I have loved fairy tales since I was a kid, and while I recognize many elements in my childhood favorites that are in contrast to my current values, I love reading modern takes on fairy tales with my kids. Below are some of our favorites, and we saved some for a future, secret stack as well!
Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat have two books featured in this stack, and this one was newest to us. Ninja Red Riding Hood is a hilarious flip on Little Red Riding Hood in which the Wolf and Red have both taken martial arts, making their battle really entertaining. Just when readers think Red is beat, Schwartz and Santat reveal Red’s grandma, on her way home from tai chi, who ends the battle and saves the day!
Santat and Rosen’s second of our stack- The Three Ninja Pigs– spoofs The Three Little Pigs. In this one, the pigs have taken martial arts as a way to defend against wolf attacks. Only the last pig follows through with her studies and is able to save her brothers from the wolf.
Mo Willems’ Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs shows three dinosaurs who scheme to eat a chocolate-pudding-filled Goldilocks. Goldi realizes just in the nick of time that she’s in the wrong enormous home and runs out of the story and into the three bears’ home. The dinosaurs are bummed, and the end of story take aways are hilarious. The end papers that show other takes on this story are also giggle-worthy. Bonus to the readers who spot the Pigeon in the illustrations!
Susan Middleton Elya and Susan Guevara’s Little Roja Riding Hood is a clever re-telling that uses both Spanish and English words to tell the story of Red Riding Hood and the big bad Wolf. In this one, Red and her Grandma are able to defeat the wolf and ensure Gran’s house is safe in the future as well. Look for the birds’ clever warning, and a Spanish glossary at the back to help with pronunciation and definitions.
Jack B. Ninja by Tim McCanna and illustrated by Steven Savage shows Jack, a ninja, who goes out to save the day. Eventually Jack needs some help from some other ninjas who turn out to be his family members on a secret mission to celebrate his birthday.
Based on my absolute favorite Grimm’s fairy tale, this re-telling by Rachel Isadora shows a King who offers anyone who can tell him where his daughters go each night the hand of one of the daughters. One clever soldier, with some help from a kind stranger, discovers a shocking secret that wins him marriage of one of the daughters.