The Sleeping Beauty

Summary:
The Sleeping Beauty is the story of a King and Queen who offended one of the twelve faeries. The blue fairy was so offended that she cursed the King and Queen, so that they would never have children. One of the other faeries tried to help but unfortunately, she could not eliminate the

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curse just modify it. So the new curse was that the King and Queen could not conceive a child until they found the silver owl. The King eventually found the owl and they conceived a child. However; because of jealousy the King killed the owl and offended the blue fairy again and again she cursed the family. This time the curse was that after the princess had matured, she would die; again one of the faeries modified the curse that instead of dying the princess would prick her finger on a spindle and fall into a deep sleep that could not be awakened until she was kissed by the man that loved her more than life. The King tried to rid the kingdom of all spindles but the blue fairy tricked the princess, she pricked her finger and fell into the deep sleep. The kingdom was horrified but the fairy put the same sleeping curse on the entire kingdom so that when the princess awakened everything would be the same. The fairy put an enchantment around the castle to protect the kingdom with a deep swamp, monsters, and guards. They would make sure that the only person that could make it through the horrible place would be the one that loved the princess more than his own life. One hundred years later, the blue fairy had a son and her own son fought the monsters and made it through to find the princess. He awakened her with his kiss and she awoke, along with the entire kingdom. The princess married him, so they had a celebration; once again the blue fairy was enraged that her own son would do such a thing. She made another curse but this time she broke fairy law and was banished. So the prince and princess had many children and lived happily ever after.
Personal Reaction:
This sleeping beauty story is similar to the sleeping beauty story that Walt Disney made so familiar. However; it is very different, there are twelve fairies instead of three, along with many more differences. I think that this story is just as interesting but I feel like this is a story for much older children. If Disney had made this a movie it would have been a lot scarier and a very long movie. Even though it is so different I really enjoyed reading a different version because it such a classic I could recite the old one by heart but this one kept me entertained.
Classroom Extension:
This book would be hard to extend into an elementary classroom but I think it would be a really good extension for a high school or middle school English class. If you were doing a lesson on traditional stories you could let the class read this story and see how it relates to traditional stories.

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This book is about a king who accidently offends a fairy. To punish him she curses his child. The fairies future son rescues the girl. The fairy tries to curse the girl, but loose her temper and brought doom to herself. I can relate, because I have been affect by a parent’s choices. I also have

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brought punishment on myself because I spoke or acted in anger. I would teach the kids why it is bad to let feeling of jealousy and anger control their decisions. We would discuss what the different traits the fairies gave the princess. We would find out what they mean, and how we can show such traits in our lives.

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Love, love, LOVE the artwork!

Summary: "The Sleeping Beauty" is about a king and queen who offended the Blue Faerie on the day of their wedding feast. As a result, the Blue Faerie cursed the queen to never be able to have a child. However, the Star Faerie modified the curse but only allowing the king and queen to have a child

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when a silver oil appears. Soon, the silver owl appears and the queen began to feed and care for the bird but the king became jealous of the care the queen showed it, and had the bird killed. The king and queen soon have a child but because the king killed the bird, the Blue Faerie gave the child the gift of death. However, the Star Faerie gave the child a gift to not die but fall asleep until someone who loves her more than life, kisses her. On the child's seventeenth birthday, she pricked her finger on a spindle and fell asleep. Therefore, the Star Faerie put everyone in the castle under a spell to sleep so when the child awakes, she would not be alone. Also, the faerie created a huge hedge to protect the castle and put a dwarf and ogre to stand watch. A hundred years later, the Blue Faerie's son heard about Sleeping Beauty and went on a quest to find her. He succeeds and Sleeping Beauty and the rest of the castle awakens. However, during the wedding feast, the Blue Faerie arrives, furious. She tries to curse Sleeping Beauty's household but the curse will affect her son because he is bound to the family by marriage. As a result, the Blue Faerie broke a faerie rule, which made he reap the curse she tried to give to everyone. In the end, Sleeping Beauty and the Prince lived happily ever after.

Review: In my opinion, "Sleeping Beauty" was a well written story. The book gave great details that helped me envision the story and the feelings of the characters. I have always heard stories of the tale of Sleeping Beauty, but I felt like this book was different variation that still kept the originality. The central message of the story is love conquers all. In the book, the Blue Faerie's curse made Sleeping Beauty prick her finger on a spindle and fall into a deep sleep, in which she could only be awaken from a kiss from someone who loved her more than life. The prince went through many obstacles on his journey to Sleeping Beauty, but he never gave up because he loved her. Also, the curse on Sleeping Beauty was lifted due to the love the Prince showed to Sleeping Beauty. Overall, love created a happy ending for Sleeping Beauty and the castle.

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SUMMARY
A king and queen are cursed after the Blue Faerie receives a fake gold goblet. After conquering the curse, they are cursed yet again after offending the Blue Faerie. Their daughter falls into a deep sleep until someone who loves her more than life itself awakes her. The kingdom is put to

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sleep for hundreds of years. The son of the Blue Faerie searches for Sleeping Beauty and wakes her. They plan to marry each other. The Blue Faerie is again offended because she was not invited to the wedding. When she attempts to cast another curse, it backfires and turns to her. Sleeping Beauty and her king are able to live happily ever after.

REVIEW
When I began reading, I didn't expect the Blue Faerie's son to be the one that would rescue Sleeping Beauty. I liked that there was a sort of poetry included in the book with the spells. Readers are exposed to stanzas and rhyming when they say spells like, "My blessing here can never be, For I shall take my son with me. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, All mortals die and so they must. A curse I place upon this spot: All those with mortal blood shall rot."

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This has to be the most unique, take on sleeping Beauty, while still staying true to the story. And the illustrations are fantastic. Part of it makes me think at Stardust, while the other brings Disney to mind. But this is entirely it’s own lovely and spectacular work.