Fairy tales tell of adventure, adversity, courage, and love. But once the tale is told, all we know of our heroes and heroines is that they lived Happily Ever After. But surely there must be more to it than that? Ever After is a long time to be Merely Happy. What are our heroes and heroines doing now? How do they feel about the fantastic events that they encountered? What lessons have they learned? And if they could go back in time, would they do the same things again? Does life seem boring now in comparison, or are they relieved they no longer have to keep their eyes peeled for poisonous apples, fearsome dragons, uncomfortable peas, etc.? For the past few years, the curious among you have been asking these questions and sending them to me, C.C. Cecily, the Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club. I then pass on these communications to the Fairy Folk concerned and await their replies, which I then forward back to the relevant parties. If necessary, I add my own comments and clarifications. - from the introduction by C.C Cecily.
The fairy tales featured in this book are: Little Red Riding Hood; The Emperor's New Clothes; The Princess and the Pea; The Frog Prince; Rapunzel; Rumpelstiltskin; The Little Mermaid; Cinderella; Hansel and Gretel; Jack the Beanstalk; and The elves and the Shoemaker. And there are stories/letters to characters that are not from fairy tales - Humpty Dumpty (it's a nursery rhyme) and Pinocchio.
Older readers who dip into The Fairy Tale Fan club will probably need to revisit some of the fairy tales especially The Little Mermaid. And they may find some of the vocabulary quite challenging: esteem, solemnizes, sham, gist, propulsive, prowess, and perplexed.
Why did I buy this book? Well, it was bound to happen sometime - I accidentally bought a 'celebrity' book! In fairness to myself this guy is a UK celebrity (not Australian) and there is no indication of his celeb status in the bio notes at the back of this book. Also, in fairness to myself, this book has had some very positive reviews which is how it came to my attention.
And finally, I do like illustrations by David Roberts such as The Dunderheads and this series by Andrea Beaty. Oh, and this book was a little cheaper at Gleebooks who generously offered participants at a recent event a 20% discount.
You will notice I have not given this book any stars. I found it hugely disappointing. I love the idea of what happened after the 'they all lived happily ever after' ending of all classic fairy tales and I also love books that are fractured fairy tales or that innovate on well-known fairy tale stories. Here is my Pinterest. But this book feels as though it is trying too hard and somehow it just didn't work for me. All this means I won't add this book to my own bookshelves instead I will add it to my book gift box of titles I am taking to a local teacher-librarian network meeting.
I heartily agree with the comments from this Good Reads reviewer: My main struggle with this book was that I found the intended audience really confusing. The letters are witty - dry wit, oftentimes - as you’d expect from an accomplished comedian like this and much better suited to adult readers (still accessible to a more mature older child perhaps). However, there are also parts which reference a parent might be reading this book to their child, i.e. a much younger child, and the illustrations are certainly geared towards a younger reader too. Equally the very short length and large illustrative component is suggestive of younger readers, so I’m a bit lost as to who this book might be best intended for.
I had a long discussion recently with a colleague in the Book Bunker library at Westmead children's hospital about celebrity books and about the way so many of them seem to have to mention farts or farting. I think we found over twenty in our small library collection. AND so yes, I am sad to report that The Fairy Tale Fan Club meets these criteria too. At times the humour in this book feels too adult to be included in a children's book. You can read a text extract here. Read this review from Red Reading Hub which begins This is essentially a satirical collection of letters supposedly written to or from well-known fairy tale characters, each with an introduction by the supposed narrator—C.C. Cecily, the Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club. That word SATIRICAL feels like an adult label to me.
There are two covers above. I prefer the top one but copies of this book here in Australia have the second cover.
Other (better) fairy tale continuation stories for younger readers:
Who is Richard Ayoade. His photo might seem familiar. You can hear him (and others) reading an audio sample of his book here:
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