Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 49

New Book: Cinderella's Shoes by Shonna Slayton

Cinderella's Shoes by Shonna Slayton is released this week. The book is the sequel to Cinderella's Dress which was released last year. The description for this new title has a little Warehouse 13 or The Librarians vibe to it but in a historical fiction setting.

Book description:

The war may be over, but Kate Allen's life is still in upheaval. Not only has she discovered that Cinderella was real, but now she's been made Keeper of the Wardrobe, her sole responsibility to protect Cinderella's mystical dresses from the greed of the evil stepsisters' modern descendants.

But Cinderella's dresses are just the beginning. It turns out that the priceless glass slippers might actually exist, too, and they could hold the power to reunite lost loved ones like her father-missing in action since World War II ended. As Kate and her boyfriend, Johnny, embark on an adventure from New York to Italy and Poland in search of the mysterious slippers, they will be tested in ways they never imagined.

Because when you harness Cinderella's magic, danger and evil are sure to follow...

New Book: Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies)

Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) edited by Professor Christine A. Jones and Jennifer Schacker is a new September release. I received a review copy so I can actually review this one with some confidence, too.

Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) is part of the Series in Fairy-Tale Studies from Wayne State University Press. It's a new and different kind of release in the series which has had a strong academic focus until this book. This book has an academic foundation, never fear, but it is more suitable for a larger audience with a wider age range. In other words, this one fits comfortably on an academic shelf or an older kid's bookshelf. I say older, perhaps 8-10 and up since the tales are longer (most aren't suitable length for a bedtime story, for example) and the content is more mature--not adult or unsuitable for kids, per se, just older themes. With that said, I should quote the introduction that says:

This volume of vintage tales was conceived especially for readers beyond childhood, those at an age when fairy tales may not appear to have much to offer and who therefore stand to be charmed by characters and plots they did not expect to find interesting.

But young readers will be drawn to the book, too, since it is beautifully presented.

There are 10 tales following the title's theme as well as an endnoted Introduction to suit the needs of someone with a more focused interest on the material. There is no index. It is also illustrated by Lina Kusaite and designed to be more visually pleasing than the standard academic tone. In truth, the book looks more suited to the children's folklore section and could easily end up there in bookstores. It will make a nice gift book for young and older folklore fans with an unusual line-up of tales. While The Three Bears is going to be the most familiar tale, it is still different since Goldilocks is no where to be found, just her antecedent "little Old Woman," known in some versions as Silverlocks, actually.


You can click on these illustrations to view them larger and read the titles.


So overall, this is a beautiful book and it will make a nice gift or a fine addition to your own library of folktales. The ten tales included are:

Ballad of the Bird-Bride
The Story of the Three Bears
The Rat's Wedding
Babiole
Nanina's Sheep
Constantino Fortunato
East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon
The Snake-Skin
Prince Cheri
The Maiden and the Fish

I was familiar with most of these--a few have appeared in SurLaLune collections actually--"The Maiden and the Fish" is in Cinderella Tales From Around the World and "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon" and "The Snake-Skin" are in Beauty and the Beast Tales From Around the World. Which also gives you a clue as to what tale types those fit into. "Constantino Fortunato" is an early Puss in Boots.


Book description:

A wide variety of creatures walk, fly, leap, slither, and swim through fairy-tale history. Some marvelous animal characters are deeply inscribed in current popular culture—the beast redeemed by beauty, the wolf in pursuit of little girls and little pigs, the frog prince released from enchantment by a young princess. But like the adventures of many fairy-tale heroes, a curious reader’s exploration in the genre can yield surprises, challenges, and unexpected rewards. Feathers, Paws, Fins, and Claws: Fairy-Tale Beasts presents lesser-known tales featuring animals both wild and gentle who appear in imaginative landscapes and enjoy a host of surprising talents. With striking original illustrations by artist Lina Kusaite and helpful introductions by fairy-tale scholars Jennifer Schacker and Christine A. Jones, the offbeat, haunting stories in this collection are rich and surprisingly relevant, demanding creative reading by audiences aged young adult and up.

Schacker and Jones choose stories that represent several centuries and cultural perspectives on how animals think and move. In these ten stories, rats are just as seductive as Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf; snakes find human mates; and dancing sheep and well-mannered bears blur the line between human and beast. Stories range in form from literary ballads to tales long enough to be considered short stories, and all are presented as closely as possible to their original print versions, reflecting the use of historical spelling and punctuation. Beasts move between typical animal behavior (a bird seeking to spread its wings and fly or a clever cat artfully catching its prey) and acts that seem much more human than beastly (three fastidious bears keeping a tidy home together or a snake inviting itself to the dinner table). Kusaite’s full-color artwork rounds out this collection, drawing imaginatively on a wide range of visual traditions—from Inuit design to the work of the British Arts and Crafts movement.

Together with the short introductions to the tales themselves, the illustrations invite readers to rediscover the fascinating world of animal fairy tales. All readers interested in storytelling, fairy-tale history, and translation will treasure this beautiful collection.

Jennifer Schacker is associate professor of English at University of Guelph and author of National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth-Century England.

Christine A. Jones is associate professor of French at the University of Utah and author of Shapely Bodies: The Image of Porcelain in Eighteenth-Century France. Jones and Schacker are longtime collaborators and co-editors of Marvelous Transformations: An Anthology of Fairy Tales and Contemporary Critical Perspectives.

Lina Kusaite is an illustrator, designer, and art/life coach based in Brussels, Belgium. Her work has appeared in a wide range of international publications, computer games, and exhibitions, and was selected for display in Times Square as part of the see.me 2014 "seemetakeover" event. Kusaite’s website is www.behance.net/cocooncharacters.

Crafty Friday: Once Upon a Time . . . in Crochet by Lynne Rowe

Once Upon a Time . . . in Crochet: 30 Amigurumi Characters from Your Favorite Fairytales by Lynne Rowe was released earlier this year, July actually. These are quite cute--as always, the Princess and the Pea is my favorite. There wasn't a better image of Rapunzel other than the cover--I like her, too.

Book description:

This fun, quirky book contains 12 cute and whimsical fairy tale favorites, from Puss in Boots and the Ugly Duckling to Thumbelina and Rapunzel, using both amigurumi and standard crochet designs. The book also contains an easy-to-use step-by-step techniques section, showing the reader how to pin out their crochet pieces before assembling, make moving arms and legs and create a range of hairstyles.

You can click on these images to see them larger:

Coundown Deal: Bluebeard Tales From Around the World for $1.99 in Ebook Format

(US/UK Covers with links)
Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (US Edition) and Bluebeard Tales From Around the World (UK Edition) are on sale for the next week and gradually increasing prices as part of an Amazon Countdown Deal. Today the books are at their lowest price--the US edition is $1.99--and the price will gradually rise over the next week--in something like 32 hour increments--until it reaches the usual price of $9.99 again.

Anyway, this is the lowest price ever offered on this book--the SurLaLune title I have had the most compliments on--so this is your chance to own a copy for a great price. You don't have to own a Kindle to read it. It is readable on the free Kindle software for your computer and other devices.

Bluebeard is a great October story with plenty of bloodshed and gore and tension and danger. Enjoy!

Book description:

The tale of Bluebeard with its many variants has a rich folkloric and literary history. It has often been retold and reinterpreted in modern times in novels, poetry, plays, movies and more. Once upon a time the character was better known and offered a larger cultural touchstone for the general population. Today he is best known only in literary circles. Consequently, the history of the tale as seen through its tales and other interpretations is fascinating. Offering over ninety tales and ballads, this collection compiles several variants of Bluebeard tales from around the world. Many of the tales are new translations, some appearing for the first time in English. Usually the stories are obviously related to each other and at other times the relationship is more tenuous. While tales from Europe dominate the collection, other parts of the world--including Africa, India, and North America--are well represented. Additionally, several plays and operas, as well as short fictions and poetry, all primarily from the nineteenth century, are offered here. The commercial value and diverse interpretations of this complex tale provide insight into our cultural past, present, and perhaps our future. Whether you are a student of folklore or an armchair enthusiast, this anthology offers a diverse array of tales with a unifying theme that both entertains and educates, all gathered for the first time in one helpful collection.

Robin McKinley Ebook Titles on Sale

It's a new month which means there is a new list for October Monthly Deals: Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less. I found a few books for me, but the squeeing came with two finds I didn't have in ebook yet--although the hardcovers have graced my shelves for years.

Robin McKinley has explored her favorite fairy tale (and mine)--Beauty and the Beast--in three different novels. The first, Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, isn't on sale, but the other two are available this month for $1.99 in ebook format instead of the usual $5.99 to $8.99 price range. There are a few bonuses, too, listed below.

So you can get all four books listed below for about the price one is usually priced. Happiness abounds!


Book description for Sunshine:

Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature: In a world where darkness threatens, there is Sunshine . . .

Although it had been mostly deserted since the Voodoo Wars, there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years. Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, head baker at her family’s busy and popular café in downtown New Arcadia, needed a place to get away from all the noise and confusion—of the clientele and her family. Just for a few hours. Just to be able to hear herself think.

She knew about the Others, of course. Everyone did. And several of her family’s best regular customers were from SOF—Special Other Forces—which had been created to deal with the threat and the danger of the Others.

She drove out to her family’s old lakeside cabin and sat on the porch, swinging her feet and enjoying the silence and the silver moonlight on the water.

She never heard them coming. Of course, you don’t when they’re vampires.

Book description for Rose Daughter:

Award-winning author Robin McKinley returns to one of our most enduring fairy tales to tell an enthralling story of love and redemption

Once upon a time, a wealthy merchant had three daughters . . . and when the merchant’s business failed, he and his three daughters left their grand house in the city and moved to a tiny cottage buried deep in the countryside. The youngest daughter, Beauty, is fascinated by the long, thorny stems of an unknown plant that overwhelms the neglected cottage, and she tends it until, the following summer, its rich, fragrant flowers are the most glorious things the sisters have ever seen: roses.

An old woman tells Beauty: “Roses are for love. Not . . . silly sweethearts’ love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole. . . . There’s an old folk-tale . . . there aren’t many roses around any more because they need more love than people have to give ’em . . . and the only thing that’ll stand in for love is magic, though it ain’t as good.”

There’s no magic in the town of Longchance, but, the old woman adds, Beauty may not know that this is the result of a sorcerers’ battle that happened many years ago, a battle that left a monster, or perhaps a beast, in an enchanted palace somewhere in the deep forest . . . and a curse concerning a family of three sisters.

Bonus! The Hero and the Crown is also $1.99! I didn't have this in ebook yet either. I adored this book as a teen--I remember reading it for the first time when sick one day, pausing to run to the bathroom and then rushing back to resume reading, back and forth all day. This book was better than any other medicine to get me through a horrible day thirty years ago.

The sale price has also made this an instant #1 best seller on Amazon for Children's Girls & Women Books. Cool!

Book description for The Hero and the Crown:

In Robin McKinley’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, an outcast princess must earn her birthright as a hero of the realm

Aerin is an outcast in her own father’s court, daughter of the foreign woman who, it was rumored, was a witch, and enchanted the king to marry her.

She makes friends with her father’s lame, retired warhorse, Talat, and discovers an old, overlooked, and dangerously imprecise recipe for dragon-fire-proof ointment in a dusty corner of her father’s library. Two years, many canter circles to the left to strengthen Talat’s weak leg, and many burnt twigs (and a few fingers) secretly experimenting with the ointment recipe later, Aerin is present when someone comes from an outlying village to report a marauding dragon to the king. Aerin slips off alone to fetch her horse, her sword, and her fireproof ointment . . .

But modern dragons, while formidable opponents fully capable of killing a human being, are small and accounted vermin. There is no honor in killing dragons. The great dragons are a tale out of ancient history.

That is, until the day that the king is riding out at the head of an army. A weary man on an exhausted horse staggers into the courtyard where the king’s troop is assembled: “The Black Dragon has come . . . Maur, who has not been seen for generations, the last of the great dragons, great as a mountain. Maur has awakened.”

The Outlaws of Sherwood is also on sale again for $1.99. A Robin Hood retelling, this was on sale last year around this time, too, so I did have this one already in ebook (as well as hardcover, of course, a first edition).

Book description for The Outlaws of Sherwood:

The Robin Hood legend comes thrillingly alive in Robin McKinley’s reimagining of the classic adventure

Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King’s Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father’s small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marian—and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester.

Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian. But he is ambushed by a group of the Chief Forester’s cronies, who challenge him to an archery contest . . . and he accidentally kills one of them in self-defense.

He knows his own life is forfeit. But Much and Marian convince him that perhaps his personal catastrophe is also an opportunity: an opportunity for a few stubborn Saxons to gather together in the secret heart of Sherwood Forest and strike back against the arrogance and injustice of the Norman overlords.

New Book: Shakespeare's Folktale Sources by Charlotte Artese

Shakespeare's Folktale Sources by Charlotte Artese was released this past summer. While the Shakespeare's folkloric inspirations is not a new concept by any means, but I don't know of another book devoted to the topic, only articles or quick references in other books. So this should be fascinating. It's on my wishlist!

Book description:

Shakespeare’s Folktale Sources argues that seven plays—The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, All’s Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure, and Cymbeline—derive one or more of their plots directly from folktales. In most cases, scholars have accepted one literary version of the folktale as a source. Recognizing that the same story has circulated orally and occurs in other medieval and early modern written versions allows for new readings of the plays. By acknowledging that a play’s source story circulated in multiple forms, we can see how the playwright was engaging his audience on common ground, retelling a story that may have been familiar to many of them, even the illiterate. We can also view the folktale play as a Shakespearean genre, defined by source as the chronicle histories are, that spans and traces the course of Shakespeare’s career. The fact that Shakespeare reworked folktales so frequently also changes the way we see the history of the literary folk- or fairy-tale, which is usually thought to bypass England and move from Italian novella collections to eighteenth-century French salons. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography listing versions of each folktale source as a resource for further research and teaching.

About the Author

Charlotte Artese is associate professor of English at Agnes Scott College. She has published articles on The Faerie Queene and Utopia as well as on Shakespeare’s folktale sources.

New Book: Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives

Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives by Jack Zipes (Editor), Pauline Greenhill (Editor), Kendra Magnus-Johnston (Editor) was released last week. I haven't seen a copy of yet, so this is just in nature of my usual book announcements.

Book description:

The fairy tale has become one of the dominant cultural forms and genres internationally, thanks in large part to its many manifestations on screen. Yet the history and relevance of the fairy-tale film have largely been neglected. In this follow-up to Jack Zipes’s award-winning book The Enchanted Screen (2011), Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney offers the first book-length multinational, multidisciplinary exploration of fairy-tale cinema. Bringing together twenty-three of the world’s top fairy-tale scholars to analyze the enormous scope of these films, Zipes and colleagues Pauline Greenhill and Kendra Magnus-Johnston present perspectives on film from every part of the globe, from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, to Jan Švankmajer’s Alice, to the transnational adaptations of 1001 Nights and Hans Christian Andersen.

Contributors explore filmic traditions in each area not only from their different cultural backgrounds, but from a range of academic fields, including criminal justice studies, education, film studies, folkloristics, gender studies, and literary studies. Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney offers readers an opportunity to explore the intersections, disparities, historical and national contexts of its subject, and to further appreciate what has become an undeniably global phenomenon.

Table of Contents:

Foreword and Acknowledgements Jack Zipes
Preface: Traveling Beyond Disney Kendra Magnus-Johnston, Pauline Greenhill, and Lauren Bosc
1. The Great Cultural Tsunami of Fairy-Tale Films Jack Zipes
2. "My Life as a Fairy Tale": The Fairy Tale Author in Popular Cinema Kendra Magnus-Johnston
3. Spectacle of the Other: Recreating A Thousand and One Nights in Film Sofia Samatar
4. British Animation and the Fairy-Tale Tradition: Housetraining the Id Paul Wells
5. The Fairy-Tale Film in France: Postwar Reimaginings Anne Duggan
6. The Checkered Reception of Fairy-Tale Films in the Germany of the Brothers Grimm Jack Zipes
7. Fairy-Tale Films in Italy Cristina Bacchilega
8. The Fairy-Tale Film in Scandinavia Elisabeth Oxfeldt
9. "To Catch Up and Overtake Disney?" Soviet and Post-Soviet Fairy-Tale Films, Marina Balina and Birgit Beumers
10. The Czech and Slovak Fairy-Tale Film Peter Hames
11. Polish Fairy-Tale Film: 130 Years of Innovation and Counting Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Marek Oziewicz
12. Not Always Happily Ever After: Japanese Fairy Tales in Cinema and Animation, Susan Napier
13. The Love Story, Female Images, and Gender Politics: Folktale Films in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Jing Li
14. "It’s all a Fairy Tale": A Folklorist’s Reflection on Storytelling in Popular Hindi Cinema, Sadhana Naithani
15. The Fairy-Tale Film in Korea, Sung-Ae Lee
16. Stick Becoming Crocodile: African Fairy-Tale Film Jessica Tiffin
17. Australian Fairy Tale Films Elizabeth Bullen and Naarah Sawers
18. Fairy-Tale Films in Canada/Canadian Fairy-Tale Films Pauline Greenhill and Steven Kohm
19. The Fairy-Tale Film in Latin America Laura Hubner
20. Beyond Disney in the Twenty-First Century: Changing Aspects of Fairy-Tale Films in the American Film Industry Jack Zipes

Reviews:

"Fairy tales, like the air we breathe, surround us constantly and, usually, transparently in contemporary media cultures. Zipes and his collaborators explore these narratives that we take for granted, exposing the inanity of most Hollywood productions and bringing to light the transgressive, creative cinemas of independent and international filmmakers. We'll never think 'happily ever after' again without a pause to reflect on the implications." ―Donald Crafton, author of Shadow of a Mouse: Performance, Belief, and World-Making in Animation

"Thinking globally and acting locally, Jack Zipes and his collaborators have produced a landmark volume that reveals how fairy-tale enchantments have worked their magic in cinematic productions the world over. The partnership between film and fairy tale, we suddenly discover, is exactly what the dream factory needs to create its coming attractions." ―Maria Tatar, Harvard University, author of The Annotated Brothers Grimm

"This incomparable book of essays projects a panoramic view of fairy-tale films that is only possible when a multidisciplinary team of talented scholars collaborates. With its international scope and expert analyses, Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney lifts the curtain on spectacular realms from around the world." ―Donald Haase, Professor of German and Senior Associate Dean at Wayne State University

New Book: Mirrored (Kendra Chronicles) by Alex Flinn

Mirrored (Kendra Chronicles) by Alex Flinn is new this month. Flinn has written several fairy tale retellings now, the most famous being Beastly since it was adapted into a movie. This one is getting high reader reviews. I always like to recommend Flinn for reluctant readers since they tend to be quick reads that satisfy.

Book description:

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Flinn's modern and mysterious retelling of Snow White, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and true love doesn't necessarily mean Prince Charming.

Celine's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. She's beautiful, talented, and brave. Unfortunately, her tale comes complete with a wicked stepmother! When Violet steps into Celine's life, everything changes and weird things begin to happen to her—bizarre accidents, strange illnesses, and rabid animal attacks. Celine doesn't feel safe anywhere. It's almost as if some hateful witch is out to get her.

And there is. Violet has been waiting all her life to have Celine's father to herself. Getting rid of his gorgeous daughter is child's play for a witch as powerful as she is. Happy-ever-after isn't enough for Violet. She wants to be the fairest of them all, and Celine is in the way . . . but not for long.

Forced to take refuge with her friend Goose and his family, Celine gives up everything she loves and goes deep undercover. But will it be enough to fool Violet, or will Celine's fate be decided by a reflection in a magic mirror? And where do you find Prince Charming in Miami anyway?

Mirrored is a modern retelling of Snow White—told from the points of view of Violet, Celine, and Goose—with all the magic and mystery readers will love.

New Book: Once Upon a Time: Red's Untold Tale by Wendy Toliver

Once Upon a Time: Red's Untold Tale by Wendy Toliver was also released this week. This is a novel inspired by ABC's Once Upon a Time TV series. With season 5 starting this weekend--and can I just say SEASON 5, never saw that coming when this series was announced 6+ years ago--the show is still going strong. This book has a gorgeous cover.

Book description:

Red is 16 and lives with Granny in a cottage in the village, where boarding up the house and hiding during Wolfstime is a means of survival. Red help's Granny with Granny's baked good business, catering as well as door-to-door sales.

Red has a constant internal battle between her wild side and her strict, overprotective upbringing, and the issue of "control" as she discovers she has a hot temper when the "mean girls" push her too far. ("When we learn to control it, we needn't fear it," Rumpelstiltskin says in the series.) She has flashbacks to her 13th year when she received her cloak and the nickname "Red."

Plagued by nightmares she doesn't understand and a temper she can't control, Red struggles to save Granny's troubled business and to nurture her budding romance with Peter, even as the betrayal of her classmates awakens the wolf within.

New Book: Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

(US/UK Links)
Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas was released last week. It was released at the same time in the UK, see Ash & Bramble (UK Link).

Book description:

The tale of Cinderella has been retold countless times. But what you know is not the true story. Sarah Prineas’s bold fairy-tale retelling is a dark and captivating world where swords are more fitting than slippers, young shoemakers are just as striking as princes, and a heroine is more than ready to rescue herself before the clock strikes midnight.

Pin has no recollection of who she is or how she got to the Godmother’s fortress. She only knows that she is a Seamstress, working day in and out to make ball gowns fit for fairy tales. But she longs to forsake her backbreaking servitude and dares to escape with the brave young Shoemaker.

Pin isn’t free for long before she’s captured again and forced to live the new life the Godmother chooses for her—a fairy-tale story, complete with a charming prince—instead of finding her own happily ever after.

When the glass slipper just doesn’t fit . . .