Story Hour

by Sarah Henderson Hay, Miller Williams (Foreword)

In Story Hour, Hay takes many well-known—"Jack and the Beanstalk," "Beauty and the Beast," "Little Red Riding Hood"—and turns them on end. Whether quickening our memory to the darkenss only hinted at before or highlighting the great joke we never caught, her poems always invite us back into what Miller Williams calls "these old houses we thought we know so well."

53 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1982

Reviews

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why she isn't read more. Henderson-Hay's poetry is lovely. So thought provoking!

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not big into poetry, but I was a fan of this book. I genuinely enjoyed reading and analyzing these dark spins on nurseries and fairytales. I definitely would have never read this if it wasn't for my job, but I'm glad I did. I know that a lot of fairytales and nurseries are actually really dark in reality, but I usually don't feel weird about the actual darker stories. But for some reason some of these poems made me feel uneasy, for example the Princess and the Frog poem made me feel so uncomfortable. Others made me sad, like the Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel story. The artwork in this book is also so good, and it really ties everything in together.

[K. P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, easy to see why Flannery O'Connor liked this book.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book arrived in a Mythology, Fairy Tales & Folklore bookbox from k00kaburra. It was added to the box by GoryDetails.

I was only going to read a little bit...see if I needed to keep this book -- and well, now I have finished. I love the twists on the tales I know, and a few I am not as familiar with. Perhaps Jack should be charged with Murder, as should those little brats Hansel and Gretel -- hmmmm

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Henderson Hay was immensely famous during her lifetime for her poetry. This book is poetry relating to and retelling fairy tales. Most subversive and wonderful.