Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 81

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Abril Educação

Abril Educação: Cinderella
And this was the last time that Cinderella saw her prince charming.The story ends where you stop reading.Keep reading.
It has been a while since I did an advertising post. I enjoyed this series from Abril Educação (Adult Education) in Brazil. The message is strong--and one I believe in!--plus it's always fascinating to see how fairy tales are used in other countries, too. After all, that is one of the philosophies behind SurLaLune--showing the international scope of fairy tales. 

Here is the ad campaigns info, courtesy of Ads of the World:

Advertising Agency: Artplan, São Paulo, Brazil
Chief Creative Officer: Roberto Vilhena
Creative Director: Rodrigo Moraes
Art Director: Diogo Barbosa
Copywriter: Rodrigo Sanches
Illustrator: Mutato Art
Published: January 2014

And since we are here, I thought I would share the other two posters in the campaign, too.


Abril Educação: Excalibur
And Excalibur remains spiked in the stone until the present day.The story ends where you stop reading.Keep reading.

Abril Educação: Gepetto
And Gepetto lived far away from Pinocchio ever after.The story ends where you stop reading.Keep reading.

New Book: Classic Bedtime Stories by Scott Gustafson

Classic Bedtime Stories by Scott Gustafson will be released this Tuesday. A companion book of Gustafson's bestselling Classic Fairy Tales, over ten years in the making.


I received a review copy of the book and all of the illustrations are beautiful. I like to think of it as the chance to get more lush paintings for stories not included in the first book. This new book offers us:

The Country Mouse and the City Mouse
Sleeping Beauty
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Story of Little Sambha and the Tigers
The Bremen Town Musicians
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Lion and the Mouse
Jack and the Beanstalk

The stories are suitable for bedtime and the images will thrill many children's imaginations as well as those reading to them. Gustafson's illustrations remind me of some of the books I loved in my childhood, some that are lost in memory actually. The super bright colors and soft focus are very appealing. This will make a nice holiday gift for some young--or old--ones this year.


Book description:

Once upon a time, artist Scott Gustafson set out to illustrate classic stories, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. Decades later, his immediately recognizable paintings have made bestsellers of Peter Pan, The Night Before Christmas, Classic Fairy Tales and Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose. Now he gives us Classic Bedtime Stories, a lavishly illustrated, oversized collection of some of his favorite tales.

Stories such as “Sleeping Beauty,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Sambha and the Tigers” leap off the page thanks to Gustafson’s exquisite paintings and lively retelling of these classics. “The Lion and the Mouse” and “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse” demonstrate his talent at creating uncanny anthropomorphic characters who keep us smiling even as they teach us about tolerance, diversity, and the Golden Rule.

A book that even adults will enjoy reading aloud again and again,Classic Bedtime Stories will keep youngsters of all ages engaged for hours. Gustafson’s unique style makes this a volume to be cherished by children, parents, and grandparents for generations to come.

Bargain Ebook: Thorn Jack: A Night and Nothing Novel by Katherine Harbour is $1.99

Thorn Jack: A Night and Nothing Novel (Night and Nothing Novels) by Katherine Harbour is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. Released earlier this year, this is a Tam Lin retelling.

Book description:

Combining the sorcery of The Night Circus with the malefic suspense of A Secret History, Thorn Jack is a spectacular, modern retelling of the ancient Scottish ballad, Tam Lin—a beguiling fusion of love, fantasy, and myth that echoes the imaginative artistry of the works of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Melissa Marr.

In the wake of her older sister’s suicide, Finn Sullivan and her father move to a quaint town in upstate New York. Populated with socialites, hippies, and dramatic artists, every corner of this new place holds bright possibilities—and dark enigmas, including the devastatingly attractive Jack Fata, scion of one of the town’s most powerful families.

As she begins to settle in, Finn discovers that beneath its pretty, placid surface, the town and its denizens—especially the Fata family—wield an irresistible charm and dangerous power, a tempting and terrifying blend of good and evil, magic and mystery, that holds dangerous consequences for an innocent and curious girl like Finn.

To free herself and save her beloved Jack, Finn must confront the fearsome Fata family . . . a battle that will lead to shocking secrets about her sister’s death.

New Book: Classics Reimagined, Grimm's Fairy Tales by Yann Legendre (Illustrator)

Classics Reimagined, Grimm's Fairy Tales by Wilhelm Grimm (Author), Jacob Grimm (Author), Yann Legendre (Illustrator) was released this month and has some fascinating illustrations of Grimms. Although I have shared the color illustration work primarily below, the B&W is my favorite from the previews I have seen. But one color image of Aschenputtel below is a new favorite, too. Of course, the publisher uses Cinderella as the name here but if there are Grimms involved and a tree, it's Aschenputtel folks!

I haven't seen the book itself yet but it's definitely an art book. The Amazon preview also allows you to read some of the text which is the fairly standard renditions of Grimms--I didn't bother to try to identify the translation.

I'll start with images of the Table of Contents so you can see the tales included:




Book description:

Rockport revisits these classics in a new series lushly illustrated by some of today's most endearing and sought-after artists. These aren't your typical classics--our artists reinterpret these stories and create a stunning presentation unlike any you've ever seen. Book enthusiasts and artisans will want to collect the entire series. French artist Yann Legendre takes readers on a beautiful journey through the stories by the brothers Grimm, with his luscious imagery. These stories take on a whole new meaning when accompanied by Legendre's mystical, colorful interpretations. This edition of the Classics Reimagined series will excite and enthrall all!?

About the Illustrator

Yann Legendre is an internationally recognized illustrator, designer and art director based in Paris. His illustrations have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Reader, Perspective Magazine, le Monde... He is the art director of the French publisher Inculte, designing each book cover and every illustrated book series. He regularly creates illustrations for Universal Music in London, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection in New York. In 2011, CB2 (Crate & Barrel) commissioned him to illustrate a new collection of furniture called "Fresh Ink". In 2010 he started a collaboration with the filmmaker Joe Swanberg, designing and illustrating all of the director's movie posters. Yann received an Award of Excellence for the best movie poster design from the South by Southwest Film Festival.

Okay, we all know by now that I love illustrations of Aschenputtel with her tree. This is one of my new favorites.


This appears to be for Frog King. It's in the end papers.

Bargain Ebooks: Inspirational Fairy Tales by Melanie Dickerson

The Fairest Beauty and The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson are both on sale in ebook format for 99 cents each. They have been on sale previously but are usually in the $5 range and this is the lowest price they have ever reached.


These are currently reduced to help promote the next title in Dickerson's fairy tale series--there are currently four books in print--which will be release in November. The fifth book, The Princess Spy, is a retelling of The Frog Prince and the description for how the Frog Prince plot devices are used are rather clever. I'm always fascinated with people's imaginations. I'm also thrilled that Frog Prince is getting an interpretation. I keep waiting for authors to be inspired by it but the only regular modern playfulness of it tends to come in picture book fractured tales--there's not even that many straightforward versions of it in picture books. Nor did Disney's Princess and the Frog spike a resurgence of this tale from publishers, very unusual.

Book description for The Fairest Beauty:

Sophie has long wished to get away from her stepmother’s jealous anger, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be her chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe?

Gabe knows he defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the orphan girl has stolen his heart. Though romance is impossible—she is his brother’s future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else—he promises to himself he will keep her safe, no matter what.

When the pair are forced to run to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help—but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Can they find a way to protect Sophie while also safeguarding their hearts?

Book description for The Captive Maiden:

Happily Ever After …
Or Happily Nevermore?

Gisela’s childhood was filled with laughter and visits from nobles such as the duke and his young son. But since her father’s death, each day has been filled with nothing but servitude to her stepmother. So when Gisela learns the duke’s son, Valten—the boy she has daydreamed about for years—is throwing a ball in hopes of finding a wife, she vows to find a way to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten has completely captured her heart. But other forces are bent on keeping the two from falling further in love, putting Gisela in more danger than she ever imagined.

Fairy Tale Romances by Victoria Alexander

Back in the last century, granted the very end of it, romance novels with fairy tale themes were popular. Actually, things haven't changed much. They still are or are again depending on your perspective.

Two of the titles on the fairy tale romance novels list that have always intrigued me are The Emperor's New Clothes, first published in 1997, and The Princess and the Pea, first published in 1996, by Victoria Alexander. Stand alone novels, according to Alexander's site, the novels were out of print for a while but have been reissued in recent years. Recently, they have also been released digitally for the first time which means they don't have to ever go out of print again. (Do you get sick of my glee over books staying in print as ebooks? I don't obviously. I still am thrilled every time I see older titles are released and achieve a new life.)

So why do these books stand out to me--I've not read them I admit--they weren't even readily available again until recently. It's probably obvious to some of you but I'll explain myself. These are two fairy tales that are rarely reinterpreted in modern fiction of any sort. Whatever the result, I admire an author who takes on that challenge. Alexander chose two Hans Christian Andersen tales, too, which I doubt was a coincidence. Those are some tricky fairy tales to reinterpret in a novel length effort. To remind ourselves of the short list, visit the Modern Interpretations pages at Emperor's New Clothes and Princess and the Pea. Romances aren't on the lists there but on a separate list. To my knowledge it's the only novel length interpretation of Emperor's Clothes ever. All others have been short stories or in the case of Adam Gidwitz's In a Glass Grimmly, it was a chapter of a novel.

Are you interested in a list of fairy tale romance novel titles? I have a list hidden on SurLaLune at Fairy Tale Romances. It hasn't been updated in a while, but it's still one of the best lists around of that nature. The Cinderella list could be almost doubled by now. She's a favorite trope for romance authors. Ditto Beauty and the Beast although those interpretations tend to be much looser than the Cinderella ones. The others, not so much.

Book description for The Emperor's New Clothes:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander spins the unforgettable story of a beautiful grifter and an irresistible mayor ...

Mistaken for the Countess of Bridgewater, expert con artist Ophelia Kendrake can't believe her good fortune. This could be the opportunity she needs to secure the future of the sister who means so much to her. But when she meets Tyler "Tye" Matthews, her plans to dupe the sleepy town of Dead End, Wyoming, prove difficult—for she's met her match in the wildly attractive mayor.

As the reluctant new mayor of Dead End, Tye is irritated to learn his first duty in office is to escort a visiting countess. But when he sees the stunning beauty, he wants to spend every waking moment with her. Suspecting Ophelia has secrets, Tye vows to uncover them—and thoroughly seduce her.

Book description for The Princess and the Pea:

The classic tale of a fervent courtship between an American heiress and a dashing British earl from #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander

Feel the pea through this bed and win the heart of the man you'll wed.

A true American princess, Cecily White stood to inherit her father's business empire. And with the twentieth century right around the corner, the independent beauty had no intention of marrying some foreign nobleman seeking her money. Then, on a trip to England, Cece fell under the spell of a dashing peer who had more to recommend him than the length of his title and the size of his countinghouse. But Cece wouldn't surrender her heart to the virile Earl of Graystone until he proved that the only treasure he wanted was her love.

New Baba Yaga Book: Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire

Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire, best known for Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years) and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel, was released this week. This one is marketed to a Young Adult audience, so it may be more palatable to those of you who find his adult books a little rough going. How many people have been shocked at the differences between the musical and the novel? More than a few. If the book promoted the musical instead of vice versa, I wonder what would have happened with those box office receipts! They are not the same beast! One is much more for mainstream tastes than the other.... Sort of like if Disney had a hold of it...

I mentioned last week that there's a current trend for books inspired by Prince Charming. Well, the other current trend, even larger, is certainly for Baga Yaga books. She and her chicken legged house seem to be everywhere these days and she is more elusive to detect since few of the titles or even book descriptions mention her in great detail. But she's there. Lurking. Menacing. Or becoming a modern heroine herself.

If you want to know more about Baba Yaga--and why shouldn't you!--be sure to check out Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales by Sibelan Forrester. Awesome book! Highly, highly recommended. Much better than the average coffee table style book.

Book description:

Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg — a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and — in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured — Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs.

New Book: The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years by Rebecca Hains

The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls through the Princess-Obsessed Years by Rebecca Hains was released last week, the latest in the books about Princess Culture--especially that spawned by Disney's marketing machine. Since fairy tales usually get painted by this brush, I thought I would share. The book only references "fairy tale" itself 14 times but of course, fairy tale heroines are the discussion, at least those as portrayed in popular culture.

My thoughts on some of this appeared in my post almost four years ago for New Book: Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture and More Cinderella Ate My Daughter.

These days my four-year-old niece is Disney princess obsessed which has one of her grandmothers--my mother--more than a little twitchy. Their playtime consists of lines from my mother like, "Oh Cinderella, you are pretty in your dress and slippers but I am really interested in a smart girl who went to college." I observed such last week when I visited. So I understand the concern of all and am curious to see how this all pans out in my own family. I'm not too worried because this niece--my second one--is extremely independent and she is going to get plenty of alternate fairy tale imagery in the years to come since she is related to me. And when I share stories with her, she is quite thrilled with Three Billy Goats Gruff. But, yes, she is princess obsessed which can be disconcerting to those who love her. The first niece, now 11, had her Disney phase but it wasn't as long or enduring. She hasn't been interested in a princess in years. These days she wants to be either a scientist astronaut or a super villain depending on her mood.

Book description:

How to Raise Empowered Girls in a Princess World

It's no secret that little girls love princesses. Behind the twirly dresses and glittery crowns, however, sits a powerful marketing machine, encouraging obsessive consumerism and delivering negative stereotypes about gender, race, and beauty to young girls. So what's a parent to do?

The Princess Problem features real advice and stories from parents, educators, psychologists, and children's industry insiders to help equip every parent with skills to navigate today's princess-saturated world. As parents, we do our best to keep pop culture's most harmful stereotypes away from our kids, but contending with well-meaning family members and sneaky commercials can thwart us.

The Princess Problem offers language to have honest conversations with our kids and shows us how to teach them to be thoughtful, open-minded people.

New Book: Once Upon a Rhyme: Volume I of the Charming Tales by Jack Heckel

Once Upon a Rhyme: Volume I of the Charming Tales by Jack Heckel was released last week. It is the first in an ebook series from Harper Voyager Impulse, part of the new trend of publishing some titles digitally only, at least at first, depending on how well they sell. The next book in the series, Happily Never After: Volume II of the Charming Tales, will be released on November 11, just a few months from now. These are shorter books, about 100 pages each, but they are also priced accordingly at $1.99 each. All part of that digital marketing trend which I won't delve into here as much as it fascinates me.

The premise sounds fun but I am now seeing that the newest fairy tale trend is to focus on Prince Charming. We've had Christopher Healy's hit trilogy, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, followed by Elliott James' new series, starting with Charming (Pax Arcana Book 1). This has never been all that common--the only other example I can think of is from decades ago, Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley. I'm sure there's been others, but that I am not aware of them means that they have been rare. My knowledge is extensive but far from complete. After researching these things rather heavily for the last 16+ years, I do tend to know fairy tale related titles.

Book description:

The dragon is dead. The princess has been saved. There is but one problem: Prince Charming had nothing to do with it.

In order to save his royal reputation, Prince Charming must begrudgingly enlist the help of accidental hero William Pickett. The two set out on an adventure that has them fighting trolls, outwitting a scoundrel, and drinking the foulest ale ever, collecting bruises to both body and pride along the way. Meanwhile, the rescued princess, Gwendolyn, turns out to be one dangerously distressed damsel, and an evil presence takes over Castle White in Charming's absence …

Enter this rollicking world and discover just what happens when a fairytale leaves the well-trodden path of "once upon a time."

Biography
Jack Heckel's life is an open book, actually, the book you are in all hope holding right now (and if you are not holding it, he would like to tell you it can be purchased from any of your finest purveyors of the written word). Beyond that, Jack aspires to be either a witty, urbane, world-traveller who lives on his vintage yacht, The Clever Double Entendre, or a geographically illiterate professor of literature who spends his non-writing time restoring an 18th century lighthouse off a remote part of the Vermont coastline. Whatever you want to believe of him, he is without doubt the author of the premier volume of the Charming novels, Once Upon a Rhyme. So, no matter what rumors you might hear about Jack, particularly those spread by either litigious dwarves or litigious dwarfs, ignore them, because he is currently working on a sequel. Because more than anything, Jack lives for his readers.

Despite whatever Jack may claim, in reality, Jack Heckel is the pen name for John Peck and Harry Heckel.

New Book: Super Red Riding Hood by Claudia Davila

Super Red Riding Hood by Claudia Davila (Author, Illustrator) was released earlier this month. Yes, that's LRRH as a superhero. Which really, when you think about it, is a natural with that red cape of hers. Rather surprised this hasn't been done a few times before in picture books but I can't think of any other examples in books.


I have not read the book--only previewed through the Look Inside feature on Amazon--where these images came from--so I'm not sure how the wolf and other elements play out. But I am curious. I would have adored this as a kid and probably would have had a bigger kid-crush on LRRH, too. I wanted to be Wonder Woman and Batman at that age so I can imagine the glee this book would have inspired in me.
Book description:

Here's a picture book with a humorous new twist on what happens when red riding hood meets the hungry wolf in the woods. In this telling, our heroine Ruby loves red berries, her red boots and especially the red cloak her grandma made for her. "When Ruby puts on her red cloak, she becomes ? SUPER RED RIDING HOOD!" Sent by her mother to collect some raspberries from the clearing in the woods, Ruby reminds herself that she isn't frightened by the chill from the darkness, the loud tapping of the woodpecker or the snapping of a twig underfoot, because "SUPER RED RIDING HOOD is never scared!" But the final test comes when she encounters a towering wolf with a growling tummy. It will take all of Ruby's superhero skills to get him to leave her alone! Author-illustrator Claudia Davila has crafted an upbeat, modern-day fairy tale sure to delight the pre-reader set. The emotions of the little girl in the red cloak and red boots are the centerpiece of every colorful drawing, and some pages feature more than one scene to speed up the visual action. This is a great read-aloud story full of drama, with a positive message about not judging others too quickly, as well as character education lessons on being generous, brave, compassionate and respectful. It also offers an empowering example to both girls and boys of a strong character standing up for herself against a bully.