This is a very clever story, intertwining characters from well-known and well-loved fairy tales, stories and nursery rhymes, such as Goldilocks, Jack from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, Jill from the nursery rhyme ‘Jack and Jill’ and Cinderella. More generic fairytale characters such as a frog and a prince also make an appearance. I enjoyed this story and think it has a lot of potential to be used in class. However, I also think that it would be important for the children to be familiar with all of t More...

Previously by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Bruce Ingman explores the idea that every story started somewhere, tying together six fairytale characters in one story exploring beginnings that occured ... previously.

A clever idea. The stories of Goldilocks, Jack of Beanstalk fame, Jack and Jill, the Frog Prince, Cinderella, and the Gingerbread Boy are combined. I didn't like combining fairy tales and present day activites, such as Jack playing soccer, which took me out of fairy tale mode. If the c More...

Eh...I would not borrow this from the library again. My daughter (5) did mention (so I guess she did realize) that there were many different tales intertwined into this story. But when I read it out-loud to my younger daughter (4), I wasn't impressed with it. It just felt like 'name-dropping' from character to character. I wish the stories and characters were more intertwined...besides just bumping into each other as they were running. Like if Jack's (from Jack and Jill) family had a huge medica More...

This is definitely the most unique children story I have read that somehow ties in characters from very well known stories such as Cinderella, Jack and Jill, Gingerbread man, Goldilocks and many others. I thought it was very interesting how all of these characters all tied into one another "previously". It can be a little difficult to understand if the children are not familiar with the original stories so maybe before reading this book, it would be beneficial to have the students read the origi More...

This book has a clever premise, bringing together characters from various fairy tales while simultaneously teaching the concept of "what came before." It gets surprisingly deep and complex at the end, mentioning how everyone was once a baby and all things were made from the trees and the earth, etc.
It's way over my baby's head, obviously, as he doesn't even have a grasp on the regular versions of the referenced fairy tales yet. I don't mind, though, as I read him all sorts of things at bedtime More...

I was really excited about this book- I had heard good things, I love fractured fairytales, the illustrations looked interesting, but somehow it didn't quite come together for me. Maybe it's because I wasn't reading it out loud (committing a big picturebook no-no) or had no children to read it with. I should really try reading it to my class and see how it goes. I really like the general style of the illustrations (especially the color, texture, and shape) but find them somewhat inconsistent- so More...

I really like this book; I'm not sure my kids get it, but that's OK, because they really like it, too. My toddler has been running around the house, doing specific things, and announcing each one: "Pweviouswy, I was on the porch! Pweviouswy, I was in the kitchen! Pweviouswy, I was playing with this toy!" I am very amused.

(Hm. I just read a bunch of reviews... other people didn't see this book the same way I did and focused on the author's success (or lack thereof) in intertwining fairy tales. I More...

This mostly worked for me. I read it because I enjoyed this author’s The Runaway Dinner. Here, the premise is what happened before each of the plots of several fairy tales, and each story flows into and is connected to the other. I thought that it was very clever and sweet, and I particularly liked all the babies toward the end. The connected multiple fairy tale story wasn’t 100% successful in my opinion, but overall I found it very enjoyable, and I appreciate the effort it took to create this. More...

The concept of the book is good--going backward in time through common folk and fairy tales, but the execution is weird. The book would be very hard to follow if you were not familiar with all five tales, and it seems like kids today are less familiar with common folk and fairy tales than they used to be. In the end, the book goes back in time to when all the characters were babies and all the houses, chairs, carts, etc were still trees. Very hard for a child's developing brain to wrap itself ar More...

I don't know many authors who can skillfully weave six nursery tales/rhymes together so well in only 30 pages, but Allan Ahlberg has done a wonderful job of it. Starting with the end of the Goldilocks story, we meet the Three bears, Jack in the Beanstalk and, by the way, his sister Jill of the pail of water fame, the Frog Prince, Cinderella, and the Gingerbread Boy, and we learn what happened previously.
If you are reading this to kids, make sure they know the real stories first. And if you don't More...

The idea was to start with a fairy tale, work backwards very briefly through the plot and segue into another fairy tale that happened 'previously'. If 'previously' happened to be a harmonious, onomatopoeic word it might have worked, but the constant repetition of such a long, going-on unlyrical kind of word just didn't read well. The wonderful illustrations almost redeem it and I suppose if I had been a pre-reader and could have told myself stories from the pictures alone I might have loved this More...

This book is akin to pressing the rewind button on selected fairy tales and linking them at the same time. Interesting concept and it tied in the fairy tales well, but it was a little difficult for my boys to follow. It is not a book to be read quickly butresuted in a bit of discussion/explanation. It kept my 10 year olds attention, but my 7 year old was floundering. I think I would have liked the ending to tie in more with the beginning, but I think the book is a great book for thinking kids an More...

I really wanted to like this story. Combining several fairy tales into one story is compelling and a unique challenge. But this book just doesn't entertain. The "previously" gimmick just really falls flat and makes it irritating to read aloud. The mixture of the old fashioned classic stories and modern day doesn't work. And the illustrations aren't good enough to give the story a boost. Nice concept, but just not catchy or engaging. By the way, what is up with the "milk-white Mercedes?!?" Meh. More...

Might be good to use for an extended fairytale, classic story unit if you are really hunting for something. Also good to teach the concept of beforehand and that characters have past and future lives. However, I'd only use it in a very extended unit as what the characters were doing PREVIOUSLY to the stories everyone knows about them wasn't really all that interesting and in some cases it was a retelling of the story backwards.

Almost a five-star. This book is unusual, a little too British, lyrical, and while looking at fairy tales and nursery rhymes in a funny way, makes you look at the whole world in a funny way. It keeps the kids quiet because they have to think really hard to follow the stories going backwards, each sentence beginning with "Previously...". It touches their librarian because it talks about the impermanence of things.

An inventive rewinding of several childhood favorites - Goldilocks, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Cinderella, etc. Reminiscent of Meanwhile..., although not as good. The ending faltered just a bit, but otherwise it was fun.

What were familiar fairy tale characters doing BEFORE the adventures that made them famous? Turns out they were all connected somehow. For example, previous to her experience with the three bears, Goldilocks met a boy named Jack (of beanstalk fame)...and so it goes. It's fun to hear the stories told backwards and the see how each character is linked to another. Grades 2+

Previously takes classic tales like Goldilocks, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, The Frog and the Prince, and Cinderella and tells the story in reverse order saying what they had "previously" been doing. This is a good book to read to early grades (pk-1)to strengthen text-to-text connections. For 1-3 this would be good to use for sequence of events.

This was such a fun and clever book! I can imagine using this with students and encouraging them to write their own "Previously" story, connecting one story to another. Reading this aloud to students, you could ask them to guess which story is up next. The writing is very humorous (some of it more understandable to adults).

Previously mingles folklore characters like Goldilocks, Cinderella, and the Gingerbread Man in a story told in reverse fashion. It's a quick read aloud to teach sequencing, cause and effect, and plot.

"Goldilocks arrived home all bothered and hot. Previously she had been running like mad in the dark woods."

Previously, this book was a fairy tale. Previously it was a mentor text for organization and circular stories. Previously this book should be read to students that are familiar with fairy tales, The Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, etc. Previously read with Fortunately and Meanwhile.

Definitely an odd sort of story in the fairy tale genre. I loved it for taking such a unique stance on a collection of traditional tales. It was a good piece of writing. The illustrations were simple and inviting and overall the story was a good one to read. A good edition to any collection.

I *loved* the concept behind this book -- it connects popular children's stories/nursery rhymes (e.g. the gingerbread man, goldilocks, jack & the bean stalk, jack & jill, etc.) and explores what happened before the known story occurred. Very original with fun illustrations. My kids (3 & 2) didn't really get it, especially since they don't really understand past/present/future all that well, but I think this book would be fabulous for an older child. Maybe ages four or five?

what a cute book! it tells the tales of what some of your favorite fairy-tale characters were doing before they came into their famous situations. my favorite part? that it took it all the way back to when it was all just trees and streams. that's my kind of book!

I really agree with Mary, a previous reviewer. It is a neat idea but the story goes at a frenzied pace that makes it pretty difficult as a read-aloud. It's really more to be studied than read I think; talked about as part of an assignment, for example.

I thought this was quite fun and I think it would have intrigued me as a kid. I like narratives that "go backwards" and this one is even more fun as it ties together various fairy tale characters and how their paths cross. I'm glad I gave it a chance!

The book is literally a backward collaboration of many famous fairytales which seem to have similar connections to English and American traditions.
Fairytales, plants, economics/currency (value), word problems, etc.

Rounding to 4. This one goes backwards through nursery rhymes and fairytales and connects them (Goldilocks bumped into Jack of beanstalk fame, who tumbled down the hill with hos sister Jill...)

One of the best childrens books I have read in ages! What were our best known storybook characters--the Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks, etc.--doing previously?! This is so much fun to read aloud ...

2=It's ok.

This was a cute conglomeration of bits and pieces from many different fairy-tales. I enjoyed the concept. The illustrations didn't appeal to me, they felt unfinished.