Fairy Tale Land

This would an interesting independent reading book for middle-grades students. While the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and detailed, this is in chapter book format, not picture book format, so it's probably best suited to older readers. The actual fairy tales are retold in simple, accessible language, geared toward older-elementary tastes (love stories are downplayed, plots are condensed, etc.)

Each tale finishes with a breathtaking map of the places discussed in the story. Students can imagine themselves in the adventures of the story and review the main characters/themes.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Well this wasn't quite what I expected from the usual selection of fairy tales for the young. And providing the unexpected is pretty much the point, but again I didn't get what I thought I would once I found that out. A dozen stories, starting with The Little Mermaid, have a huge, lovely, double-page spread to illustrate them, then the story over four pages, then a full-spread image once more, showing a kind of annotated map or diagram of the locations visited. The emphasis here, then, is on wondrous lands, castles and realms of the stories just as much as it is the tales themselves – but that's only really proven to be the case with the second picture, for the telling of the stories, as fine as it might be, is always very much a standard presentation of it. Nothing is exactly "reimagined", as the publishers would have it.

That said, this does look absolutely gorgeous, with the detail at immense level in the dioramas and spot illustrations too. Successfully giving us a fine little snippet of The Jungle Book, or doing the best one can at turning Treasure Island into a four-page masterpiece, the text clearly veers away from Fairy Tale land and into the world of panto and classical children's literature, but I think this looks like being a success. Just don't come here for any revolutionary spin on the stories – luckily the way the visuals bring them and their locales to life easily makes up for that.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Loved the art work in this book and would love to buy it one day, just beautiful and classic

I love having all of these wonderful stories in one book with beautiful illustrations. I really enjoyed the detailed maps of where each story takes place. A must have for your own personal library.

I LOVED this book! the graphics were stunning and it didn't make the stories too long before the kiddo got bored. I loved all the classics and it was really well written.