You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

by Mary Ann Hoberman, Michael Emberley (Illustrator)

Designed with budding readers in mind, each of the 8 fairy tales has been given a new twist and is set in three columns and three colors as a script for two voices to read separately or together. From the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk (in which Jack negotiates for the ogre's hen!) to Goldilocks (in which Baby Bear helps the famed intruder find her way home!).

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Theatre, Fiction, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mary Ann Hoberman was an American author of over 30 children's books.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy tales come to life when rhymed, especially for the curious Neo. He seems to like this series and we have a few others to tackle later.

[Yesenia Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The New York Times Best Selling book is a collection of eight short fairytales that children or children and their parents/teachers/guardians/etc can read together. The lines in each tale are different colors so that they can be read separately or in sync. The use of rhyming, repetition, and alliteration gives the fairytales a poetic form.
You Read to Me I’ll Read to You is a great book for children in grades 2 through 5. Younger children would enjoy it as well if it were read by a teacher and an instructional assistant. I think grades 2 through 5 is suitable since the children are becoming more fluent readers and are better understanding the use of voice in reading.
An activity I’d like to implement with this book is to assign pairs and to assign each pair a fairytale. This would be a reader’s theatre activity. I’d have them practice reading their fairytale together and then have them read it aloud to the class. This would be a great way to build on fluency, voice, and to connect with peers.
This would also be a great read aloud to choose one student for a few or each fairytale and to read it with them. The student would be engaged with the instructor and then we can assess what skills they may need to work on.
This is a WOW book for me, because I’ve always loved fairytales! It also includes my absolute favorite fairytale, “Cinderella.” This was engaging for me, even as an adult. I read a few of the fairytales with my little sister and it was a fun bonding experience.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhyming text in alternating colors, making it easy for parent and child to take turns. Conversations between two or more characters, always at the end or after the fairy tale, so it's helpful if the reader already knows the story.

[Ginget Poulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had fun reading this with Samuel

[Brindi Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun concept of parent and child (or any two people) reading a story aloud together. great way to experience the classic (shorter) fairy tales. FUN! *great for the emergent reader

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always fun!

[Raigan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have kids or one on one reading… Look no more! This book is great for reading with a partner or guardian. This fairytale story is funny with plenty of goofy pictures, that’ll keep you interested. Not only that, but it is a poem!! Double the laugh. Enjoy this with your favorite reading partner😉

[Dawn Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a creative little book. It will be great for students reading in pairs or a teacher reading with a child. A great way to introduce reading parts, as in a play, as well. The book is set up in "parts" to be read by different readers or one reader using different voices. The "parts" are differentiated by color. Stories include; The Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Three Billy Goats Gruff and a few more. Each story ends with, "you read to me and i will read to you." which is a fun way of sharing these stories. The cantor lends itself to easy reading, the illustrations are comical, if not raucous and the play on the "oldies" in fairy tales is delightful.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter and I have been having a lot of fun reading this book together--short fairy tales arranged as easy-to-read antiphonal poetry. Each person's "part" or column is color coded so the new reader can easily find his/her part. Even one of my twins has been able to read with my daughter. Bonus: the illustrations are cute and nicely varied in ethnicity. I think children will enjoy this more if they have a good background in the usual fairy tales first (Little Red Riding Hood, Princess and the Pea, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.) so they will be able to spot the subtle twists.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norah and I loved reading this together. The fairy tales are rearranged to avoid offending those who believe children should only read stories where everyone is nice and a good role model - but other than that, it's a great book.

[Saige Holcomb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saige Holcomb
Eng 12-1
5-17-17

Personal Response
I thought You Read to Me, I'll Read to You was a very enjoyable and bonding book. The reason I liked the book was because when I read it to my little sister Esthur, there were paragraphs that both of us had to say at the same time. We both joined acting out the story by saying the quotes in a certain way.

Plot
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You is about doing a little twist on several fairy tales. One of the fairy tales was Jack and the Beanstalk. It was about a farm boy who traded all his milk for magical beans. His mother was disappointed and didn’t believe him. When she threw the beans out, it landed on the ground. The next day the beans grew into a gigantic stalk outside his window. Jack then finds some sort of creature on it. They start having an argument of him keeping the beanstalk. They then came down to an agreement of jack keeping the beanstalk if he gives the creature his share of beans.

Characterization
There is no one main character in this book because this is a mixture of short fairy tales. The main character in Jack and the Beanstalk was a little farmer Jack. Jack seemed like he would believe anything. I think that because of the fact that he believed those were magical seeds.

Setting
There is no one main setting because this is a mixture of short fairy tales. The Jack and the Beanstalk one took place in Jack's yard. It also took place at a farm where Jack traded his milk for the magic beans

Theme
The theme of You Read to Me I'll Read to You is social construct. The reason why I think that is because Esthur and I really bonded and communicated during this while reading this. Another reason why it is social construct is because we both were required to say a paragraph at the end of each fairy tale.

Recommendation
I recommend You Read to Me, I'll Read to You to parents and their children. I also recommend it to all boys and girls with siblings. The ages I recommend is if a teenager was one of the ones reading it, the other sibling should be ten or under. The reason why I recommend it for them is because I think it's a great bonding experience for parents and kids. It is also a great bonding experience to big and little siblings.

[Ali Gunns · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You is an an absolutely adorable, short collection of fairy tales. The book is made up of common fairy tales such as, The Three Bears, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and many more. The stories are a condensed version of the original story. I think this book would be perfect in a K-2 classroom.

I would use this in my classroom as a reader's theater or as a play. The words are written in different colors so it would be easy to assign different students a role or part. I think my students would really enjoy this and I can't wait to use it in my classroom!

This is a WOW book for me! I love the way the author shortened these fairy tales to make them more engaging for younger readers. I also love the color and the illustrations in each fairy tale.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text and illustrations in this book combine to make it a great Beginning to Read book. The lively and humorous text will engage the readers interest. The pictures complement the text in the same manner, adding humor and liveliness. The format of having two readers, reads like a play, with different characters. For example, in The Princess and the Pea, one reader can choose to be the princess and the other reader is the pea. It teaches the reader about different perspectives and points of view. Normally the Princess and the Pea is told through the princess’s point of view, but this book provides readers the opportunity to see what it would be like to be the pea.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhyming Fairy Tales that are meant to be read by two people. The book is color coded so each reader knows which part they read individually and the parts that are to be read together. As an elementary school librarian this series is one of my favorites for poetry month. I let my 3rd-5th grade readers come up in pairs and read to their classmates. I am surprised how willingly children will read to their peers. Even less strong readers always volunteer. Colorfully illustrated. My library has six in the series (I am not going to review all) and they are frequently checked out.

[Kenzie Teel]

"You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" is an important book to have in the classroom because it creates reading into a conversation the students can visualize and hear instead of being only in their heads. The text is not daunting to tangled readers because it is short snips of reading and then it goes to the next person. The pictures also help guide the story along; they are large enough and use eye-catching colors to help explain the storyline. This book would be helpful to incorporate into a literature lesson or teaching interactions between two people.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters from classic fairy tales tell snippets of their stories in back and forth style dialogue. They alternate speaking roles every 1-3 lines and this book is designed to be read aloud by two people taking turns. Each story is only 2-4 pages long. Would be easy to read one at a time or all in a row. My 3 y/o son chose this at the library and it was easy for him to follow. I love the idea that it is meant to be read aloud and would love to revisit when my kids are old enough to read along with me.

[Addystin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a poem that had the two sided story, and it was over very common fairy tales. It gave the perspective of two of the main characters and would tell the story before or after the actual story they are involved in and by the end they would decide to read the fairy tale together. It was charming, and well done and funny in a lot of areas.
I would use this in a kindergarten or lower age classroom by maybe reading this and then the corresponding fairy tale or vise versa.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a delightful way to review the plots of fairytales through a study of character perspectives. Each poem is written in two colors (or more), with the intent of one color, being read by one character, the alternate color by a different character. For example, in the Cinderella poem, Cinderella, written in orange, tells of her spending the day doing chores until the inevitable Prince Charming in the ball. (Her sisters' scripts are written in hot pink.) Enter, Prince, charming in turquoise script.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Date read: 11/19/2020
Date of review: 11/19/2020
Genre: Poetry
Grade Range: 2-3
This is a group of rhyming poems that are based on familiar fairy tales, retold with great humor. But what makes the book stand out is the reader-friendly choral reading format, with easy to follow-along instructions. Listening to the class read the text together can be great fun.

[Cristina B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Ann Hoberman
Genre: Non-fiction, fairy tales, imaginary, fantasy
Grade level: PK-3
I like the revision of the fairy tales in the book. It is very useful for students/kids to learn how to make their own revised stories for writing activities, mainly to familiar fairy tales. Then, the kids can demonstrate their tasks to the class, family, or friends for feedback and comparison.

[mitty ⋆ ➴ · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED THIS SO MUCH WHEN I WAS YOUNGER!! was probably my favorite to read with my mom because there were separate parts :) had 4 of the books from the series and this was my 2nd fav! (#1 was the short scary tales one <3)

[Callie Coox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one! It talks about the fairy tales we know and love, and shows it from after the story's perspective; I liked the rhymes, and the way the sections were broken up to go back and forth between two voices.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traditional fairy tales briefly retold in verse. Very interesting, funny, and humorously illustrated.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute two part "plays" on some of the popular fairytales. The pictures are entertaining too.

[Carolina Aldave]

A form of repeating reading. Two kids read each a color and then at the end they read together.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute alternative way to tell and read fairy tales. The poems are well-made for two voices, although the rhythm falters from time to time. Overall, an enjoyable read.

[Alyson Howlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is a fun way to work on reading skills with a new reader. Ms. Hoberman is very clever in her writing and there are lots of fun twists to the tales she has included.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun book to do a read aloud with 1st graders.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a very cute book about fairy tales that are familiar or strange. You read to me, I'll read to you