. No puppies are thrown out the window, and there is no “happily ever after” for the prince.

The Lizard showing Goat-Face the Palace, an illustration for Goat-Face by Warwick Goble.

If you want to read the original versions, try these links: Goat-Face from Il Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile and The Goat-Faced Girl from Andrew Lang's Grey Fairy Book. The latter is the version the author of the new picture book grew up reading.

The tale is classified at ATU-900A, similar to King Thrushbeard tales (ATU-900).

As with most tales, however, the story also comfortably falls into the ATU-710 type with Our Lady's Child (Mary's Child) from the Brothers Grimm. Similar tales in this class include the Norwegian The Lassie and Her Godmother from Asbjornsen and Moe.


Here's also a link to a paperback version of The Grey Fairy Book, one of my favorites of Andrew Lang's colored fairy series. I stick with the Dover Publications editions myself for they are well-bound and edited with nice reproductions of the black and white illustrations by H. J. Ford and others. The color illustrations aren't included, but they rarely are in any reprints.

Amrita Rao HQ PhotoShoot

Amrita Rao, just like many other bollywood beauties entered bollywood through modelling. The look of delicacy that she carries gained her entry into bollywood. Her 2003 movie Ishq Vishq gained her the ‘girl next door image’, which was once again reincarnated in her 2006 film Vivah, both the movie featured Shahid Kapoor as her co-star. Here are some pictures of Amrita Rao sporting a new look, something that is different from the image she carries. 10 more images after the break...

Continue Reading.......

Little Red Hoodie by Adrianna Kruse

Little Red Hoodie by Adrianna Kruse came out last month.

From the publisher:

Little Red Hoodie is a modern twist on a classic tale, which features a tech-savvy youth, Little Red Hoodie, an online predator, the Big Bad Wolf, and a not-so-ordinary Granny who rides motorcycles and takes karate. This delightful picture book teaches children and families an important life lesson, while keeping them laughing and entertained along the way.

Well, that's a new one and very timely.

Here's a link to an article about the book with an excerpt: Internet predators are big, bad wolf in 'Red Hoodie' by BRET LIEBENDORFER

"After hearing so many horrific stories on the news about Internet predators ... it hit me that there were parallels with the Big Bad Wolf," Kruse said.

Although a no-good wolf still feigns being a sick Granny, this time he's tech savvy and instant messages Little Red Hoodie, the main character's screen name, for help. Although the outcome is similar to the original, Kruse's version has a more humorous ending as Granny rides motorcycles and takes karate lessons.

According to the article, some proceeds from the book sales will be donated to organizations that promote Internet safety to children.

Side note: I am always amused by all of the retellings of Little Red Riding Hood with hip, crazy grandmothers that break the traditional stereotype but have become a new stereotype of their own. I know in its own way it relieves pressure and has fun with the traditional "milk and cookies" stereotype but I wonder if the new one applies just as much pressure to be fun and hip at the opposite extreme. I prefer this one, but it's wrought with its own expectations, too.

Rumblings With a Helping of Harry Clarke

From AbeBooks’ Most Expensive Sales in October 2009, we have:

6. Original pen, ink, and water-color used for the dust wrapper of The Fairy Tales of Perrault by Harry Clarke - $4,500

Clarke’s set of pen, ink and water-color used to create the intricate dust cover for The Fairy Tales of Perrault.

There is no image for the piece, but the list included the above image of a first edition. The beauty of the internet (and SurLaLune) is that one can see many of Harry Clarke's illustrations for free. No, it's not as magical as holding a first edition with the exquisitely produced prints, but it certainly accommodates the wallet.


There are an abundance of galleries on the web now for Golden Age illustrators, but SurLaLune was one of the first. I'm grateful I had the experience of creating it because I learned so much about illustration and fairy tales along the way, something I wouldn't have done otherwise. I'm still amazed that a throw-away HTML programming assignment turned into this and is still growing after 11 years, almost a third of my life.

You might imagine I do all of this to make money. Not quite. I don't make half enough through associate links to justify the time and expense I put into the site. I joke that it doesn't pay the bills, but it keeps me from creating new ones as I pursue my passions, at least most of the time. I do this because I love learning and SurLaLune is a repository of my knowledge base in one area. I get to share it with others--finding several errors along the way as I learn more--and have made friends and found other opportunities to learn through the years.

Not sure what brought all of that up today, but I will segue into my hope to discuss a book a day for the rest of the month in addition to the usual miscellaneous bits and pieces I offer on this blog. I have a list of books longer than my arm to post about. Not stacks, mind you, since most I do not own and have not read, but an actual list in small print of titles. So no reviews most of the time, just newsy pieces with links.

And thank you, readers, for reading and occasionally clicking through one of those many associate links. I also keep going because I know you're out there, sharing an interest, creating, inspiring and learning along the way with me.