Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 47

New Book: Be Your Own Fairy Tale: Working with Storytelling for Positive Life Change by Alison Davies

Be Your Own Fairy Tale: Working with Storytelling for Positive Life Change by Alison Davies is a new release. I admit I don't share many of the self-help titles that use fairy tale themes, but this one caught my eye with it's beautiful cover and interior illustrations which I am sharing below. I think the illustrator is Paul Oakley. I've also provided a screen shot of the list of fairy tales discussed in the book.

Book description:

In this practical and inspiring book, author Alison Davies shows how to use fairy tales to gain confidence, find romance, and discover your own personal yellow brick road. From Sleeping Beauty, symbol of transformation, to the 'rescuer' Prince Charming, to the scary, shapeshifting wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, the characters in these fabulous stories are embedded deep in our imagination and conjure up feelings that we can all identify with on some level. We can use fairy tales to understand what really makes us tick, to access our primal nature and rediscover the latent power within. They can help us to break bad habits, overcome obstacles and emerge from the chrysalis to make our mark in the world.

Working with fairy tales can be as easy as aligning to a character in a tale and then putting a positive spin on it. Sometimes the simple act of 'making it real', by living out the story in your mind, can change the way you think and behave. Davies offers a whole host of tips and practical exercises for working with the symbols, characters and storylines in fairy tales. These include storyboarding your own fairy tale to boost your creativity, devising a quest to build energy and confidence, identifying your inner hero to help with problem solving and learning how to be your own fairy godmother in order to bring the changes you want into your life!

Click on any image to view it larger.

New Book: Sleeping Beauty: Based on the Original Story by the Brothers Grimm by Sarah Gibb

Sleeping Beauty: Based on the Original Story by the Brothers Grimm by Sarah Gibb is a new release. It follows Gibb's previous fairy tale books, Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel: Based on the Original Story by the Brothers Grimm. Her illustration style reminds me of vintage Little Golden Books, which is a good thing to me.


Book description:

The classic tale of Sleeping Beauty is brought magically to life through Sarah Gibb's extraordinary artwork. The beautiful Princess Rosebud, the evil curse that sends her into a deep sleep, and her rescue by a charming prince are all represented in stunning silhouettes and intricate details. Each elegant illustration perfectly captures the magic of this much-loved tale. Sure to enchant readers of all ages!

New Book: The Perfect Match (The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker) by E. D. Baker

The Perfect Match (The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker) by E. D. Baker is a new October release. It is the sequel to Baker's The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker. It's not very often that we get a novel-length treatment of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I've lost count of Baker's fairy tale novels, but it is always fun to see what she will play with next.

Book description:

Former tooth-fairy-in-training, Cory Feathering, is coming into her skills as a matchmaker more and more each day. But as she hones her skills, she's still doing odd jobs around town in order to help people who need it.

One day as she's house-sitting for the Three Bears, Cory runs into the infamous Goldilocks. The girl with blonde locks wants Cory to help set her up on a date, but typical, no one is quite right for her. Then, Cory has a vision of Goldilocks with a prince who lives far away in a castle. The only problem? He's getting married to someone else. Luckily, the prince is a huge fan of Cory's band and wants them to perform at his ceremony, which means there might still be hope for Goldilocks. Will Cory be able to act fast and match everyone with their rightful love before it's too late?

This fun and joyful follow-up to E.D. Baker's The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker is perfect for fans of fairytale retellings.

New Book: Hansel & Gretel by Hollie Hobby

Hansel & Gretel by Hollie Hobby is a new release and I have to admit one of my favorite illustrated versions of Hansel and Gretel in several years. Just look at this page images I included below. They are scrumptious. Hansel and Gretel is a perfect story for modern Halloween celebrations--witches, candy and some jeopardy. One might think with the Holly Hobbie name his would be overly sweet, but it isn't. The atmosphere is gorgeous and dense.

So a perfect book for this week and I know I will adding this one to my personal collection. It resonates with me. Lovely!

Book description:

Holly Hobbie brings to life a favorite spooky tale from childhood.

When a woodcutter and his scheming wife abandon Hansel and Gretel in the forest, all hope is lost until they come upon a cottage made of tasty sweets. But the owner is not the kindly old woman she pretends to be. Can Gretel save Hansel from the clutches of a hungry witch? Holly Hobbie's masterful watercolors reach new heights in this spine-tingling rendition of the tale, faithful to the beloved classic.

Crafty Friday: Fairy Tale Sewing: 20 Whimsical Toys, Dolls and Softies by Heidi Boyd

Fairy Tale Sewing: 20 Whimsical Toys, Dolls and Softies by Heidi Boyd was released earlier this year.


As always, pictures speak louder than words when it comes to crafts. You can click on the images below to see them larger.

Book description:

Sew your way to happily ever after! Bring story time to life with this collection of imaginative projects. Drawing inspiration from classic fairy tales, author Heidi Boyd adds a modern twist to everything from huggable softies such as the magical Unicorn to interactive toys such as Snow White's Cottage Tote. Sleeping Beauty's Castle Quilt brings sweet dreams to any child's room, and the Rapunzel Pillow is perfect for cuddling and play. Readily available cottons, felts, yarns and embroidery floss plus clear instructions and detailed illustrations make sewing simple and straightforward so you can spend less time sewing and more time enjoying your favorite fairy tales.

New Book: Out of the Ashes by Alicia Buck

Out of the Ashes by Alicia Buck was released in September. I like the cover. It caught my eye and I wanted to share it here.

Book description:

When Ashelandra's father dies, she ends up a servant in her own house, instead of the Baroness she was supposed to become. But Ash's secret sorcery could be the key to winning back her home and following her heart to a future she never imagined. This fantasy-infused Cinderella story puts a magical twist on a classic tale. Riveting and original, it's a spellbinding read.

New Book: The Most Important Pea by Erin Lilly

The Most Important Pea by Erin Lilly is a new release. This one retells Princess and the Pea. Someday I need to do a count of how many times the tale has been retold from the perspective of the pea. I think there are more of those than of the Princess herself and definitely from the Prince's perspective. Some preview pages are provided below.

Book description:

"Peas are just like everyone else. They are born, are schooled in their pods, and strive to have a purpose." In The Most Important Pea, Erin Lilly will show that it does not matter how young or small you are. If you put your mind to it with a little faith and luck, you can accomplish anything. That includes a pea helping a prince find his princess.

Click on the images for larger views.

New Book: The Wild Swans by Jackie Morris

The Wild Swans by Jackie Morris is a new release, an extended retelling of Andersen's tale. Morris has offered a book like this before with her East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I haven't seen this new book yet, but I own East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The format is smaller than an average picture book with mostly small illustrations. They are beautiful. I have some sample pages below.


Book description:

This very beautiful and lyrical extended version of the fairy tale 'The Wild Swans' by Hans Christian Andersen is the much anticipated companion to East of the Sun, West of the Moon. With strong characterization of the heroine and also with more rounded characterisation of the wicked stepmother than in the original version, and with delicate watercolor paintings throughout, this is both a wonderful story and delightful gift. Beautifully presented in a jacketed edition with foiled title.

You can click on the images to see them larger.

New Book: The Fairytale and Plot Structure by Terence Patrick Murphy

The Fairytale and Plot Structure by Terence Patrick Murphy was released this fall. I'll let the book description and contents say the rest. Look at all those fun tales discussed in the book, though. We get two different Cinderellas and two different Bluebeards, too. How weird am I that the contents make me smile?

Book description:

From the time of the Classical era of Greece and Rome, literary theorists have been concerned with the subject of how the plots of stories are organized. In The Poetics, Aristotle put forward the crucial idea that a plot must possess sufficient amplitude to allow a probable or necessary succession of particular actions to produce a significant change in the fortune of the main character. In the early twentieth century, the Russian scholar Vladimir Propp put forward the radical idea that each of the plots in his corpus of a hundred Russian fairy tales consisted of a sequence of 31 functions executed in an identical order. In this way, Propp had provided a workable solution to the mystery of how that 'significant change in the fortune of the main character' might be brought about. In effect, what Propp had done was to discover the first plot genotype, the functional structure or compositional schema of a particular short fiction, the Marriage fairy tale. But Propp was mistaken in his belief that all plots were the same. Although the exact number of plot genotypes is still unclear, this number is not excessively great. Plot genotypes fall into set categories, which means that the analysis of a few important fairy tales will shed light on the way in which most fairy tales - and by extension most short stories and dramatic texts and Hollywood screenplays - are also organized. This study explores the plots of ten fairy tales to lay the foundations for a complete description of the plot genotype.

About the Author
Terence Patrick Murphy is Full Professor of Rhetoric and Composition in the English Department at Yonsei University, South Korea. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Merton College, Oxford, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the history of the little magazine in England. He has published essays in such journals as the Journal of Narrative Technique; Narrative; Language and Literature and Style. His major research interest is the stylistics of the plot in short fiction and film screenplays.

Contents:

List of Boxes ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xvi
About the Author xviii
Note on the Selection of the Texts xix
1 The Origins of Plot Analysis 1
2 Character Theory: From Aristotle to
the Cambridge Ritualists 13
3 Plot Structure: From Aristotle to the Cambridge Ritualists 22
4 From Veselovskian Motif to Proppian Function 29
5 A Proppian Analysis of Charles Perrault’s Cinderella 34
6 False and Real Sequences in Ashputtel 51
7 The Robber Bridegroom: The Limits of Propp’s Analysis 65
8 Fitcher’s Bird: A Second Horrific Fairytale Genotype 83
9 The Frog Prince: The Doubled Pivotal Eighth Function 93
10 Beauty and the Beast: The Irresolute Nineteenth
Plot Function 104
11 Puss- in- Boots: The Character of the Angelic Double 118
12 Tom- Tit- Tot: The Character of the Diabolic Double 129
13 Jack and the Beanstalk: The Hero’s Journey 141
14 Little Red Riding Hood: The Defeat of the Heroine in
the Struggle 150
15 The Story of the Three Bears: A Very Short Fairytale 157
16 Conclusion 161
Appendix 1: The Formal Representation of The Fox and
the Crow 177
Notes 181
Bibliography 193
Index 199

Bargain Ebook: Poison (Tales from the Kingdoms Book 1) by Sarah Pinborough

Poison (Tales from the Kingdoms Book 1) by Sarah Pinborough is on sale in ebook format for $1.99 instead of the usual $7.99 price for TODAY ONLY. It has not been on sale previously to my knowledge. I didn't own it yet myself. The second book, Charm (Tales from the Kingdoms Book 2), is also on sale for $1.99 and that pricing may last a little longer.

Book description:

An enticing contemporary retelling of the classic story of Snow White. While the the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and of course the poison all appear, Sarah Pinborough’s charming and provocative spin on the story will captivate fans of the fairy tale all over again.

The first of three brand-new retellings of classic fairy tales by Sarah Pinborough.

Charm (Tales from the Kingdoms Book 2) is on sale for $1.99 too.

Book description:

The classic Cinderella story is given a sexy contemporary makeover in this wicked fairy tale featuring all the heroes and villains that we know and love: the handsome prince, the fairy godmother, the wretched sisters, and the beautiful girl.

Beauty (Tales from the Kingdoms Book 3) is not on sale but remains at its $7.99 price.

Book description:

An enticing contemporary retelling of the classic story of Sleeping Beauty. While the the handsome prince, the evil fairy, the beautiful girl and of course the spindle all appear, Sarah Pinborough’s charming and provocative spin on the story will captivate fans of the fairy tale all over again.

The third of three brand-new retellings of classic fairy tales by Sarah Pinborough.