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The Rumpelstiltskin Problem

Vivian Vande Velde · back to the book

What’s in it

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24 books with the same feel

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Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales

Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling

Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales—evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's new anthology for younger readers, you'll hear from the Giant's wife ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), Rumplestiltskin, the oldest of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many more. A stellar lineup of authors, including Gar

Fairy Tale RetellingShort StoriesWhimsicalMiddle Grade
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Tales of the Peculiar

Ransom Riggs · 165 pages

Presents an illustrated edition of the fantastical book featured in the Miss Peregrine series that includes unusual fairy tales about wealthy cannibals, a fork-tongued princess, and the origins of the first ymbryne.

Fairy Tale RetellingShort StoriesWhimsicalMiddle Grade
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The Book of Dragons

E. Nesbit · 112 pages

Eight madcap tales of unpredictable dragons — including one made of ice, another that takes refuge in the General Post Office, and a fire-breathing monster that flies out of an enchanted book and eats an entire soccer team! Marvelous adventure and excitement for make-believers of all ages.

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The Little Bookroom

Eleanor Farjeon · 302 pages

Collects twenty-seven of Eleanor Farjeon's stories, which include kings, princesses, servants, a mysterious flower, orphans, enchanted woods, an organ-grinder, giants, a little dressmaker, fairies, and a kindly farmer.

Fairy Tale RetellingShort StoriesWhimsicalMiddle Grade
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Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales

Angela Carter · 486 pages

Once upon a time fairy tales weren't meant just for children. This collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales, hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories, from countries all around the world from the Arctic to Asia - and no dippy princesses or soppy fairies. Instead, we have pretty maids and old crones, crafty women and bad girls, enchantresses and midwives, rascal aunts and odd sisters.

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The Frog Princess

E.D. Baker · 219 pages

After reluctantly kissing a frog, an awkward, fourteen-year-old princess suddenly finds herself a frog, too, and sets off with the prince to seek the means--and the self-confidence--to become human again.

Fairy Tale RetellingWhimsicalMiddle GradeFunny
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The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Jon Scieszka · 54 pages

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is the ultimate in fractured fairy tales. Not only do the characters create their own stories, they also design the structure of the book itself. Classic fairy tales are deconstructed and rewritten with different but recognizable names, such as The Princess and the Bowling Ball, The Really Ugly Duckling, The Tortoise and the Hair and Chicken Lick

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Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version

Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm · 405 pages

Two centuries ago, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of Children's and Household Tales. Now Philip Pullman, one of the most accomplished authors of our time, makes us fall in love all over again with the immortal tales of the Brothers Grimm.

Fairy Tale RetellingShort StoriesWhimsicalChildren's
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The Wishing Spell

Chris Colfer · 448 pages

Frustrated by all the happy goofy representations of fairy tales? (Note: Chris began the concept for this book in his late high school years, which were much earlier than the copyright date of 2012.) Well, so was Chris. So, he decided to mix them up a little. This book has several of the standard fairy tale characters, such as Red Riding Hood, the witch who liked to eat children (Hansel & Gretel),

Fairy Tale RetellingWhimsicalMiddle GradeFunny
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Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions

Neil Gaiman · 352 pages

"En las manos maestras de Neil Gaiman, la magia es mucho más que un mero juego de engaños. La destreza y el poder de invención de este gran fabulador transforman el entorno cotidiano en un mundo hechizado por sucesos sombríos y extraños, en el que una anciana puede comprar el Santo Grial en una tienda de segunda mano, unos asesinos se anuncian en los clasificados de un periódico bajo la rúbrica ±C

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Toad Words and Other Stories

T. Kingfisher

From author T. Kingfisher comes a collection of fairy-tale retellings for adults. By turns funny and dark, sad and lyrical, this anthology draws together in one volume such stories as "The Wolf and the Woodsman," "Loathly," and "Bluebeard's Wife," along with an all-new novella, "Boar & Apples."

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The Red Fairy Book

Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang · 330 pages

Twenty-nine fairy tales from the folklore of France, Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia, including The Golden Goose, The Story of Sigurd, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Fairy Tale RetellingShort StoriesWhimsicalChildren's
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If the Shoe Fits

Sarah Mlynowski · 171 pages

In this fresh, funny new middle grade series, bestselling YA author Sarah Mlynowski writes for a younger audience for the first time! In each book, Abby and her younger brother Jonah visit the magic mirror in their basement at night, and the mirror transports them inside a different fairy tale. In the second magical adventure, Abby and Jonah are thrown into in Cinderella's story. But a broken foot

Fairy Tale RetellingWhimsicalMiddle GradeFunny
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Fantasy Stories

Noel Langley, John Masefield, L. Frank Baum, Rudyard Kipling, Eva Ibbotson, Elizabeth Goudge, E. Nesbit, Patricia C. Wrede, Andrew Lang, Jane Yolen, Tove Jansson, Andre Norton, Norton Juster, Joan Aiken, C.S. Lewis, Katharine Mary Briggs, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm · 254 pages

Diana Wynne Jones's personal choice of favorite fantasy writing is a treat for all fans - and the perfect introduction for anyone coming to this genre for the first time. This collection contains stories from some of the best fantasy writers of all time. With stories including extracts from classics to modern favorites, this is a comprehensive and satisfying anthology. There are humorous stories

Short StoriesFairy Tale RetellingWhimsicalMiddle Grade
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The Unusual Suspects

Michael Buckley · 290 pages

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The Light Princess

George MacDonald · 50 pages

Because she is not invited to the christening of the princess, the King's sister casts a spell depriving the child of gravity and the ability to weep tears.

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Japanese Fairy Tales

Yei Theodora Ozaki · 232 pages

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A Wonderlandiful World

Shannon Hale · 320 pages

At Ever After High, everyone is expected to sign the Storybook of Legends, pledging to follow in their fairytale parent's footsteps. But when Raven Queen came along, things became fairy, fairy confusing. Now no one's destiny is certain, not even for the most royal of them all, Apple White.When a mysterious being from Wonderland begins to infect Ever After High with a strange magic, everything goes

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Twice Upon a Marigold

Jean Ferris · 304 pages

After a quiet happy year in a small town, Queen Olympia regains her memory and initiates new plots and manipulations, as the residents of Zandelphia and Beaurivage, now ruled by Christian and Marigold, feel the effects of her bad energy.

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Little Red Quacking Hood

Noah Z. Jones · 80 pages

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Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Liesl Shurtliff · 264 pages

Relates the tale of Rumpelstiltskin's childhood and youth, explaining why his name is so important, how he is able to spin straw into gold, and why a first-born child is his reward for helping the miller's daughter-turned-queen.

Fairy Tale RetellingWhimsicalMiddle GradeFunny
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The School for Good and Evil

Soman Chainani · 496 pages

**A dark and enchanting fantasy adventure perfect for those who prefer their fairytales with a twist. The first in the bestselling School for Good and Evil series.** Every four years, two girls are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. Legend has it these lost children are sent to the School for Good and Evil, the fabled institution where they become fairytale heroes or villains. With her

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Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

Hamilton Wright Mabie · 266 pages

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