Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (2003), Edition: 1, 176 pages
Description
Thirteen authors model new stories after traditional fairy tales to provide original yet familiar tales.
User reviews
LibraryThing member the1butterfly
Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are still collecting fairy tale retellings, and here we have their latest. Each story has a short explanation of its origins. It was enjoyable, as always.
LibraryThing member Prop2gether
Some interesting new takes on fairy tales and legends, and I absolutely loved "Little Red and the Bid Bad" by Will Shetterly.
LibraryThing member thioviolight
"Swan Sister" is another fantastic anthology of retold fairy tales from my favorite editors! Meant for younger readers, the collection contains imaginative retellings, including contemporary tales, from masters of fantasy. I enjoyed all the stories, but standouts for me include "Little Red and the
Show More
Big Bad" by Will Shetterly, "Chambers of the Heart" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, "The Fish's Story" by Pat York, "Lupe" by Kathe Koja, "My Swan Sister" by Katherine Vaz, and of course "Inventing Aladdin" by Neil Gaiman. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Excellent short-story anthology of retold fairytales.
This is the companion volume to 'A Wolf At the Door', but I think, overall, it was better.
1 · Greenkid · Jane Yolen ·
Well done, very short piece with a modern setting, but an atmosphere completely based in classic fairy tales. A new boy in
13 · Golden Fur · Midori Snyder ·
Inspired by the Arabian Nights, a prince must take the advice of a golden-furred creature to rescue a princess from an enchanted castle of ogres...
30 · Chambers of the Heart · Nina Kiriki Hoffman ·
Bluebeard has killed many wives... but when he coerces the poor but beautiful neighbor into marrying him, he may have met his match in her family..
49 · Little Red and the Big Bad · Will Shetterly ·
I love Will Shetterly, but I didn't think this effort to transpose Little Red Riding Hood into 'the Hood' worked very well.
55 · The Fish's Story · Pat York ·
A retelling of the story of the magic fish who agrees to grant wishes in order to save its life. In this one, the familiar woman who insists on mansions is across the lake - and a poor orphaned fishergirl deals with her aunt's selfish demands and her grief over her mother's loss..
69 · The Children of the Tilford Fortune · Christopher Rowe ·
Two children, left a not-very-valuable inheritance, set out to analyze supply an demand and trade their things where they are most wanted - and decide what it is they really want.
82 · The Girl in the Attic · Lois Metzger ·
A girl, after her father's death, refuses to speak to her stepmother. But a magic bird helps both the girl and the woman to understand each other.
93 · The Harp That Sang · Gregory Frost ·
A well-done retelling of the story of the gypsy harp whose strings sing out the truth - that the woman from whose hair and bones the harp was made was murdered, and she accuses her murderer - her own sister - from beyond the grave.
106 · A Life in Miniature · Bruce Coville ·
Tom Thumb, in this absurdist story, is the product of a genetics lab's illicit experiment.
121 · Lupe · Kathe Koja ·
After the death of a baby, a grief-stricken mother sends her daughter out to the forest to ask help of a feared witch... but all ends up even better than one might have hoped in this Spanish-flavored story. Good, but I really wish Koja would go back to adult horror!
134 · Awake · Tanith Lee ·
What if, for that hundred years, Sleeping Beauty wasn't really asleep? What if time was stopped, and she was spending all that time adventuring and learning from the fairies..?
148 · Inventing Aladdin · Neil Gaiman ·
a poem, as usual, from Gaiman.
153 · My Swan Sister · Katherine Vaz
Not really a fairy tale, but an incredibly touching, true story of the author's sister, who died as an infant.
This is the companion volume to 'A Wolf At the Door', but I think, overall, it was better.
1 · Greenkid · Jane Yolen ·
Well done, very short piece with a modern setting, but an atmosphere completely based in classic fairy tales. A new boy in
Show More
town is trying to impress a pretty neighbor before school starts - when he discovers a seemingly lost infant... and insists on 'rescuing' it, against his neighbor's warning...13 · Golden Fur · Midori Snyder ·
Inspired by the Arabian Nights, a prince must take the advice of a golden-furred creature to rescue a princess from an enchanted castle of ogres...
30 · Chambers of the Heart · Nina Kiriki Hoffman ·
Bluebeard has killed many wives... but when he coerces the poor but beautiful neighbor into marrying him, he may have met his match in her family..
49 · Little Red and the Big Bad · Will Shetterly ·
I love Will Shetterly, but I didn't think this effort to transpose Little Red Riding Hood into 'the Hood' worked very well.
55 · The Fish's Story · Pat York ·
A retelling of the story of the magic fish who agrees to grant wishes in order to save its life. In this one, the familiar woman who insists on mansions is across the lake - and a poor orphaned fishergirl deals with her aunt's selfish demands and her grief over her mother's loss..
69 · The Children of the Tilford Fortune · Christopher Rowe ·
Two children, left a not-very-valuable inheritance, set out to analyze supply an demand and trade their things where they are most wanted - and decide what it is they really want.
82 · The Girl in the Attic · Lois Metzger ·
A girl, after her father's death, refuses to speak to her stepmother. But a magic bird helps both the girl and the woman to understand each other.
93 · The Harp That Sang · Gregory Frost ·
A well-done retelling of the story of the gypsy harp whose strings sing out the truth - that the woman from whose hair and bones the harp was made was murdered, and she accuses her murderer - her own sister - from beyond the grave.
106 · A Life in Miniature · Bruce Coville ·
Tom Thumb, in this absurdist story, is the product of a genetics lab's illicit experiment.
121 · Lupe · Kathe Koja ·
After the death of a baby, a grief-stricken mother sends her daughter out to the forest to ask help of a feared witch... but all ends up even better than one might have hoped in this Spanish-flavored story. Good, but I really wish Koja would go back to adult horror!
134 · Awake · Tanith Lee ·
What if, for that hundred years, Sleeping Beauty wasn't really asleep? What if time was stopped, and she was spending all that time adventuring and learning from the fairies..?
148 · Inventing Aladdin · Neil Gaiman ·
a poem, as usual, from Gaiman.
153 · My Swan Sister · Katherine Vaz
Not really a fairy tale, but an incredibly touching, true story of the author's sister, who died as an infant.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Sorry, I don't know how to review collections unless there are stories that stand out as wonderful or terrible. These were all worth reading, but none were so memorable I feel compelled to say anything to you about them. Um, my favorite was The Fish's Story. Neil Gaiman's effort wasn't his best, or
Oh, I guess I could say that, overall, while this is 'clean' enough to be read by children as young as 8 or 9, I don't think they'll get nearly as much out of it as adults would. It's not just a matter of the selections being better suited to more experienced readers, it's also a matter of many of them being written from the parent's or the witch's point-of-view. I'm not sure how many children are ready to read something subtle, something allegorical, that isn't even directed at them. Honestly, I don't think I'd have been fully ready for these until I was in my 40s.
Show More
the book's best. Christopher Rowe's contribution prompts me to see if I can find more by him.Oh, I guess I could say that, overall, while this is 'clean' enough to be read by children as young as 8 or 9, I don't think they'll get nearly as much out of it as adults would. It's not just a matter of the selections being better suited to more experienced readers, it's also a matter of many of them being written from the parent's or the witch's point-of-view. I'm not sure how many children are ready to read something subtle, something allegorical, that isn't even directed at them. Honestly, I don't think I'd have been fully ready for these until I was in my 40s.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
176 p.; 8.52 inches
ISBN
0689846134 / 9780689846137
Local notes
A collection of retold fairy tales, including:
- a Rapunzel whose most confining prison is her loneliness
- a contemporary rendering of the Green Man myth
- two different versions of Red Riding Hood
- a tale that grew out of a Celtic folk song
- Sleeping Beauty's experience of her enchantment
- two works inspired by the Arabian Nights.
Ex-library.
- a Rapunzel whose most confining prison is her loneliness
- a contemporary rendering of the Green Man myth
- two different versions of Red Riding Hood
- a tale that grew out of a Celtic folk song
- Sleeping Beauty's experience of her enchantment
- two works inspired by the Arabian Nights.
Ex-library.