Good vs Evil

This has become a new fascination for Bobbin in the last two months. She's drawn to plots with sinister antagonists and battles between good vs evil. We're talking good vs evil at a preschooler level, of course. Although she does continue to be curious about more grown up, real world examples of good vs evil. Which is why we listen mostly to music on the way to school, and not NPR :)

Past favourites have included Cinderella and 101 Dalmations. Goldilocks and the Three Bears was interesting from multiple angles. Not so much because she thought the bears were mean; she knew they were not. But because Goldilocks had clearly defied her mother and had absolutely no manners to speak of, let alone a sense of personal safety.

Her latest fascinations are also classics:

1. Sleeping Beauty (my verbal rendition of the original as I remember it, and Disney's movie version)
2. Hansel and Gretel, retold and illustrated by James Marshall although she also has a version retold by Rika Lesser and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky who has done another book we've recently added to our library. See below. I like his pictures.).
3. Little Red Riding Hood, retold and illustrated by James Marshall
4. The Three Little Pigs, retold and illustrated by James Marshall

The latter three and Goldilocks are the James Marshall versions, , about whom I've written about previously. They stay true to the original story (not "disneyfied") while softening some of the more macabre elements with a touch of wry humour that adults and kids alike can enjoy.

Stories in which characters are eaten by other characters provide a level of fascination to Bobbin. Stories involving evil stepmothers and stepsisters likewise are usually hits. Stories that have evil fairies and witches are good ones as well.

Because I have heard many of these over and over and over again (from my own childhood as well as in the present) and although Bobbin is content with rereading the same material every night, I as the one reading these stories aloud on a daily basis, often multiple times per day, feel the need to mix it up a little bit more often.

Fairytale anthologies are not popular with her yet, because she likes to read the story cover to cover. Chapter books likewise are not something she's ready for yet. I expect though, by the end of this calendar year she'll start getting more enjoyment out of both and we'll be able to draw upon these for bedtime stories too.

But it's really really hard to find any classic single story fairytale picture books that do not feature a Disney Princess on the cover, and that have a sufficient balance between words and pictures to keep their interest. Too few words or two few pictures and Bobbin loses interest. Too many words and the same happens. A good fairytale picture book needs ample amounts of both. Vivid pictures that still leave much to the imagination and descriptive, creative language with new words that she can add to her ever expanding vocabulary and that creates interest and allows her to form pictures in her mind. Dialogue is also important because she likes using the same phrases to act out the characters when she pretend plays.

But I have happened across a few picture books that meet these specifications and that have become instant hits. Recent additions to our library have included a mix of classic fairytales and new stories:

1. Rumpelstiltskin, retold & illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky


2. Jack and the Beanstalk, Retold by E. Nesbit and illustrated by Matt Tavares


3. The Elves and the Shoemaker, Retold by John Cech and illustrated by Kirill Chelushkin


4. The Little Matchstick Girl, Retold and illustrated by Debbie Lavreys


5. Hans Brinker, Retold by Bruce Coville and illustrated by Laurel Long


6. The Widow's Broom, Story and pictures by Chris Van Allsburg


7. The Sweetest Fig, Story and pictures by Chris Van Allsburg


8. Just a Dream, Story and Pictures by Chris Van Allsburg

You may recognize the author and illustrator's name from the last three. Chris Van Allsburg wrote and illustrated The Polar Express (yes, the movie was based on a book :)) as well as Zathura (yes, that movie was also based on a book :)). He does absolutely beautiful illustrations and his stories are imaginative and contain happy endings although there are interesting characters that aren't always what they seem and that blur the line a bit between good and evil. I love them.

Bobbin has yet to let me finish The Little Matchstick Girl. She's afraid to get to the end because I told her that it's a bit sad at the end and the story always made me cry when I was a little girl. It's true. And I want her to know what she's getting into. So we've only made it to the fourth match so far. The rest though have been very eagerly received and reread.

I am still seeking non disneyfied picture book versions of Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Rapunzel, to name a few. She knows the story of Sleeping Beauty because I've told it to her verbally and she's seen the movie (and has already called attention to several descrepancies between my version and Disney's. Yet she continues to want to see and hear both :)). She knows the Disney version of the story The Little Mermaid. The original tale has a tragic ending that I think she'd actually find more interesting. Rapunzel would be a new one to her and it's been so long for me that I need to reread the story myself, and it is one of the few that is not in one of the many fairytale anthologies that I've kept from my own childhood. As I wrote this entry I discovered that Paul O. Zelinsky did a a version of Rapunzel so I think that will be my next online purchase :)

The picture book version of Cinderella she has is an old storybook of mine that was passed on to my sister (who wrote her name in it :)) and is now Bobbin's. It's retold by Evelyn Andreas with illustrations by Ruth Ives, originally published in 1954 by Grosset & Dunlap (no, I'm not that old. I have the 1974 printing :). It's true to the original and has in my opinion far more beautiful illustrations than any Cinderella book you can find today, including the Disney version.

Borders has an actual "Fairytale" section in their picture books, but it is mostly filled with Disney crap (don't get me wrong; I love their original movies and we have many of them but I don't like all the princess swag and "add on" stories they publish) and Sparkley books that feature Dragons and Fairies on the cover and in the pictures but lack any substantial story. Barnes and Nobles just sticks their fairytales on the shelf with all the other picture books, making them hard to find unless you know the author of the book you want. And don't bother looking under "Grimm" or "Andersen", because the author they're listed under will be the one who "retold" the book, not the original author of the book. And so I have spent many an hour at the book stores browsing shelves only to come up emptyhanded except for the few mentioned above. Next stop for me will be the independents and online. Although I much prefer to do my book shopping in person :).

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