Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 103

Thomas Sully's Fairy Tales at the Milwaukee Museum of Art

THOMAS SULLY American, born England, 1783–1872 Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire, 1843 Oil on canvas, 50 × 58 in. (127 × 147.3 cm) Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Pauline Allen Gill Foundation, 2005.1
One of the most beautiful museums in the world architecturally, in my humble opinion, is the Milwaukee Museum of Art. The museum is actually three buildings, but I am referring specifically to the Quadracci Pavilion. It is very modern in appearance and sits on the edge of the water, looking like a ship at dock. It even has sails that move daily.

From the site:

The Museum’s signature wings, the Burke Brise Soleil, form a moveable sunscreen with a 217-foot wingspan. The brise soleil is made up of 72 steel fins, ranging in length from 26 to 105 feet. The entire structure weighs 90 tons. It takes 3.5 minutes for the wings to open or close. Sensors on the fins continually monitor wind speed and direction; whenever winds exceed 23 mph for more than 3 seconds, the wings close automatically.

According to Santiago Calatrava, “in the crowning element of the brise soleil, the building’s form is at once formal (completing the composition), functional (controlling the level of light), symbolic (opening to welcome visitors), and iconic (creating a memorable image for the Museum and the city).”

The “wings” open at 10 a.m. in accordance with regular days of operation, close/reopen at noon, and close at 5 p.m. (8 p.m. on Thursdays). Schedule is subject to change without advance notice due to weather/maintenance.

The interior is also light and airy and a feast for the eyes. I am a classic person and love old European architecture, but I also just love stunning architecture and you can see some in motion at the museum. Pictures do not really do it justice.

So why am I talking about this museum on a fairy tale blog? Currently there is a special exhibit there, Thomas Sully: Painted Performance, and within it are two fairy tale themed paintings. They won't necessarily be your all time favorites, but if you are in the area and enjoy art, it's an extra reason to visit the museum. The exhibit is there from October 11, 2013–January 5, 2014, so it will be around if you are in the Chicago area, too, during the holidays. Milwaukee is a quick, very quick trip unless there is bad traffic, from Chicago, a little more than an hour if you can travel the 90 miles on a clear interstate. I know because I've done it. And there's plenty at the museum to see besides the Sully exhibit, too.

From Work in Focus: Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire:

One of Thomas Sully’s most important subject pictures—or “fancy” pictures as they are often called—is his monumental Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire (1843). The story behind it offers a fascinating look into the world of a nineteenth-century working artist.

From the late 1830s into the 1840s, several economic crises threatened the United States. This affected the portraiture market, since potential customers chose to spend less money on luxury items. This hit Sully right where he lived.

In response, Sully accelerated his production of subject pictures, which he intended to exhibit publicly and offer for sale on speculation. One of these was Cinderella, which he painted in less than three months. His daughter Rosalie (herself a talented artist) was the model for the beleaguered heroine.

Sully’s choice of Cinderella was a shrewd one. Since its first publication in America in 1812, the story had appeared in multiple editions. It had also been the subject of a popular opera that had toured the U.S. the previous year, including Sully’s hometown of Philadelphia.

Sully depicted his heroine seated among the ashes of the kitchen, taking a break from her drudgery to play with a lively cat. In the background, her wicked stepsisters vainly primp while getting ready for the royal ball. The scene is set for the Fairy Godmother to appear and transform Cinderella into the ravishing beauty who attends the ball and captivates Prince Charming, leading to her very own happily ever after. The delicate pink and gray tones of the painting—and Rosalie Sully’s modest expression—emphasize Cinderella’s youth, innocence, and beauty.

Sully exhibited this painting in Philadelphia and Baltimore, where it was eventually purchased by a rich industrialist collector, whose family owned it until well into the twentieth century.

The Cinderella painting is on loan to the exhibition from the Dallas Museum of Art. I've shared it previously on the blog with the story of its acquisition.

In addition, there is another painting, Sarah Esther Hindman as Little Red Riding Hood, which belongs in a small but interesting genre of paintings from the 19th century, portraits of girls as Little Red Riding Hood. I've posted about these before here and here. And I see additional ones randomly every so often. I always enjoy these as a symbolic representation of how pervasive fairy tales were in 19th century popular culture--after all this is the time period when the Grimms and others were working to bring their familiar collections to us--inspiring artists and families to want expensive portraits of young daughters as an iconic character. LRRH was Perrault's influence from over a 100 years earlier, of course, but the popularity of fairy tales is apparent.

THOMAS SULLY American, born England, 1783 – 1872 Sarah Esther Hindman as Little Red Riding Hood, 1833 Oil on canvas, 52 1 ⁄2 × 32 1 ⁄2 in. (133.4 × 82.6 cm) The Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 4680-10-0096: Photo by Harry Connolly

New Edition of Once Upon A Time Storytelling Game and Supplementals

For many years, some SurLaLune readers have been fans of the Once Upon A Time Storytelling Game. The second edition has been out for several years, but a new 3rd edition is now available with new illustrations, color scheme and overall designs. The box is bigger, too. In addition, there are new supplemental materials. I will list them all below with their descriptions. The 2nd edition is still available but it doesn't have as many expansion packs available anymore. The imagery is darker color scheme-wise, not necessarily in content.


First is the original game, Once Upon A Time, 3rd Edition, and the bigger box will hold the expansion packs if you choose to add them so everything is in one place. The 2nd edition is in a box smaller than a mass market paperback. The 3rd edition comes in a box the size of a thick hardcover novel.

Description:

Tell your own fantastic tales of brave heroes and daring adventure!
Once Upon a Time is the award-winning storytelling card game that encourages creativity and collaborative play. One player is the Storyteller, and begins telling a story using the fairytale elements on her Story cards, guiding the plot toward her Ending Card. The other players use their own cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to use all her Story Cards and play her Ending Card. The object of the game, though, isn't just to win, but to have fun telling a story together.

The 3rd Edition features:

New Artwork: Entirely new artwork by fantasy artist extraordinaire Omar Rayyan.
Revised Cardlist: A re-worked cardlist designed to make play smooth and easy.
Redesigned Box: A larger box with new graphic design and "book-like" front flap.
Simplified Rulesheet: A simplified rules sheet designed to bring new players quickly into the game.

Product Description

Tell your own fantastic tales of brave heroes and daring adventure!
Once Upon a Time is the award-winning storytelling card game that encourages creativity and collaborative play. One player is the Storyteller, and begins telling a story using the fairytale elements on her Story cards, guiding the plot toward her Ending Card. The other players use their own cards to interrupt her and become the new Storyteller. The winner is the first player to use all her Story Cards and play her Ending Card. The object of the game, though, isn't just to win, but to have fun telling a story together.

The 3rd Edition features:

New Artwork: Entirely new artwork by fantasy artist extraordinaire Omar Rayyan.
Revised Cardlist: A re-worked cardlist designed to make play smooth and easy.
Redesigned Box: A larger box with new graphic design and "book-like" front flap.
Simplified Rulesheet: A simplified rules sheet designed to bring new players quickly into the game.

Once Upon a Time: Enchanting Tales. This one is pretty much a must for romantic fairy tale fans with cards inspired by those tales. It is an expansion pack for the original game.

Description:

In Once Upon a Time, players tell a story together using cards that show fairytale elements and endings. Now add more magic to your game with the Enchanting Tales expansion. Inspired by enchanted princesses like Cinderella and Snow White, the 38 Story Cards and 17 Ending Cards in this set can be shuffled into your Once Upon a Time storytelling card game deck to add new themes and more variety to your game. For an even stronger magical feel, try removing some of the core Story or Ending Cards.

Once Upon A Time: Seafaring Tales is another expansion pack for pirate fans.

Description:

In Once Upon a Time, players tell a story together using cards that show fairytale elements and endings. Now add more adventure to your game with the Seafaring Tales expansion. Inspired by daring pirates and stories of the sea, the 38 Story Cards and 17 Ending Cards in this set can be shuffled into your Once Upon a Time storytelling card game deck to add new themes and more variety to your game. For an even stronger nautical feel, try removing some of the core Story or Ending Cards.

Create-Your-Own Storytelling Cards (Once Upon A Time): For the artists and creatives, you can expand the game with your own artwork or ideas.

Description:

In Once Upon a Time, players tell a story together using cards that show fairytale elements and endings. Now give your own ideas life with the Create-Your-Own Storytelling Cards expansion. The 38 Story Cards and 17 Ending Cards in this set all have blank faces, so players can add their own inspiration to the game. Just use permanent markers to draw your own illustrations and titles on the cards, then mix them with your copy of the Once Upon a Time storytelling card game to let your fancy fly free!

Finally, Once Upon A Time Writer's Handbook is a writer's handbook, perhaps a nice gift for someone in the throes of NANOWRIMO this month.

Practice Makes Perfect!

This timeless adage is true of everything from bike riding to speaking a language. It's also true for writing. The most consistent piece of advice from professional writers is this: Write every day. It doesn't matter what you write, just write.

Great. Write what?

Welcome to the Once Upon A Time Writer's Handbook, where you'll learn how to turn the cards from the award-winning Once Upon A Time storytelling card game into the perfect framework for your own written stories.

Written by Kelly Olmstead, with an Afterward by Andrew Rilstone and James Wallis.

First Disney's Maleficent Official Teaser Trailer

There it is. The first Disney's Maleficent Official Teaser Trailer. The story is recognizable. And while it is based on Disney's Sleeping Beauty, it is interesting to get the story from the cursing fairy's (or witch) point of view since that is still not so common for this tale despite the current culture (but not first time ever) focus on fairy tale anti-heroes. All I know so far is that the horn's are real. And it will be fascinating to see how Jolie's box office draw combined with a Disney fairy tale will fare at the box office.

Maleficent will be in theaters May 30, 2014. I'm expecting a plethora of merchandising, aren't you?

Three Billy Goats Gruff Toys and My Favorite Book Version

My niece Kensie and I have been sharing The Three Billy Goats Gruff every time we get together recently. She is almost four years old and enjoys this story more than I expected. Of course, I adore it, too, and someday I hope she will still remember it--I think she will--and I will explain it is also part of her Norwegian heritage.

I started out with my favorite picture book version of it the story, The Three Billy Goats Gruff PB w CD (Book & CD) by Mary Finch (Author), Roberta Arenson (Illustrator), the version I have used for large storytimes for over ten years now. The text is perfect for reading aloud and the illustrations suit a larger audience sitting at your feet.


I especially love Finch's text for these lines which are quite fun to sing:

"I'm a troll, from a deep dark hole,
My belly's getting thinner,
I need to eat--and goat's a treat--
So I'll have you for my dinner."

Here's a page:


See, non threatening overall with playful colors although the troll is brown and mean.

After introducing the book, I produced my finger puppets for the tale--mine were made by Manhattan Toy and are discontinued--so we could tell the story again. Now, every time I visit, I read and Kensie plays with the puppets, acting out the story with great enthusiasm. I love the finger puppets I have because the middle goat is also a sister, not a brother, which adds to the fun. But they are no longer readily available for purchase so I thought I would see what else I could find. And I found Alma's Designs Billy Goats Gruff. What fun! Here's a little image of it with link since I put a big image at the top of this post:


There is also the Educational Insights Three Billy Goats Gruff which allows for finger puppet or flannel board use.


And another flannel board set, Flannelboards Billy Goats Gruff:


My other favorite is this puppet set, The Three Billy Goats Gruff Puppets, which would work better in a classroom with lots of kids:


I don't know if Kensie will receive any of these since I already have the system that works well for us and I like to keep the story new for when we see each other, but these would be great in the classroom or home. I love the story and I have yet to find a kid who doesn't either.

Shaun Tan's Grimms Märchen

(US and UK links)
So small parts of the internet--way beyond the usual fairy tale crowd--is in love with Shaun Tan's illustrative work for the German edition of Philip Pullman's Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version. The UK (Grimm Tales: For Young and Old) and US editions (Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version) were not illustrated, although the UK edition won the best cover between the two editions in my heart--I love the paper sculpture


Now--and this is funny ironic--Pullman's versions of the German tales (his translations of Grimms) have been translated back into German and published with these illustrations by Shaun Tan which are actually sculptures. And they are minimalistic wonderful. I adore them, too. The book is only available through third party sellers in the US since it isn't licensed for distribution in the states. You can buy it from the German Amazon or even the UK Amazon, too, direct from Amazon's distribution centers. Here are links: Grimms Märchen (US link) and Grimms Märchen (UK link) and Grimms Märchen (DE link).

Cat and Mouse Set Up House
From Shaun Tan's website about the sculptures (follow the link to read more):

So I was a little reluctant at first, but soon began to think of ways I could avoid painiting or drawing altogether. As a child, I was actually more obsessed with sculpture than painting and drawing, working with clay, papier mache and soapstone, and was reminded of this when browsing through my collection of books on folk art and particularly Inuit scultpure and Pre-Columbian figurines from Mexico. Many of these small, hand-sized sculptures are strongly narrative and dreamlike, and offered a 'way in' to thinking about Grimm's stories as part of an old creative tradition. The works I ended up creating hopefully convey the spirit of each tale without actually illustrating them, like anonymous artifacts in a museum open to all kinds of interpretation.

One of my favorites--for Thousandfurs (aka Allerleirauh)
The Fisherman and His Wife
The Frog King (another personal favorite and great pick for the cover)
Godfather Death
The Golden Bird
The Foreword
Hansel and Gretel
I don't know for sure! Guesses anyone?
Rapunzel
Gorgeous, aren't they? And remember they are only in the German edition which is harder to acquire outside of Europe. I would love to see the rest, such as for Cinderella and Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces.

And I think the paperback US version needs these, don't you? The paperback in the UK has already been published, alas.

King Valemon, the White Bear: A Norwegian Beauty and the Beast Tale

Hello all! I haven't forgotten to keep posting about tales in Beauty and the Beast Tales From Around the World. My grandfather died last week and the weeks before and especially after have been more than a little filled with other needs. It's time to return to the tales I love, however.

I was going to work chronologically--and I will somewhat in coming days--but my grandfather was a proud Norwegian since both of his parents immigrated from Norway before his birth. Yes, that makes me a quarter pure Norwegian, too, going back only a few generations. And a quarter German and a quarter Swiss and an 1/8 English and an 1/8 Swedish. Yes, overall, I am a Scandinavian by blood. Which explains my grandfather's 95 years with us despite years of cigar smoke.

So I wanted to share a Norwegian tale today to honor him. The two choices from my book are East of the Sun, West of the Moon and King Valemon, the White Bear. I think everyone is fairly familiar with East of the Sun, West of the Moon around here since it is the quintessential ATU 425A tale. And it is annotated on the SurLaLune main site although I need to finish updating the pages in the section with new info. And I will talk about it, too, mostly in the vein of interpretations of the tale since there are many great ones.

It is easy to confuse East of the Sun with King Valemon since they both have big white bears in them. And often retellers will mix their details, as happens in Princess and the White Bear King by Tanya Robyn Batt, in which the opening of King Valemon is used and combined with East of the Sun and The Black Bull of Norroway, a Scottish tale. Many of the Great Britain ATU 425A tales reference Norway.

There is also a Norwegian movie, The Polar Bear King, which references the tale, too.

White-Bear King Valemon by Theodor Kittelsen
The tale synopsis from Wikipedia is better than what I can write in a few short minutes, so here it is:

A king had two ugly and mean daughters and one, the youngest, who was beautiful and gentle. She dreamed of a golden wreath. Her father set goldsmiths to make it, but none of them matched her dream. Then she saw a white bear in the woods, and it had the wreath. The bear would not give it to her before she agreed to go away with him, and got three days to prepare for the trip. The daughter did not care for anything as long as she had the wreath, and her father was glad of her happiness and thought he could keep off the bear, but when it arrived, it attacked the king's army and defeated them, unscathed.

The king sent out his oldest daughter. The bear took her on its back and rushed off with her, but asked her if she had ever sat softer or seen clearer, and she said she had, on her mother's lap, and at her father's court; so the white bear brought her back to the castle. The next Thursday it came again, and the king tried his second daughter, and she also failed.

The third Thursday, the king had sent his third daughter, and she had never sat softer or seen clearer, so it took her to its castle. Every night, it turned into a man and came to her bed in the dark. Every year, she had a child, but as soon as the baby was born, the bear rushed away with it. At the end of three years, she asked to visit her parents. There, her mother gave her a candle so that she could see him. At night, she lit it and looked at him, and a drop of tallow fell on his forehead, waking him. He told her that if she had waited another month, he would have been free of a troll-hag's spell, but now he must go to her. He rushed off, but she seized his fur and rode him, though the branches battered her, until she was so tired that she fell off.

She searched in the forest until she came to a cottage where an old woman and a little girl were. The old woman told her that the bear had gone by; the little girl had a scissors that, whenever she cut in the air, silk and velvet appeared, but she said the woman had more need of it, and gave it to her. She went onto another hut, with another old woman and little girl. This time, the little girl gave her a flask that poured whatever was wished for and never emptied. She went onto a third hut, where the little girl gave her a cloth that could conjure up food.

The fourth night, she came to a hut where an old woman had many children who cried for food and had no clothing. The princess fed and clothed them, so the old woman had her husband, a smith, make her iron claws so she could climb the mountainside. With them, she reached a castle where the Troll-Hag was to marry the white bear. She started to clip out cloth. The Troll-Hag offered to trade for them; the princess insisted on a night with her sweetheart, and the troll-hag agreed but drugged him, so that she could not wake him. The next day, she bribed her way in with the flask; again the troll-hag had drugged him, but an artisan next door heard her and told the king. The third day, she bribed her way in with the cloth, and the king had not drunk the drink, and they could talk.

The king had them put a trap door in the bridge the bridal procession was to cross, and had it opened so that the troll-hag fell through it and died. They took her gold and went to his homeland for the real wedding, but on the way, they took the little girls, and the princess learned that they were her own daughters, whom the white bear had taken so they could aid her in her quest.

The tale also inspired the logo for Norsk folkeminnelag, the Norwegian Folklore Society. Yes, it looks like images for East of the Sun since she rides a white bear, too, but if you look in her hands, you'll see the golden wreath, the definite sign of a King Valemon tale. Besides, this image was obviously inspired by the Kittelson illustration I included above.

New Book: Hild: A Novel by Nicola Griffith

Hild: A Novel by Nicola Griffith is released today. I'm cheating because this isn't really a fairy tale retelling. But I am sure many readers here will be interested in this book. I'm not aware of any other novels about St. Hilda of Whitby, there probably are, but they would be rare, and this is new and is well-reviewed. And the cover is gorgeous which always helps despite knowing better as readers, right?

And I'm not cheating too much since stories of saints are part of folklore--I'm not discounting their weight as religious tales--but it's inarguable that legends and lores of saints have impacted other folklore and vice versa.

And I admit to knowing little to nothing about Hild who is mostly known through her appearance in The Ecclesiastical History of the English by the Venerable Bede from the 8th century AD. And since she is a patron saint of learning and culture, I find her all the most fascinating.

Book description:

A brilliant, lush, sweeping historical novel about the rise of one of the most powerful woman of the Middle Ages: Hild

In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.

But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world--of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next--that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her.

Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable--unless she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, for her family, for her loved ones, and for the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future.

Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early Middle Ages--all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith's luminous prose. Working from what little historical record is extant, Griffith has brought a beautiful, brutal world to vivid, absorbing life.

New Book: The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen from Taschen

The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen is officially released this week. This is essentially a companion volume to The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm which was released two years ago. I haven't seen this book in person yet, but the Grimms edition is attractive. And I am always thrilled with any book with a Princess and the Pea illustration on the front. The tale itself is so very short that it rarely gets many illustrations in an anthology like this so it appears the problem was a little solved by putting one on the cover.

This is certainly on my wishlist especially after reading about Jean Hersholt and his translations of Andersen. Read about him in the description below.



Book information:

The cornerstone of modern fantasy…

An exciting new compilation of Hans Christian Andersen’s world-famous fairy tales

The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen presents the most famous Andersen stories, including classics such as “The Little Mermaid”, “The Ugly Duckling”, and “The Princess and the Pea,” in a highly esteemed 1942 translation by Jean Hersholt. This lovingly designed book contains a sparkling and unexpected selection of beautiful artwork from the 1840s to the 1980s by such artist greats as Kay Nielsen, the beloved Arthur Rackham, the eccentric Tom Seidmann-Freud (niece of Sigmund Freud), and the groundbreaking film animator Lotte Reiniger, as well as exciting, newly discovered talents. The collection also features historic and contemporary silhouettes, which enrich the presentation of Andersen’s tales in a unique format, pairing one tale with one artist, and make this a fresh addition to children’s libraries as well as to adult art-book collections. In addition to the tales and illustrations, the compilation also contains a presentation of Andersen’s legacy, brief historical introductions to each fairy tale, and extended artists’ biographies in the appendix. Meant for the whole family, this precious edition shares the eternal magic of Andersen’s tales, celebrating his tender, heartfelt stories that have entered both our collective imagination and the literary canon.

Brings together the most famous Hans Christian Andersen tales in a one-of-a-kind design

Includes illustrations by famous artists from Austria, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the Ukraine, and the United States

Features the highly esteemed translation by Jean Hersholt, accessible to readers of all ages

Contains dozens of all-new silhouettes specially commissioned for the book

The following 23 fairy tales are featured in the book:
The Princess and the Pea, The Nightingale, The Swineherd, The Old Man Is Always Right, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Darning Needle, Twelve by Mail, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Snow Queen, The Flea and the Professor, Thumbelina, The Sweethearts, Ole Shut-Eye, Five Peas in a Pod, The Ugly Duckling, Little Ida’s Flowers, The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep, The Flying Trunk, The Little Match Girl, The Tinderbox, The Pen and Inkstand, and The Farmyard Cock and the Weathercock

About the translator:
Danish-born Jean Hersholt (1886–1956) was a Hollywood actor and radio star who dedicated years of his life to translating all of Andersen’s tales from the original Danish. His English translations were first published in 1942. He was also an avid collector of Andersen books, letters, and manuscripts, amassing the largest collection of Anderseniana in the United States, and eventually donating it to the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.. Hersholt’s most famous acting roles were as Shirley Temple’s grandfather in the film Heidi (1937) and on the popular radio show Dr. Christian (1937–1954). The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is presented at the Oscars.

The author:
Hans Christian Andersen is known today as the most famous Scandinavian writer ever, and his brilliant talent for storytelling has endeared him to millions. He was born into poverty on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark, a day that has since become known as International Children’s Book Day. Andersen was the first writer to create fantasy stories for children’s sake, spawning the modern phenomenon of make-believe stories told from the child’s perspective. By the end of his life, Andersen’s tales had made him famous worldwide, and he was deemed a “national treasure” by the Danish government.

The editor:
TASCHEN editor Noel Daniel graduated from Princeton University and studied in Berlin on a Fulbright Scholarship. She earned a master’s degree in London and served as director of a photography art gallery before becoming a book editor. Her TASCHEN books to date include The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (2011), Magic 1400s–1950s (2009), and The Circus 1870s–1950s (2008).

Fairy Tale Board Games on Sale Today Only

This is a today only deal but a great preparation for holiday parties or gifts. Amazon has a Gold Box Deal of the Day: Up to 50% Off Fun Games for Friends & Family. One outright fairy tale game is included and two others that include fairy tale imagery which I have mentioned on the blog previously. There are also several other great games in the deal--like Scattergories Game and Wits & Wagers Family and Konexi, but those are not fairy tale related, so I won't go into them more.


First up is The Three Little Pigs Board Game which is half off and $14.99 today only.

Game description:

A FAMILY GAME WITH A CLASSIC TALE. As a little pig, your dearest wish is to build a strong and beautiful house in which you can spend your long winter evenings. But you won't need trowels nor scaffoldings, as only dice will allow you to construct your dream home. Beware the wolf prowling around, whose only thought is to literally blow away your comfy house. The Three Little Pigs is an easy and fun dice game for the whole family. At your turn, try to get the better combination with the 5 special dice and build the most lovely and sturdy houses, by adding doors, floors and roofs. And if you accidentally bring the wolf out of the wood, just take a deep breath and shatter other players' buildings by blowing on the wheel. This original game comes with an illustrated version of the famous tale it is based on.

I've not played this--honestly, I didn't know it existed until I saw it here, but I will be playing it soon! Sounds fun for the kids in my life.


This next one I've mentioned on the site a few times and two versions are on sale today. This works with families or adults only.


Dixit is $19.99. I love the illustrations in Dixit and bought it previously but haven't played it yet, I admit, since most of the kids in my life are still too young for it and I just bought it in August when it was previously on sale. We will be trying it this holiday season though when the older kids come to visit.

Game description:

Every picture tells a story – but what story will your picture tell?

Dixit is the lovingly illustrated game of creative guesswork, where your imagination unlocks the tale. In this award-winning board game, players will use the beautiful imagery on their cards to bluff their opponents and guess which image matches the story. Guessing right is only half the battle – to really succeed, you’ll have to get your friends to decide that your card tells the story!

Every turn, the storyteller will call out a short phrase or word to match the image on his card. Then each player will choose the card that most closely matches that phrase, and then everyone must guess which card the storyteller saw when he invented his brief tale. Correctly guess the storyteller’s card, and you’ll move ahead. Convince everyone else that your card is best, and you’ll do even better

Fun for everyone!

Dixit is a wonderfully simple game, playable by nearly anyone with whom you share a common language. With a fantastic range of beautiful illustrations and rules that can be understood by children and adults alike, Dixit will appeal to anyone with an imagination. It’s no surprise that Dixit won the Spiel de Jahres award for game design in 2010. It is brilliant and simple, beautiful and imaginative, and fun for all.

Just beautiful, isn't it?


The second version is Dixit Journey. It appears to be the same game with different images, it may be usable as an expansion pack since it is cheaper today at $19.99 than the usual Dixit expansions. But I am not familiar enough with the game to know yet.

Game description:

A new and enriched environment where the sky is the limit for creating truly enchanting scenarios. Dixit Journey is a wonderful way to practice your skills at creating unique and subtle clues, while your friends test their abilities to bluff and mislead. A picture is truly worth a thousand words in this beautifully crafted board game that will be enjoyed by all. In each round one person assumes the role of "active player" where they create a clue made up of one or more words or can even be a sound or group of sounds. The other players will then try to mislead everybody by finding a card in their hand that also represents the same clue. Test your skills at correctly finding the solution to the clue.

2014 Fairy Tale Calendars

I never did my 2014 Fairy Tales Calendar post this year! And these are selling out. They rarely has a large enough print run to make it through Christmas shopping.

First up is Art Deco Fairytales 2014 Calendar: With Glittered Cover--there was one of these last year--which in reality is a Kay Nielsen Fairy Tales Calendar since all of the illustrations are his. I'm not complaining since he is one of my favorites. Here is an image of the back with all twelve months' images. April is one of my all time Nielsen favorites from East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

P.S. Kay is pronounced KIGH and rhymes with HIGH; it does not rhyme with bay, may, say, etc. Kay Nielsen was a man, not a woman.


Next up are the calendars from Taschen--the illustrations for these are pulled from Taschen's The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. It offers illustrations by several illustrators.


You have the options for The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm 2014 (Taschen Wall Calendars) or The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm 2014 (Taschen Weekly Tear-off Calendars). I have the back of the wall calendar below and we get another of my Kay Nielsen favorites for January, this time from Twelve Dancing Princesses.


Here are images from the weekly calendar, too.


Finally, for the Once Upon a Time fans, there is the 2014 Once Upon A Time Wall Calendar.


Once again, here's the back so you see the annual images.


I haven't seen an official Arthur Rackham calendar from a large calendar publisher this year although some small press publishers have done a few.

Anyway, this is a fun way to get fairy tales into your office. I admit I waver between these and the Reading Women calendars every year. I always imagine they are reading fairy tales or a really great novel. There are always a few of those but most are already sold out except for the one from Pomegranate--The Reading Woman 2014 Calendar--the one I chose for next year. Looking at all of these women reading inspires me through the year, perhaps more than the fairy tale images.