Cover Image: The Singing Rock & Other Brand-New Fairy Tales

The Singing Rock & Other Brand-New Fairy Tales

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Member Reviews

Four new, humorous, gorgeously illustrated fairytales featuring a frog, a genie, an untalented minstrel, farm animals, a witch, an artist, a parrot, and a few magicians. This reminded me of my fairytale-obsession period, when as a kid I would read and re-read Grimm's fairytales until my books fell apart.

There's a solid trickster element to each of these tales, with the folks who are trying to do the tricking finally getting some kind of comeuppance, with the possible exception of the frog who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Each of these stories is just delightful, using the visual graphic medium to help tell the story. And the text seems geared to a younger set as well, which is a nice way to make this kind of story accessible to a newer reader.

Received an eArc from NetGalley.

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I love fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, and these new fairy tales are right on point. Will be wonderful for libraries and classrooms!

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Fairy tales for modern kids!! Who doesn't love a good story? These are perfect for voracious readers who are gaining confidence reading alone, as they will be engaged by the comic style bright illustrations, while the tales are just as lovely for curling up to share a story with loved ones.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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I loved this graphic novel collection of "brand new fairy tales" - while they might have gone over the head of our three year old, Daddy and I were laughing all the way at the antics! The first story, Hop Hop Wish, had us laughing the most as a genie fruitlessly tries to grant wishes to an unsuspecting frog. The Singing Rock was all the more hilarious thanks to Daddy reading it aloud and doing all of the singing farm animals. The Sorcerer's New Pet had us brushing up on our Pig Latin (and was not easy to read aloud LOL) and we enjoyed the twist at the end after the big bad wizard got his comeuppance. Lastly, Ogreish Art had some fun gags and even we thought the blank canvas trick was going to work!

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This was a cute little graphic novel intended for children, but I believe that adults, too, would enjoy the story lines.

The book contains four short tales similar to classic fairy tales but with a twist to them.

Hop Hop Wish is about a frog who hops on and therefore rubs a magic lantern which produces a genie who wants to grant him 3 wishes.

The Singing Rock is about a musician who always sang and annoyed a local witch.

The Sorcerer's New Pet tells of a sorcerer who is envied by the King's chief magician who hope to steal some of the socerer's spells. The sorcerer uses Pig Latin which is fun to read and will cause giggles for children who have never heard it before.

Ogreish Art tells of an artist who always wants to paint his subjects in the best possible light.

All of the stories seem to have a common message of being content with what you have/enjoying things they are. Not a bad message to send to the world today.

In some ways, I fell like the intended age range is too young to truly appreciate some of the humor presented. The pictures were wonderful! The artist did and excellent job with the book. The end had some of the sketches used in planning the book. This is good for those budding artists to see what goes into producing a graphic novel.

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4*
Pros: Lovely and vibrant color palette. Super cute illustrations and character concepts. PoC leads. Wholesome short stories with interesting endings. Honestly, a great introduction for middle-graders to graphic novels.
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Cons: Unfinished ending to the first short story, which coincidentally was the one I was most invested in.

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A collection of short graphic novel fairytales.

The first story in this collection is “Hop Hop Wish” in which a frog accidentally frees a genie, and the genie doesn’t know how to please this new master. There are definite elements of this story that are fractured parts of Aladdin and Frog Prince. The contentement of the frog and preference for simple pleasures is refreshing. The second story is “The Singing Rock” about a witch who can’t stand any kind of music and is notorious for turning everyone who whistles, hums, or sings into a farm animal and her encounter with a very stubborn minstrel. This story feels very familiar, but I think it is just that it takes many of the elements of Bremen Town Musicians and Pied Piper of Hamelin and mixes them up into something that feels familiar but is all new. Third is “The Sorcerer’s New Pet” that tells the tale of a naturally gifted magician who is satisfied to just help the general populace and the royal sorcerer who is jealous and has to stoop to trickery to get new spells. When the royal sorcerer gives the gifted magician a parrot, things don’t quite turn out like he expects. This contains shades of the myth of Midas getting donkey ears, and has a good lesson on how deception and trying to steal someone else’s work can horribly backfire. It also has a nice dosage of Pig Latin for little code lovers. And the last story “Ogreish Art” is about a painter who could make anyone look beautiful in his portraits but he has a little extra challenge when invited to paint the Ogre King’s portrait. This one gives an obvious nod to The Emperor’s New Clothes, but the overall message is that honesty is the best policy. I really like this collection for its wide audience appeal. It has classic feel, but is very original too. The art style is quite fun. And I can see this appealing to everyone from 3-year-olds to 93-year-olds. Definitely getting copies of this for both our elementary and secondary libraries! Hand this to anyone you know who likes fractured fairy tales, graphic novels, or is looking for short stories with good messages wrapped up in fun art.

Notes on content [based on ARC]: No content issues.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a nice collection of short stories, with illustrations that really stood out. My favorite of the bunch was the story of the ogre and the painter.

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Very interesting premise to come up with new fairy tales. Children who enjoy traditional fairy tales will enjoy this. Many of the stories are also quite humorous.

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While I’m not the intended audience, my children will love this book! My personal favorite was “The Sorcerer’s New Pet”.

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A hilarious new take on old fairy tales. Just when you thought you knew the story... wham... the tale surprises you.

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I cannot say how much I loved this book! All of the stories were fantastic and the artwork is gorgeous!!! There were four new fairy tales" Hop, Hop, Wish, The Singing Rock, The Sorcerers New Pet, and Ogreish Art. I really can't pick which one was my favorite, I loved them all! I don't want to give away what any of the stories are about (although you may have a guess form the titles) so this review will be pretty short. If you are a fan of fairy tales new and old then this will be right up your alley. I highly recommend this title be purchased for public libraries as well. It would make a fantastic addition to any collection!

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Un genio fastidioso e un ranocchio determinato, una strega che non ama la musica, un mago troppo furbo per il suo bene, un artista che riscopre la vera arte: sono i protagonisti di quattro brillanti fiabe dagli echi classici ma profondamente moderne nelle tematiche e nell'ironia di dialoghi e storia, rese ancora  più appetibili dalle bellissime tavole.

Sono infatti tavole a fumetti, da godersi in ogni garbata vignetta, alla ricerca di particolari nascosti che aggiungano ancora più gusto al racconto.

delizioso, da scoprire e regalare.

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These are hilarious, beautiful, diverse, and perfectly magical. I read them to my 5 year old daughter and she ate them up. A great combination of the light-heartedness with a touch of moral at the end.

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These original fairy tales manage to feel classic without retelling the same tired stories or hitting you over the head with moralizing. Instead, they rely on classic motifs and stunning artwork to tell their story. I'm looking forward to adding this to the library collection and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more work by both author and artist in the future.

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Great new fairy tales with messages that don't knock you over. Drawn beautifully.
Appropriate for all ages.
If you like fairy tales and want to read something different, this is the book for you.

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These new fairy tales are such fun! The stories are clever and witty, and the illustrations bright and joyous. I especially enjoyed the twists on standard tales, with the clever relationship between the "genie in the lamp" and the frog - very funny and has tremendous potential for storytime activities. All the stories will appeal to the early grade set and can be made into fun and funny storytimes by chidlren's librarians and teachers. Highly recommended.

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It's not too often that new fairy tales are created nowadays, and for them to be created in a graphic novel format is excellent! The art is gorgeous and colorful and I think my younger library patrons are going to gobble it up.

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This was a very cute book of new fairy tales, I especially loved The Sorcerer's New Pet but they were all very cute and creative stories. My only complaint was that the speech bubble font was a little difficult to read (the E's all looked like B's to me at first) but other than that the artwork was stunning and so was the storytelling! These are really cute and I can't wait to be able to use this book in story times!

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I am thoroughly disappointed... That there is more! Oh my god, did zienjoy that! I can’t wait to share it with my patrons! I hate that I have to wait until June to do it! This is almost the perfect little brain teaser for the kids, nothing that will completely overwhelm them, just slight nudges to help the thought bubble to form. It’s cute and fun! June 18th can’t get here soon enough!

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