Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 64

Bargain Ebook: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman for $1.99

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman is on sale in ebook format for $1.99, down considerably from its usual $9 or so. This book was a Nebula nominee and won the William C. Morris Award and was all around well received. Leighton, my oldest niece, also loved it and so the long awaited sequel is already preordered for her when it comes out next month, see Shadow Scale: A Companion to Seraphina.

Book description:

Lyrical, imaginative, and wholly original, this New York Times bestseller with 8 starred reviews is not to be missed. Rachel Hartman’s award-winning debut will have you looking at dragons as you’ve never imagined them before…

In the kingdom of Goredd, dragons and humans live and work side by side – while below the surface, tensions and hostility simmer.

The newest member of the royal court, a uniquely gifted musician named Seraphina, holds a deep secret of her own. One that she guards with all of her being.

When a member of the royal family is brutally murdered, Seraphina is drawn into the investigation alongside the dangerously perceptive—and dashing—Prince Lucien. But as the two uncover a sinister plot to destroy the wavering peace of the kingdom, Seraphina’s struggle to protect her secret becomes increasingly difficult… while its discovery could mean her very life.

SurLaLune State of the Union & Vote for Types of Posts You Like Best

Snow Queen by Milo Winter
So you may have noticed a pattern to recent posts--I have themes for several days of the week so I can work ahead on posts. Life gets in the way and I always hope to have content most days of the week on the blog. That's a daily challenge and you will notice that most blogs die within a year due to that strain.

I have goals for finishing two books, nearly finishing one more, updating the SurLaLune Fairy Tales main site, and oh, many things this year which is already over 6 weeks spent. This year the SurLaLune Blog turns 6 years old and the main site will--are you ready for it?--it will turn 17 years old. There are people using the site these days who weren't even twinkles in their mother's eyes when I started all this. And let me tell you, most of it is just stubborn resilience. Do I ever tire of fairy tales? Nope. Do I weary of the overwhelming content that I can never, ever hope to master and share? Yes. Several other bloggers have stepped up and add to the fairy tale blog world of content. I'm grateful for them because I feel less pressure to search the web, the latest news, the world in general for stuff to share with you since they do so much of that for us all. I can focus on sharing my specific passions--books, art, books, toys, books, etc.


Sunday: Comics--I plan to start sharing fairy tale related funnies, mostly comics but whatever I find that suits the theme.Monday: New Fiction Releases--usually the new books released that week.Tuesday: Picture Book and/or Nonfiction Releases--new releases when possible, older releases of picture books when not. If there are plenty of new fiction releases in a week, I will hold some over for Tuesday posts, too. If there is new nonfiction, I also plan to share that on Tuesdays.Wednesday: Tale Day--I plan to start sharing favorite tales, not well-known ones, ones I like or ones other readers like. Hasn't happened yet and that's the most labor intensive of all the days. Because editing. And introducing. Aargh!Thursday: Art Day--sharing fine art with fairy tale influences.Friday: Advertising--Sharing advertisements that use fairy tales to sell stuff. Because that, I admit, fascinates me no end.Saturday: Crafts--I plan to start sharing more fairy tale themed crafts on Saturdays.

And then I will add more on the days when I have something new to share or discuss. But it gives us all a small dose of daily fairy tales. And most of these post are purposely designed to be quickies, read in a few minutes, since everyone's read time is limited. And because I really wish there were eight days a week.

But I am not attached to that list--well I am with New Release Fiction, Art Thursdays, and Fairy Tales in Advertising Fridays--because I already have posts in the queue for those through May.

Any other themes you would prefer to see? Recommendations?

Thanks for reading! SurLaLune is sticking around for years to come, hopefully in some new iterations that I am trying to get the personal bandwidth to create and manage.

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Getty Images: Snow White

Getty Images: Snow WhiteRefine and find.
Okay, as a researcher I get it. Find an image of a dog wearing Snow White clothes. Cataloging and searching images, not so easy. Finding stock photography, not so easy. Getty simplifies it. And they do. And advertise it with a suggestive poster title but we won't go there today, will we?

Campaign info from Ads of the World:

Advertising Agency: AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil
Chief Creative Officer: Marcello Serpa
Executive Creative Director: Luiz Sanches
Creative Directors: Andre Kassu, Marcos Medeiros, Bruno Prosperi, Renato Simoes
Copywriter: Ricardo Wolff
Art Director: Fabiano de Queiroz
Photographer: Getty Images

Art Thursday: Cinderella and Her Wicked Sisters by Emile Meyer

Cinderella and Her Wicked Sisters by Emile Meyer (French, 1823–1893). The one wicked stepsister is really the focus of this painting, an interesting composition choice.

Cinderella and Her Wicked Sisters by ... Buy From Art.com

Call for Papers: Transformations: Spinning Straw into Green and Gold

Transformations: Spinning Straw into Green and Gold Australia Fairy Tale Society

After the success of our inaugural conference in June, we are so excited to bring you another day of fairy tale discussions.

Here are the details:

When: Just to make things even more enchanted, the conference will be held on a magical day – the Winter Solstice on Sunday 21st June, 2015.

Where: For our venue, we have chosen the Judith Wright Room at the NSW Writers’ Centre – Garry Owen House, Callan Park, Balmain Road, Rozelle (enter from the Balmain Road gate opposite Cecily Street and follow the green signs to the Writers’ Centre).

Our call for papers in now officially open, and will close on January 30th. See the call for papers below, or print off a PDF version here: Call for Papers 2015

Call for Papers

Conference theme: ‘Transformations: spinning straw into green and gold’

Transformation is a key element within the enchanted realm of fairy tale, both within the stories themselves and the history of the genre. The possibilities of change are explored in tales where frogs become princes, boys become swans, and many a poor girl is revealed as a true princess following a trial of courage and endurance. Over time and across cultures universal ideas have wrapped themselves in an array of motifs, shifting to suit their audience, setting, and times while retaining the same underlying truth. How have Red, Cindy and Snow adapted to the Australian climate? Are there fairy tales born of our cultural landscape? What changes and what remains the same in a transformation?

Proposals are invited for presentations on the following fairy tale topics:

* cross cultural transformations

* cross generational transformations

* cultural appropriation

* European tales from an Australian perspective

* oral to written and back again

* folkloric to academic

* magical transformations – human / non-human

* therapeutic – personal transformation through story

* adaption across forms – storytelling, music, dance, film, visual arts, etc

* personal to public and back again

* maturation / coming of age

* changing status

* objects of transformation

* myth to fairy tale

* adapting for audience (age, gender, class, sexual orientation, dis/ability), place, and time

* curses to blessings

Performers are invited to present short works or a taster to showcase longer works.

Artists are invited to exhibit and discuss their work.

Along with academic papers, performance, and exhibitions, we are also seeking panelists.

Presentations will run between 15-30 minutes.

The conference will be recorded, with the permission of presenters, and uploaded to the AFTS website.

Please send 100-200 word abstract submissions to: austfairytales@gmail.com

Submissions close 5pm Friday 30th January (Due date is now Friday, February 27th, 2015), and presenters will be announced in March 2015.

Conference tickets will be discounted to $50 for successful applicants.

So, fairy tale lovers. Start spinning those abstracts and stories, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Let the enchantment begin!
The Australian Fairy Tale Society Committee

Book Review: Sleeping Cinderella and Other Princess Mix-ups

I wrote about Sleeping Cinderella and Other Princess Mix-ups by Stephanie Clarkson (Author), Brigette Barrager (Illustrator) a few weeks ago, providing my usual short, new book release type of post.

Then last week I bought the book and took it to share with my five-year-old niece, Kensie. She, like so many of her peers, is Disney obsessed, although her interest is much more intense and lasting longer than most of the girls in my life. She is a PRINCESS. And will be a QUEEN. And will hopefully grow out of wanting to have her name legally changed to Elsa. Yikes.

So I pulled out the book and told her I needed help learning if it was a fun book. She picked it up and immediately turned to the back cover where she quickly identified the four princesses accurately. While they do not much resemble the Disney iterations, there were plenty of visual clues for Kensie to identify them although I also wonder if she also recognized the names printed underneath since she is also learning to read pretty quickly now.

The quick version of this review is that Kensie liked the book and wanted it to be read to her again that evening. A common request from kids but Kensie does that less and less now unless she really likes a book. So she gives it a solid thumbs up. As the person who read it to her, I give it a thumbs up, too.

First of all, the humor does rely on knowing the familiar tales of the four princess involved, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. For they get fed up with their own stories and swap places with each other. The story, being short, offers more cause and effect than long exposition on what happens in each of their swapped lives. It is fun though. And some of the endings will warm a feminist mother's heart, too, without being preachy about it. Chores are divided, boundaries are drawn, and Cinderella goes off to college, the biggest departure from the traditional ending.

My favorite lines were from Rapunzel when Cinderella returns:

Cinderella ran home, up hill and down slope,
and found Rapunzel at the end of her rope.
"I've lost a glass shoe and your sisters are rude.
I was riding in style till your coach turned to food!"

That one especially made me smile. So a fun book and a great companion book to Leah Wilcox's Falling for Rapunzel which Kensie was adoring around Christmas for its humor.



I am not sure of a UK release date, there isn't one listed so far at Sleeping Cinderella and Other Princess Mix-Ups (UK Link).

Book description:

Princesses Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel swap fairy tales with one another in this hilariously clever new classic!

Once upon a time, four fairy tale misses,
tired of dwarves, witches, princes, and kisses,
so bored and fed up, or just ready to flop,
upped and left home for a fairy tale swap.

What happens when Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel get so fed up with their fairy tales that they decide to switch places with one another? Hilarity ensues in this clever, rhyming story about whether the grass really is greener at someone else's castle.

Author Stephanie Clarkson crafts an incredibly witty manuscript, with rhymes that shine and predicaments that will make little girls everywhere laugh out loud, as illustrator Brigette Barrager brings these beautiful princesses to life with her rich, warm colors and charming retro-girl style!

The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Rebecca Hu-Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Rebecca Hu-Van Wright (Author) and Ying-Hwa Hu (Illustrator) was released last year. This one is actually an easy reader with beautiful illustrations. My youngest niece is learning to read and loves this tale so this is another temptation on my list to share with her. Here are some pages to share.


Book description:

Three Billy Goats Gruff live on a hillside, and they are always hungry. One day, across the valley they see delicious looking green grass, and they decide to go there. But they have to cross an old bridge guarded by a terrible troll.

Retold in repetitive, and lively language, this classic tale invites young readers to read alone. Award-winning illustrator Ying-Hwa Hu s detailed and soft illustrations enrich the story the billy goats and troll come alive on each page. The humorous tale pulls in readers, curious to see the end, while the repetitive words help beginner readers build vocabulary.

New Release: The Cottage in the Woods by Katherine Coville

(US/UK Link)
The Cottage in the Woods by Katherine Coville is released in both the US and UK tomorrow, see also The Cottage in the Woods (UK Link). If you can't guess from the cover, this is a novel length retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, perhaps the longest ever written if it is actually the 400 pages listed on Amazon. Goldilocks retellings, especially in novels, are rather rare, so this one fascinates me. And it sounds rather gothic, too, which adds another layer of unexpected.

Book description:

For fans of Shannon Hale, Adam Gidwitz, and Michael Buckley comes a luminous new twist on a tale readers only thought they knew. . .

Once upon a time, there was a girl with golden locks. But that’s just the beginning of this tale. The real story begins with a bear.

Ursula is a young she-bear who has come to work as a governess at the Vaughn estate. Although she is eager to instruct her young charge, Teddy, she is also frightened, especially when inexplicable things happen in the huge house after dark. Ursula is sure she has heard footsteps in the hallways at night, and that something is following her during her walks in the Enchanted Forest. Then there is Mr. Bentley, a young bear also employed by Mr. Vaughn, whose superior disposition is enough to drive Ursula to tears . . . and yet why does he also make her heart race? As Ursula works to unravel the mysteries of the Vaughn manor, she will have to be very, very careful. After all, true love, justice, and a girl with golden locks are at stake. And in the Enchanted Forest, not every fairy tale is destined for a happily ever after.

Lindt Chocolate Valentine Frog Prince Tin

Lindt Chocolate Valentine Frog Prince Tin, 4.8 Ounce (Pack of 7) was available last year and is available again this year. And I have yet to own my own. They are on sale at Kroger this week (if you are in the region where Kroger grocery stores are) but our local Kroger was sold out. The hubby searched and searched for them, but no joy. I saw these last year at Target, too, but practiced self-restraint, silly me.


What I really like about them is that there are golden balls (chocolate balls) and frogs and hearts inside. If you know your Frog Prince, you know that a golden ball is an important story element. Always nice when that thoughtfulness appears in chocolate interpretation. Yum.



Description:

Lindt chocolate embodies the passion and expert craftsmanship of its Lindt Master Swiss Chocolatiers

Lindt delivers a unique chocolate experience offering a distinctly smooth and rich, gourmet taste

Lindt Chocolate Beyond Compare

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Mini Theatre: Snow White Mirror

Mini theatre: Snow white mirrorMirror used as a "poster" for a theatre play Snow white, performed by the Mini theatre - Ljubljana.
Now that's a fun one that doesn't have full impact with a web picture. It's a mirror with the text printed on it but the image is whatever reflection the mirror picks up at the moment, such as yourself if you are standing in front of it to read the information. Clever, but fragile, especially on that easel.

Campaign info from Ads of the World:

Advertising Agency: Arnoldvuga+, Družba za vizualne komunikacije, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Creative Director: David Fartek
Art Director: Radovan Arnold
Designer: David Fartek
Published: November 2010