Fairy tales Archives -

The Dragon Slayer: Folktales From Latin America by Jaime Hernandez

June 4, 2018
goodreadswithronna
Action and Adventure, Ages 8 and up, Children's Book Reviews, Comics & Graphic Novels, Fairy tales, Folktales & Myths, Girls and Women, MG Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, Multicultural

THE DRAGON SLAYER:
FOLKTALES FROM LATIN AMERICA
By Jaime Hernandez
with an introduction by F. Isabel Campoy
(Toon Books/Toon Graphics; $16.95 Hardcover, $9.99 Paperback, Ages 8 and up)

The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America, a 48-page middle-grade graphic novel, gives modern readers a way to explore timeless tales. F Isabel Campoy’s Introduction, “Imagination and Tradition,” explains Latin American heritage is “richly diverse, a unique blend of Old World and New, spanning a continent across many geographic boundaries and cultures.”

A “recurring theme in the Latino experience is a celebration of strong women.” In “The Dragon Slayer,” one of three tales in the graphic novel, the youngest daughter is cast out, but her generosity brings her good fortune and, ultimately, a chance to conquer the fearsome seven-headed dragon. In the next story, “Martina Martínez and Pérez the Mouse,” Martina (a human) marries Pérez; soon after mishap befalls him but Doña Pepa’s quick thinking saves the day.

“Tup and the Ants” finishes the trilogy with moral and practical lessons. When three brothers are sent to clear the land for cornfields, lazy but clever Tup enlists the leaf-cutter ants to do his chores.

int spread from The Dragon Slayer by Jaime Hernandez — Interior illustrations from The Dragon Slayer: Folktales From Latin America by Jaime Hernandez, Toon Books ©2018.

Noteworthy back matter provides insight into each tale, explaining its cultural significance.

Jaime Hernandez’s illustrations will beguile new generations with humor, memorable characters, and fabulous monsters. This comic is well-suited for visual readers. Released simultaneously in English and Spanish, in hardcover and paperback, Toon Books aims for inclusion. Now celebrating their tenth anniversary, the publisher has over 1.3 million books in print.

Read more about Jaime Hernandez and Dragon Slayer’s special features at Toon Books here.

★ A New York Times Editors’ Choice
★ Starred Review – Kirkus

• Reviewed by Christine Van Zandt

Writer, editor, and owner of Write for Success www.Write-for-Success.com

@WFSediting, Christine@Write-for-Success.com

Click here for a review of another Toon Book

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

July 22, 2014
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Contemporary Fantasy, Fairy tales, Middle Grade Fiction

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee is reviewed by MaryAnne Locher.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2014.

A knock-kneed, asthmatic, tween-aged girl digs deep within, faces her greatest fears, and saves the world. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers; 2014; $16.99, Ages 8 – 12) by the award-winning author of The Anatomy of Wings, Karen Foxlee, combines a classic fairytale and contemporary fantasy to create the perfect middle-grade fiction novel.

Ophelia, her older sister, Alice, and their father are grieving over the death of the girls’ mother. Ophelia’s father takes a job at a museum in a city that is inexplicably in a perpetual state of winter. Snow and ice cover all the land.

The girls are left to fend for themselves much of the time as their father helps the beautiful museum curator, Miss Kaminski, prepare for Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the World.

Ophelia’s father is quite taken by Miss Kaminski’s beauty and Alice enjoys the finer things in life that Miss Kaminski offers her. Normally a logical girl, Ophelia’s intuition has her avoiding the curator. Instead, Ophelia has taken to wandering about alone and discovers a secret room inside which, locked up, is a boy from a different time than the present. The boy requests Ophelia’s help in finding the key to release him so that together they may save the world from the evil snow queen. The room, as well as the key to it, is guarded by unearthly creatures that test Ophelia’s sensibilities and courage even more. As the time draws closer for The Exhibition, Ophelia discovers dark truths about the curator that give Ophelia the brave determination needed to save the boy, her family, and the world from the snow queen.

This book is a wonderful modern day fairytale that Kirkus Reviews called- ”A well-wrought, poignant and original reworking of Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.”

Grimmtastic Girls by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams

March 25, 2014
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Contests & Giveaways, Fairy tales, Family & Relationships, MG Fiction

On Good Reads With Ronna Today, A Book Blast Featuring
The Grimmtastic Girls & $50 Book Blast Giveaway, Too!

Grimmtastic Girls #1: Cinderella Stays Late by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams (Scholastic Inc., Ages 8-12), Publication Date: March 25, 2014 Pages: 192

Summary: The authors of the hit Goddess Girls series put a fun and girly twist on another super-popular theme: fairy tales!

Once upon a time, in faraway Grimmlandia…

A Grimmtastic girl named Cinderella is starting her first week at Grimm Academy on the wrong foot. Cinda’s totally evil stepsisters are out to make her life miserable. The Steps tease Cinda, give her terrible advice about life at the academy, and even make her look bad in front of her new friends, Red, Snow, and Rapunzel! But when Cinda overhears the Steps plotting a villainous deed that could ruin Prince Awesome’s ball, Cinda, her new friends, and a pair of magical glass slippers have to stop them–before the last stroke of midnight!

Grimmtastic Girls #2: Red Riding Hood Gets Lost by Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams (Scholastic Inc., Ages 8-12), Publication Date: March 25, 2014 Pages: 192

Summary: Red Riding Hood might have a terrible sense of direction, but her grimmtastic friends are always there to help!

Once upon a time, in faraway Grimmlandia…

Red Riding Hood is thrilled to try out for the school play. Acting is her dream, and she’s great at it–too bad she has stage fright! After a grimmiserable audition, Red decides to focus on helping her friends Cinda, Snow, and Rapunzel save Grimm Academy from the E.V.I.L. Society. But when Red gets lost in Neverwood forest and runs into Wolfgang, who might be part of E.V.I.L., she needs her magic basket and a grimmazingly dramatic performance to figure out what’s going on!

About the Authors: Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams

Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated more than 130 children’s books, including Little Red Writing (illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet) and Zero the Hero. She lives in NC and is online at www.joanholub.com

Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

Suzanne Williams is the author of nearly 50 books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg). She lives near Seattle, WA and is online at www.suzanne-williams.com

Author Blog | Goodreads

Co-authors Joan and Suzanne have written the Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series. Though they live in different states and hardly ever get to see each other, they spend lots of time together in Grimmlandia.

Facebook (Grimmtastic Girls) | Facebook (Goddess Girls Books)

Online Author Visits

DON’T MISS THIS FABULOUS $50 BOOK BLAST GIVEAWAY!

Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice)

Contest ends: April 23, 11:59 pm, 2014

Open: Internationally

How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the authors, Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.

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