Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

 

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston was released in September 2010 but I only recently became aware of it. This one uses the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in an unusual way. The hardcover copy is bargain priced right now, too, for less than the paperback or ebook. This one definitely appeal to those looking for gritty fairy tale inspired books.

This is another case in which you get to play pick your favorite cover, the hardcover on the left or the paperback on the right? I pick the paperback myself. It's less generic and conveys the story a little better.

Book description:

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

His son, that's who.

Ever since his father's arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, teen wolf Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves . . . until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed.

Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City: a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone-and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner.

Can Henry solve the mystery of his family's sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?

France Month: La Belle et la Bête illustrated by Delphine Bodet

La Belle et la Bête illustrated by Delphine Bodet is today's offering. There aren't as many French picture books of this tale as one might hope. This is one of the newest offerings published in 2011. I gathered most of these illustrations from Bodet's own website where she also had some nonpublished images for Princess and the Pea which I have put in another post for today.

Now for the illustrations:

France Month: Princesse au petit pois illustrated by Delphine Bodet

I have a French book post of La Belle et la Bête illustrated by Delphine Bodet also scheduled for today but wanted to share Bodet's unpublished illustrations for Princess and the Pea featured in her website's portfolio. I'm always a fan of this tale and images of the stacked mattresses. Bodet has fun with them, too.

France Month: Boucle d'or et les trois ours by Gerda Muller

 

Boucles d'Or et les trois ours illustrated by Gerda Muller is actually available in many languages including English, French and German (Im Bärenhaus) but the illustrations I have to share are with French text, so I am counting this one as a French Month entry. But I can offer descriptions in English, so everyone wins, right? The English and French editions are still in print, the English being the most recent while the German is out of print.

Book description:

When Goldilocks goes to collect flowers in the wood she gets lost and stumbles upon a pretty house in a clearing. She looks inside and sees a table with three chairs: a big chair, a medium chair and a little chair, and in front of each chair is a steaming bowl of porridge. The porridge smells so good, and Goldilocks is so hungry, that she opens the door and walks inside. But this house belongs to three bears: a big daddy bear, a medium mummy bear and a little baby bear -- and they'll be back soon. This is a beautiful interpretation of a classic story. Gerda Muller's timeless, intricate illustrations offer wonderful extra detail for children to enjoy. From the very first page, she includes big, medium and little versions of birds, squirrels, mice, plates, umbrellas, slippers, and more. Children and parents will notice new things each time.

About the Author

Gerda Muller was born in 1926 in Naarden, Holland. She attended the Fine Arts School of Amsterdam and later on, Ecole Estienne of Paris. She illustrated over 120 books for children and worked with many publishers. Her books have been translated in many languages. She is the illustrator of four board books for younger children, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and Where Do They Go When It Rains? (all Floris Books).

I do love the detailing in these.

Bargain and Free eBooks for Today

Dangerous Angels with Bonus Materials by Francesca Lia Block is temporarily free.

Book description:

For a limited time, the collection of Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat books, Dangerous Angels, is available with a special sneak peek of Pink Smog, a new prequel to Weetzie Bat, and excerpts to the lush paranormal romances Pretty Dead and The Frenzy.

Evernight with Bonus Materials by Claudia Gray is free in this edition which doesn't have a cover image at the moment. That's the paperback image and link above.

Book description:

For a limited time, Claudia Gray’s star-crossed paranormal romance Evernight is available with a special sneak peek of Balthazar, the upcoming Evernight companion novel, and excerpts of the rest of the Evernight series, including Stargazer, Hourglass, and Afterlife.

Cloaked with Bonus Materials by Alex Flinn is 99 cents. (I've featured this one previously, but there was no cover image before.)

Entwined by Heather Dixon is still 99 cents, too, but I expect its price will raise soon so if you haven't jumped on it, do so soon.

Fairy Tale Imagery at Pottery Barn Kids

Pottery Barn Kids has a new bedding theme which includes fairy tale imagery, primarily Frog Prince, called simply Grace which isn't very helpful in showing that it is fairy tale related I captured some images to share here. I always enjoy non-character licensed fairy tale stuff for kids, so this is fun. I may have to get a pillowcase or two at some point. 

Description for the sheets:

Capturing the enchantment fairy tales are made of, our cotton percale sheeting features pretty princesses, royal castles and magical frogs rendered in soft watercolor style over a pink ground.

And for the duvet cover:

From pretty princesses to royal castles, our embroidered cotton duvet cover evokes the characters and stories kids love to dream about. The fun fairy-tale scene is rendered with running stitches and fill stitches, then trimmed in pink cotton cording.

Ritemail Picdump

Ritemail Picdump —  more images after the break...