The Princess Tales are a series of short novels by Gail Carson Levine, the author of Ella Enchanted. Anything by Levine is awesome. These books combine and retell various fairy tales. They are witty and hilarious. This is the second one we've read as a bedtime story and they are definitely favorites with my girls. They make great read-alouds because they have short chapters, and lots of natural breaks which makes it easy to stop until the next time. I especially like the book design. They are skinny and tall little books that fit easily in your hand and have fun little pictures throughout. This particular book is a take-off on Cinderella with a little Rapunzel mixed in. This time the Cinderella character, Cinderellis, is a boy, incredibly gifted as an inventor. He lives with his two older brothers, who aren't mean as much as they just ignore him and are totally oblivious to any of his accomplishments. Meanwhile, in a nearby kinddom, lives a princess who's father is a little obsessed with random contests. He decides to offer his daughter's hand in marriage to the man who can climb up a huge glass tower and rescue her. Cinderellis decides to solve the puzzle in order to get his brothers' attention. It's a fun story. The characters are very likeable and it's an extremely creative story.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
12. The Princess Tales: Cinderellis and the Glass Hill
The Princess Tales are a series of short novels by Gail Carson Levine, the author of Ella Enchanted. Anything by Levine is awesome. These books combine and retell various fairy tales. They are witty and hilarious. This is the second one we've read as a bedtime story and they are definitely favorites with my girls. They make great read-alouds because they have short chapters, and lots of natural breaks which makes it easy to stop until the next time. I especially like the book design. They are skinny and tall little books that fit easily in your hand and have fun little pictures throughout. This particular book is a take-off on Cinderella with a little Rapunzel mixed in. This time the Cinderella character, Cinderellis, is a boy, incredibly gifted as an inventor. He lives with his two older brothers, who aren't mean as much as they just ignore him and are totally oblivious to any of his accomplishments. Meanwhile, in a nearby kinddom, lives a princess who's father is a little obsessed with random contests. He decides to offer his daughter's hand in marriage to the man who can climb up a huge glass tower and rescue her. Cinderellis decides to solve the puzzle in order to get his brothers' attention. It's a fun story. The characters are very likeable and it's an extremely creative story.
