Twelve Dancing Princesses and The Frog Prince

[M]

Wildwood Dancing is based in part on these fairy tales. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between them. The tales are very short, no more than a page, and you can find them online. If you read them...

Wildwood Dancing is not a true retelling of the fairy tales. Why do you think the author chose them, and why do you think she changed them? How do her versions enhance (or detract from) the main themes of the book?

[Anna]

Well just to point out the obvious: I liked the fact how the author cuts down on the number of sisters. I think twelve girls would have just been to overwhelming for most readers. Memorizing names, personalities, and order would have been a huge distraction from the main point of the book.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

possible spoilers:
I was so interested in the Gogu the whole book. I was dying to know when he was going to turn into a human. I love though that Jena kissed the frog several times before he turned into a man.
Plus I enjoyed reading about the vampires. Though they are called Night People throughout the book. I think that this helps the plot because you are not too focused on evil vampires but mysterious night people.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

This book makes me even more excited for the new Disney movie The Princess and the Frog!

[M]

**Spoilers**I liked the whole thing with Gogu, too. I was actually kind of disappointed though when he actually turned into a human, just because he was so sweet as a frog! I thought this book's version of that story was much better than the original Grimm's version. The girl in Grimm's is really quite horrible, especially in the way she turns the frog into the prince by throwing him against the wall! I can't imagine why the prince would want to marry her after that.

[Storm]

*Spoilers* I loved Gogu and I agree with Angie, I couldn't wait for him to be human. But at the same time I was really sad though, because of the way he turned into a human and how heartbreaking it was.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

spoilers: Actually it was kinda sad the way he turned into a human. To have been a frog for so long and then to be thrown into being a human and then the only family you knew was scared of you and trying to stay away. And probably to prove who he really was might have been quite difficult. Must've been very depressing to know you had missed a lot of life as a human when he was a frog. At least like 15 years right?

[Storm]

*spoilers* I agree Angie, it was really depressing how he turned into a human. The whole situation was depressing but it was appropriate for the story and I think that if Jena would have been like "hey, we're chill" then the happy ending wouldn't have been so satisfying.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Did anyone see the new Disney movie the Princess and the Frog this weekend?

[M]

Angie wrote: "Did anyone see the new Disney movie the Princess and the Frog this weekend? "

I saw the ads for that...I'm sure that they changed the story, too. Disney wouldn't make a movie where throwing a frog against a wall would turn him into a prince!

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Yes there was no throwing the frog. :) But the movie was really good! I loved it. I thought they did a really good job with the short fairy tale. I would recommend this movie to everyone!

[Julia]

I hope to see the movie this weekend! I was planning to before this book...

Melanie you wrote: Wildwood Dancing is not a true retelling of the fairy tales.

What did you mean by that?

I thought it was thoroughly enoyable and delightful. Five sisters were plenty. We got to find out a bit about each of them, but all from Jean's POV. Elsewhere I said I enjoy the growth of a rational person coming into contact with the world of woo-woo. I loved that Gogu turned out to be Costi. I was suprised by that! And I wasn't surprised that each was uncomfortable when he became human. As well as the trust issue, each had overshared in their previous relationship. I also liked how the vampires and the faerie court were treated here. And then there were the bits of other faerie stories: I saw Donkeyskin and Sleeping Beauty and I'm sure there were others.

[M]

Julia wrote:
Melanie you wrote: Wildwood Dancing is not a true retelling of the fairy tales.

What did you mean by that?"

She hasn't simply retold these two fairy tales. She's taken certain core elements and woven them into her own story that is much different than the originals.

[Julia]

Melanie, do you often read fairy tale retellings?

I do and that's pretty much the definition of the sub-genre.

Here are some of my favorite novels off the top of my head:

Briar Rose
Deerskin
Bound
The Magic Circle
Fitcher's Brides

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Good suggestions Julia. Wildwood Dancing was the first book I have read so far that was a retelling of fairytales!

[Shannon]

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale is a wonderful retelling of a fairytale. She then went on to write Enna Burning and River Secrets which are her own stories based off characters from The Goose Girl. I really liked them.