Fairy tales have been fractured, reimagined, told, and retold. Here, Yolen and Dotlich get into the heads of the characters and put their thoughts in verse. Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, and the Gingerbread Boy are all here. But sometimes it's not the character you'd expect who makes an appearance. The giant's wife explains how fond she is of Jack. The four principals from Rumpelstiltskin e miller, his daughter, the king, and the little man gue about which one of them has lied. There are poems, haiku, and even a letter from Goldilocks informing the owner of the cottage how bears broke in, causing havoc. Most are quite delightful, and a few are especially thought-provoking, including the anniversary note from Beauty after a decades-long marriage to the Beast. Oversize paintings fill the pages. The backgrounds ttled, dark, sometimes foreboding owcase witches, trolls, heroes, and heroines in startling new ways. In one, Snow White's head protrudes from a mirror. An introduction urges readers to use this book as a starting point for their own writing, while an afterword introduces the original stories.

An intriguing idea becomes a thought-provoking collection of short poems from characters readers only thought they knew. Yolen and Dotlich have taken 15 well-known fairy tales ("Cinderella," "Snow White," "Jack and the Beanstalk," etc.) and written two short poems in various formats spoken from the point of view of a character. The Princess and the Pea each get a voice, and so do the Frog and the Princess. Tiny Thumbelina gets two tiny poems, a cinquain and a haiku. The frontmatter lists who wrote what, and a very brief summary of each tale is listed at the end. While short, these notes include tale variants, which is very nice indeed. The beginning poem, "Once," is by Yolen; and the closing, "Happily Ever After," is by Dotlich. While every poem is accessible, some are richer and darker than others. "Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary" (Yolen) visits the couple in their old age and is wistful and touching; "Snide: An Afterthought" (Dotlich) is as the title states: "Ever after, I refused to call him / Rumpelstiltskin; / to me, he is a nasty little man." Mahurin's surreal images are layered with color, now matte, now iridescent, with exaggerated perspectives and dreamlike, occasionally nightmarish, elongated or oversized figures. The poets invite and may well entice readers to write their own fairy-tale poems. (Poetry/fairy tales. 5-9)

Gr 3-5 Mining the world of standard fairy tales, these poems are presented in the voices of the various characters. The pea relates his tale of woe upon being smashed by the princess. The giant's wife from "Jack and the Beanstalk" takes pity on the boy and facilitates his escape. A wounded Cinderella regrets her choice of shoes, and an introspective Beauty wonders if she chose the right spouse. A table of contents as well as summaries of the original tales augment the text. Stunning painterly illustrations may compensate for a few less-than-thrilling twists on the familiar tales. Stellar depictions of Rumplestiltskin and The Frog Prince richly enhance the text. Some poems are thoughtful and others merely silly but the illustrations are consistently eye-catching. The concept is fresh, and most of the poems are enjoyable if a few feel more contrived than creative. Still, this unique offering will find a home in language-arts classes, and the art begs to be shared one-on-one. Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH