just another dose of useless rambling

*I finished up Grimms' Fairy Tales today. This little Puffins Classics edition only contained 55 tales...which leaves me very excited knowing how many more there are to read. Going to have to buy The Complete Grimms' Fairy Tales very soon. Before I ramble on to other subjects, I just wanted to mention that I think this may be the funniest start to a tale I've yet read:

Once upon a time a mouse, a bird, and a sausage took it into their heads to keep house together...

Okay, maybe it's just my mood, but I can't read that without giggling.

*I'm tired of the spring weather roller-coaster. We're currently in a dip, with a high of 48 degrees for today. And rain. Quite dreary.

*I finished up The Translator last night, but I am really struggling at writing a review. Hopefully by tomorrow.


*Our dryer died today. So now I have clothes hanging all over the house drying. Not terribly attractive, let me tell you.

*Baker is driving us a bit crazy. Last Friday, he found a rabbit's nest in the yard. He killed one of the babies before I realized. But from the kitchen window, I saw him carrying something in his mouth. I went and yelled out the door for him to "leave it" and he immediately dropped it. Turned out to be an adorable itty bitty bunny, about the size of a mouse. I got him into a box with some grass,



and then Annie and I searched and searched and searched the yard for the nest but couldn't find it. Didn't seem like it would be that hard as our yard isn't very big. Finally Rich came home and found it fairly quickly. So we put the baby back in the nest, and it appears the mama has been back and taking care of it. But until baby is grown enough to be leaving the nest and whatnot, we've had to take to chaining Baker up in the backyard when he wants out instead of letting him run free. (The yard is fenced.)

A Wolf at the Door...random thoughts

A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, was my first read for Once Upon a Time II. It was a nice kick-off for me, a quick and satisfying read to get started. It consists of 13 tales by a variety of authors, some of whom I was familiar with and some of whom I wasn't (though I'm sure long-time fantasy lovers are probably familiar with all of them).

Of all the tales, there was only one which didn't really appeal to me. And that's not to say it wasn't good, it just wasn't for me. Which is really a shame; I wanted to love the story, because I really loved its title, "The Seven Stage a Comeback". I'll bet you can guess what fairy tale that one comes from, huh? Anyway, aside from that one by Gregory Maguire, I really did enjoy all the others. Some more than others, of course.

I won't talk about each one, but just mention a few of my favorites. I really enjoyed the one by Neil Gaiman, though it wasn't really a fairy tale retelling. It was titled "Instructions"...and that's just what it was, instructions for what to do if you ever find yourself stuck in a fairy tale. Very cute. Very clever.

I found myself laughing aloud at "Cinder Elephant" by Jane Yolen. Our heroine in this Cinderella retelling is Eleanor. She is dubbed Cinder Elephant by her "skinny as a straw" and "skinny as a reed" stepsisters. You see, Eleanor, while quite a lovely girl, is not a size two or four, or even six or eight, and she has very large feet. And yes, she is sweet, and she is smart, and she does capture the prince's heart with her knowledge of sports.

"Hansel's Eyes" by Garth Nix is more in the deliciously frightening category of fairy tale retellings, much as Hansel and Gretel is a deliciously frightening fairy tale. A video game, a cat sewn together from the pieces of other cats, and a cold room to store human organs all play a part in this story. I really enjoyed this sinister tale!

And finally, I'll mention the last tale in the book, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Patricia A. McKillip. Annie and I read this fairy tale not too long ago, and both agreed that while we loved the story in general, we were disappointed in its ending. I was definitely not disappointed in the ending of Ms. McKillip's retelling. In fact, I loved her retelling much more than the original tale, in part because of the ending, but also just because of her unique twist on the tale as a whole.

All in all, I can definitely say that I found this to be quite a delightful little book!

fairy tales and mayonnaise

...not one of those dynamic duos like Bert and Ernie or chips and Rotel dip. No, they really don't belong together at all.

I was chuckling aloud the other day when I read Kim's post about how hard she tends to be on books. Actually, the post was about a few of her favorite books, but in the opening paragraphs she admitted to some of habits that may have had some book-lovers clutching their hearts in horror. Now, I am certainly no Carl...my books don't come out looking as if they've never been touched by human hands. But I figured I probably wasn't quite as brutal on them as Kim. *** Kim, you do know I'm only teasing, don't you? :) ***

Well, I now must eat those words. (Even though I only ever spoke them inside my own head.) Last night while fixing supper, I figured I could sneak in a quick fairy tale. The Frog-Prince fit the bill, a short little tale which only took a few minutes. But as I was reaching to set the book down, it slipped through my fingers and landed in a roll slathered with mayonnaise. And it didn't land flat so the cover could just easily be wiped off either. No, it landed corner first, so mayo managed to seep right up between all the pages. Not a fun clean up job.

I've decided to look at the bright side though. When I decided to read Grimm's Fairy Tales for school this year, I just picked up an inexpensive little Puffin Classics version. But it didn't take me long to fall madly in love with these little tales, and I have been kicking myself for not just shelling out a few extra bucks to buy an edition of The Complete Grimms Fairy Tales. Guess now's my chance, huh?

Anyway, I was wondering, am I the only person out here that never really had much exposure to fairy tales as a kid? I honestly do not remember reading them as a child, or having them read to me. Yes, I'd heard some of "the biggies" like Cinderella and Snow White, but beyond that nada. But I have to say, that is one of the precious things about fairy tales...you don't need to be a child to fall in love with them. Here I am in my 40s being enchanted for the first time.

Annie and I have really been having so much fun with this "unit". We read a handful of tales each week, sometimes together, sometimes separately, and then we discuss them. And we're trying to work in some retold versions as well. I'm sure literary professionals would be appalled, but we have somehow, without even trying, set up our own little classification system for many of the fairy tales. Some of our categories include: dark and disturbing, no one could possibly be that dumb, and priceless treasure.

A few that have made that priceless treasure category in the last few weeks:

*Jorinda and Jorindel--a tale in which the power of true love wins out, despite an evil old fairy

*King Grisly-Beard--a tale about the evils or pride and conceit, and also about the wonders of love and second chances

*The Giant With the Three Golden Hairs--a tale of come-uppance for an evil, greedy king

And one final note on the subject of fairy tales...I started reading Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl last night. (The Goose Girl happens to one of the few fairy tales I was actually already familiar with.) So far, I am finding it perfectly delightful!