The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma by Diane and Christyan Fox

Cat begins reading a very inquisitive Dog about Little Red Riding Hood.  Dog is full of questions.  Is Little Red a superhero?  She wears a cape so she must be a superhero, right?  Does she zap the wolf with a kindness ray?  Is Grandma still in the closet?  Hilarious twist on a familiar fairy tale that even older elementary students will enjoy, and probably "get the humor" better than the younger students.  Great addition to fairy tale study.

To view the trailer of this book click HERE!

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz

A ninja trained wolf, craving meat....a little girl headed to Granny's house, with a secret...Gran with special talent.....Little Red Riding Hood, ninja style!  Another fairy tale to add to the fractured fairy tale unit which will probably be a bigger hit with the kids, especially boys, than with the adults.  Find the twists and turns that make this Red Riding Hood story unique!

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves (Check endpages!!)


You tube preview click here!

Goatilocks and the Three Bears by Erica S. Perl

"Once upon a time there was a kid named Goatilocks."  Sound familiar?  Not Golidlocks but rather Goatilocks.  But when Goatilocks arrives at the Bears' cottage he does not just eat the porridge, he eats the spoon too.  Then Goatilocks moves on to the chairs, again eating it up, as well as the beds, another delicious meal.  When the bear family arrives home, Goatilocks takes off running.  Later feeling guilty about what had happened at the Bears' house, she brings a gift to the family.  Kids will get a kick out of Goatilocks eating everything up.  Good for preschool/kindergarten age though older kids may not find the storyline quite as funny or filled with as many creative changes as expected.

Text:  3 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas

It is Chinese New Year and Goldy's mother has woken Goldy up early to go visit their neighbors the Chan family.  Goldy is not happy about this.  Noone answers when Goldy arrives at the Chan's house but the door opens and Goldy goes in.  Goldy finds 3 bowls of congee, no porridge, which she decides to try.  She then goes on to try out the chairs and the beds before the Chan family returns home.  Readers will be able to find similarities and differences throughout the book.  A great book to use in conjunction with Chinese New Year and/or fairy tale/Goldilocks study.

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

And the reason we already own this book (with her favorite big brother....)

The Three Bears ABC: An Alphabet Book

I will admit I was skeptical when I saw this book thinking that it might be forced and that the ABC aspect would alter the story of the three bears.  I was pleasantly surprised.   The flow of the story was not in any way strained and I found myself wondering how the author would tie the next letter into the story. 

"C is for cool.  The bears waited for the hot porridge to cool. So Papa put on his cap, Mama her cape, and Baby his coat."

"O is for open.  The bears found their front door open.  How odd!" 

A wonderful addition to any study of the Three Bears.  Older/advanced students could be challenged to anticipate how the next letter will be added to the story. 

Text:  5 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

The Great Fairy Tale Disaster by David Conway

One that is being added to my "list" for all 3 schools in the fall....Love Tiger Tales books!  The Big Bad Wolf is tired...no huff and puff left....he is looking for a new fairy tale to relax in.  The first one he enters is Cinderella.  Soon enough he realizes he is in the wrong place.  When the fairy godmother arrives and waves her wand, putting a dress on him for the ball, he takes off.  The next fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, is way too scary for the wolf and he quickly takes off.  On and on the Big Bad Wolf takes off - in and out of various fairy tales until the tales are nothing but a jumbled up mess.  Maybe, just maybe his original fairy tale was not so bad after all.  Adorable pictures, fun story, must buy!!

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf by Mark Teague

It is the three little pigs with a twist in this funny new version of the famous story.  The book begins as the the farmer informs the three pigs that he is moving to Florida and pays them for their hard work.  The three pigs take off to build houses of ...wait for it....straw, sticks, and bricks.  It is not long before a wolf shows up and he is huffing and puffing.  By the time the wolf arrives at the brick house, which has all three pigs hiding out in, he is very hungry and exhausted.  The wolf passes out on the ground and three pigs decide to revive him and feed him dinner.  The three pigs and the wolf decide to live together in the brick house - minus the huffing and puffing.  A great retelling of the famous story with just enough twists to provide a springboard to discussions.

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

The Emperor's Cool Clothes by Lee Harper

The emperor's new clothes with a new, cooler twist.  In this book the emperor is out to be cool and stylish.  He once again is tricked by some good-for-nothing-scoundrels.  They succeed in getting money and giving the emperor NOTHING in return.  The wait is on to see which character will speak up and reveal that in fact the emperor is naked.  A fun twist to an old story.  Kids will find this book cool......

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

The Princess and the Packet of Frozen of Peas by Tony Wilson

Prince Henrick desperately needs to find his princess to marry.  Henrick has certain criteria for his princess:  outdoorsy type that likes hockey and camping.  His brother Hans gives him some advice in finding a true princess.  According to Hans, a real princess is "very beautiful and very sensitive" just like his wife Eva.  Henrick decides that he does not want to marry a princess like Eva but rather the complete opposite.  Henrick finds one thin camping mattress, one old sleeping bag, and a whole packet of frozen peas.  Henrick's friend Pippa came over one day, and together they enjoyed riding horses, playing hockey, and spying on Princess Eva as she complained.  That night Henrick tried out his frozen peas.  The next morning Pippa woke up, well rested, having used the frozen peas to ice her sore shin.  Another great twist on a common story that kids can look for differences and similarities with the common story.

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

Dear Cinderella by Marian Moore & Mary Jane Kensington

Love. This. Book!  Cinderella and Snow White have decided to become pen pals.  Through a series of letters back and forth, the two stories of Snow White and Cinderella are told in a new way.  Kids will love picking out some of the details of the two stories as they are woven together.  Awesome!

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Senorita Gordita by Helen Ketteman

Senorita Gordita by Helen Ketteman is a new version of the gingerbread man story with Mexican flair.  A gordita, corn cake, jumps off the frying pan and takes off running yelling, “You can’t catch me!”  The chase is on and soon the spider is joined by a lizard, rattlesnake, scorpion, javalina, and coyote, all hoping to catch that gordita and enjoy it for lunch!   The gordita ends up at the foot of a tall saguaro with an owl perched on top.  The owl being very wise warns the gordita that he is being chased and he should consider jumping up the cactus to escape the herd of animals chasing him.  The gordita is suspicious.  The owl sets the gordita straight telling him that he is an owl that hunts at night.  Gordita jumps quickly thinking he is safe and the owl gobbles him up.  

Text:  4 Buckeye leaves

Illustrations:  4 Buckeye leaves

Wolf Won't Bite! by Emily Gravett

Three pigs have done the unthinkable....caught a wolf.  From there the three pigs put the wolf through a series of activities.

"I can lift him off the ground!  I can make him dance a jig but...wold won't bite!"

Or will he?

Hilarious, short text, matched with funny pictures.  Kids will get  a kick out of this fun, short book....and they might recognize those 3 pigs!

Text:  5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations:  5 Buckeye leaves

Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen

I found this book to be quite funny....and when you hear what happens, you might wonder about me :) Mrs. Boggins has a "good little wolf" named Rolf. He does everything you would not expect a wolf to do: eats vegetables, nice to friends, etc. Rolf does not know anything about those "other" wolves - the kind that are NOT nice. One day Rolf meets one of those wolves. The Big bad wolf tries to get Rolf to be more like him. Rolf snaps. He realizes he can not be that way - and ties up the big bad wolf until he agrees to be "bad". And then......

well I can't give away the ending....check public library!!

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett

A poor farmer is on his way home from the market with a small piglet in the back of his cart, a piglet noone wanted at market so the farmer took pity on. The farmer stops to take a break and unbeknownst to him, the new baby princess, Priscilla, and the piglet in an unimaginable series of events, switch places. The farmer arrives home and he and his wife discover the baby girl, and assume that a good fairy has done "this" just like in the story Thumbelina. At the same time, the royal family has discovered their baby girl looks very much like a pig and also assumes this is not unlike what happened in the story, Sleeping Beauty, and decide to raise their daughter as the royalty she is. As you can imagine these two "children" grow up to be much different. References to various fairy tales are made throughout the story with a surprise ending, especially for an unsuspecting princess. Another cleverly crafted story that takes a well-known story, Princess and the Pea, and makes some changes which results in a very funny story. Students may need some background information on some of the stories referenced throughout the story.


Text: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves

Seriously, Cinderella Is So Annoying by Trisha Speed Shaskan

Poor, poor little Cinderella. She had that WICKED stepmother and those MEAN stepsisters. She had to clean all day long and was stuck at home while the others went to the ball. Poor, little Cinderella....OR was she? According to her stepmother, the narrator of this book, Cindy was quite a storyteller. She liked to make up stories about everything. According to her, she and her daughters were the victims. Soon after marrying Cindy's father, he left on business and she was left with Cindy and a dirty house. Well, they could not live like THAT so they all started to work together but cindy was so fast and always finished chores much faster than the others, even with all her storytelling that she did, all the time. And the king's ball was another of Cindy's stories. As soon as she invitation arrived, Cindy lost her voice! Being a good caring stepmother, she made Cindy stay home. The ball was not all it was cracked up to be when a strange girl showed up and stole all the prince's attention. When the prince showed up a few days later with a shoe to try on the girls, Cindy begged to try it on and strangely it fit her. hmmm. Strange. Kids will love this new twist on Cinderella, even some of the boys! Great book for point of view discussion and excellent spring board for persepective writing of their own.

Text: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachel Mortimer

Guess what!?!?! Another one from Tiger Tales.......and of course, LOVE IT!! This one is a super cute take on the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Of course there is the MEAN troll under the bridge (He is also quite the poet!). There are the LOUD billy goats. But this time there is a trouble shooting MOM - of course - that solves everyone's problem! Go Mom Goat! Using her knitting talent, Mom comes up with a way to keep everyone happy. Each of her "kids" will wear booties over the bridge AND she also gives Mr. Troll some earmuffs and cozy blanket. Adorable take on the original story! Love everything with this book....Tiger Tales does it again!


Text: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves

Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks! The Story of the Three Bears as Told by Baby Bear by Nancy Loewen

Did you ever feel like there was more to the story about Goldilocks? Did you ever wonder if maybe Goldilocks was truly innocent and wrongly accused? Well according to Sam, aka Baby Bear, Goldilocks, "Rocks!" Sam is out to set the record straight. Goldilocks was actually in the Bear house because she had been double-dared by, of course, Little Red Riding Hood. When Sam sees her through the windows jumping on the beds, he decides he has to join the fun. Unfortunately Mama and Papa Bear arrive home during the jumping party and Sam must come up with a plan, and quick. Great book to use to discuss perspective and point of view. Kids will enjoy this fun twist on a classic.

Text: 3 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye Leaves

The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketterman

Helen Ketterman's version of the three pigs, The Three Little Gators, cracked me up...maybe it is too late in the day! Obviously instead of pigs we have gators. And two of the gators decide to take the easy way out and make their houses of sticks and sand while the third pig works hard to make a house of rocks. Soon the Big Bottomed Boar shows up with a BUMP, BUMP, BUMP!! You can guess where it went from there. Kids love different versions of familiar tales like this one. And yes, I will admit, I enjoy them as well!

Story: 4 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves

Goldie and the Three Hares by Margie Palatini

Mama, Papa and Baby Hare are enjoying a quiet day in their rabbit hole when suddenly they hear a big THUMP outside their door. What they find outside their door is Goldilocks, with an injured foot, after trying to escape from the three bears. Knowing they could not leave her outside their door, the three hares attempt to help nurse a very unagreeable Goldie back to health. A funny take on the "after" the three bears book, Palatini's humor, like most of her books, will be most enjoyed by older students. Funny illustrations by Jack E. Davis will further the humor for the reader.

Story: 5 Buckeye leaves
Illustrations: 5 Buckeye leaves

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Tale Moderne by Steven Guarnaccia

I admit I love a good retelling of a story - folk tale, fairy tale, tall tale, whatever. I happened to come across this one after I had read this author's Three Little Pigs book. I love the freshness of these books. Something different. Of course it is close enough to the original that kids will be able to relate the two easily. I LOVE the endpages. I try very hard to get ALL my students to really look at those endpages as they often provide "clues" about the story of some kind. These endpages show all the "moderne" pieces from the book and provides the name of the artist, year, etc. Will kids miss that? Probably unless it is pointed out to them. I missed in on the other book.

Story: 4 Buckeye Leaves
Illustrations: 4 Buckeye leaves