I think this may have been the book that made me a fairy tale retelling fanatic... ( )

Hm. I really liked these. I've a lot of experience reading children's stories and 'fractured' and 'modern' fairy-tales, so it's not just the charm of the novelty for me. I simply have to disagree with the reviewers who rated this so much lower. And I'm very sorry I can't explicate exactly why I like this collection so much.

A little bit of the 'why' is that there's generally at least some humor in the stories. They often tend to pay homage, not only to the original of the specific tale they're updating, but to the fairy-tale tropes in general. But of course, because the tropes are almost cliches, the homage cannot be 100% respectful, and is actually more engaging when paid with tongue in cheek.

Another bit of the 'why' is that the tales are for all ages. They're not too sophisticated or violent or erotic for children age 8, and they're not too simplistic or twee for adults. In my opinion.

They're clever and fun and well-told. I will look for more by every contributor to the book, even if I'd passed when I encountered them in other collections like [b:Black Thorn, White Rose|863540|Black Thorn, White Rose|Ellen Datlow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178999095s/863540.jpg|848964] or [b:The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest|249855|The Green Man Tales from the Mythic Forest|Terri Windling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1311838445s/249855.jpg|242107] or [b:The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales|463033|The Coyote Road Trickster Tales|Ellen Datlow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361075524s/463033.jpg|451480]. I will also reread this book before releasing it. (PM me if you live in the US and would like to read it - I would love for it to a good home and will gladly ship it gratis.) ( )

I loved this short story collection. My favorite was probably Neil Gaiman's rules for a fairy tale. Some of the tales were simply other perspectives of the tales we know and love such as Jack and the Beanstalk from the wife's point of view and the aftermath of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the dwarves. Others were completely changed such Ali Baba and the 40 aliens or an interesting version of the Ugly Duckling involving Albert Einstein. This book was extremely enjoyable. ( )

I loved this short story collection. My favorite was probably Neil Gaiman's rules for a fairy tale. Some of the tales were simply other perspectives of the tales we know and love such as Jack and the Beanstalk from the wife's point of view and the aftermath of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the dwarves. Others were completely changed such Ali Baba and the 40 aliens or an interesting version of the Ugly Duckling involving Albert Einstein. This book was extremely enjoyable. ( )

I loved this short story collection. My favorite was probably Neil Gaiman's rules for a fairy tale. Some of the tales were simply other perspectives of the tales we know and love such as Jack and the Beanstalk from the wife's point of view and the aftermath of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for the dwarves. Others were completely changed such Ali Baba and the 40 aliens or an interesting version of the Ugly Duckling involving Albert Einstein. This book was extremely enjoyable. ( )