Stephanie True Peters has been writing books for young readers for more than 25 years. Among her most recent titles are Sleeping Beauty: Magic Master and Johnny Slimeseed, both for Capstone's Far-Out Fairy Tale/Folk Tale series. An avid reader, workout enthusiast, and beach wanderer, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her children, Jackson and Chloe, her husband Dan, and the family's two cats and two rabbits. She lives and works in Mansfield, Massachusetts, Stephanie True Peters has been writing books for young readers for more than 25 years. Among her most recent titles are Sleeping Beauty: Magic Master and Johnny Slimeseed, both for Capstone's Far-Out Fairy Tale/Folk Tale series. An avid reader, workout enthusiast, and beach wanderer, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her children, Jackson and Chloe, her husband Dan, and the family's two cats and two rabbits. She lives and works in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
In this comic-book retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic
tale, the emperor cares more about his clothes than anything else,
spending money on new suits rather than on his kingdom, until a
couple of swindlers take advantage of his obsession and claim to be
able to make a suit out of magical cloth. Artist Timmins uses a
muted color palette and clown-style makeup on all the red-nosed
characters to emphasize the humor. This book in the Graphic Spin
series includes a brief glossary and a short biography of Andersen
as well as discussion questions and writing prompts.--
"Booklist"
Publishers learned a long time ago that they can make a quick buck
off cheaply made retellings of classic (i.e.: out-of-copyright)
fairy tales. As a result, librarians are automatically wary of a
publisher who releases a spate of new fairy tale adaptations. Well,
you don't have to be wary of these books. Stone Arch has put its
best foot forward with this new line of graphic novel adaptations
of fairy tales, books that succeed on every front. The ones I've
listed above are my particular favorites, but I haven't seen a bad
book in this new line. Cenicienta, a Spanish-language retelling of
the familiar Cinderella story, is a fine example. The book is bound
in a sturdy yet attractive library edition, and the high-quality
paper makes the painted colors leap off the page, as for example in
a panel featuring the brilliant glow from within a magical coach
headed toward a certain legendary ball. The translations are also
strong, with natural word choice and dialogue that pays attention
to the nuances of class as the poor and the wealthy speak to one
another. With these stylish new fairy tale adaptations, Stone Arch
has reset the standard-- "Teacher Librarian Magazine"
The Emperor's New Clothes. With this leveled title as well as The
Jungle Book, The Princess and The Pea, and a version of The Ugly
Duckling well suited to the Nickelodeon crowd, Stone Arch has added
new energy and artistry to the business of adapting classics for
young readers (although at fewer than 30 story pages, it's a
stretch to call them graphic "novels"). The backmatter includes
discussion questions and writing prompts. http:
//www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/540000654/post/220052222.html--
"Good Comics for Kids Blog, School Library Journal"
These two level one readers by Stone Arch are told in graphic novel
format, putting a twist on the classic fairy tales. In both cases,
the illustrations are nontraditional enough to appeal to older
readers. Gloassaries follow, as do discussion questions and writing
prompts.-- "Mt. Diablo Unified School District"
This is a 3-in-1 review for the books: The Princess and the Pea,
The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling The Ugly Duckling
Summary: In a faraway land, perched upon her little nest, Mother
Duck waits for her last remaining egg to hatch. When the odd little
egg finally breaks open, Mother Duck is shocked to see an ugly
duckling staring up at her. Despite its homeliness, Mother Duck
adores her awkward child and does her best to protect him.
Unfortunately, no one else on the farm wants anything to do with
the Ugly Duckling, and he is driven from the farm to fend for
himself. Survival, however, takes more than good looks, and the
plucky little duck plods bravely into the wilderness. Review: If
you look past the rather...terrifying outside of the 'duckling' the
book itself is hilarious fun. The 'duckling' doesn't lose his sense
of humor, and even manages to come out into good circumstances a
few times. Unfortunately he had to endure a lot of hardship in
order to realize his full potential. The re-telling of the story by
Powell is both simple to understand, true to the source material
and witty. The 'ducklings' siblings made smart aleck comments and
the toad was just kind of 'yeah I knew it'. The Emperor's New
Clothes Summary: In a faraway kingdom, there lives an Emperor who
prizes fancy clothes above all else. He buys suit after suit made
of the most expensive materials instead of tending to his
threadbare kingdom. Then, one day, two traveling merchants offer to
make the Emperor a special suit that has magical powers. The
merchants, however, are not who they claim to be, and the suit has
one major flaw -- no one can see it! Review: This fairy tale has
always cracked me up. Its like high school except at least the guy
on top realizes it and changes himself. The artwork here is very
different from Duckling, its less cartoon-ish and softer, using
what I think are watercolors (I was never very good at art). The
Emperor's outfits are truly outlandish and you can see that what he
isn't wearing currently is even worse. Peters does a good job
fleshing out the story a little--offering a comparison montage of
the Emperor vs. other sovereigns in the area as well as some
sideline comments from the merchants. And in the end everyone gets
exactly what they deserve. The Princess and the Pea Summary: As a
young prince nears adulthood, the Queen tells him he must find a
princess bride -- but not just any princess will do. Only a true
princess will satisfy his mother. The young prince searches the
entire kingdom, but returns home alone and sad. Late one stormy
night, a mysterious woman knocks at the castle door. She claims to
be a true princess, but the Queen has her doubts. So, she concocts
a clever scheme to see if the princess is the real thing. Review:
Hands down this was my favorite re-telling of all three. This is
the same author as Emperor's New Clothes actually, but different
illustrator. I think I liked the illustrations for this--Lamoreaux
has a very expressive style. I especially liked how the Prince's
eyes would bug whenever one of the 'princesses' would do something
just a little bit...eccentric. It was an impressive display of
stereotypes I have to say! The Queen was kind of funny actually,
the look on her face when the Princess arrived and then later when
the Princess passed her silly test was highly amusing. And there
was of course the happy ending...until the mouse came along.
Overall review: These books are a great way to introduce younger
(by younger the suggested grade level is 1-3) children to
alternative ways of reading. In the back of each book there was a
blurb about the original creator, Hans Christian Andersen as well
as paragraphs about the 're-tellers'. There was also a glossary for
each--some of the words weren't words you'd ordinarily hear in a
first to third grade classroom--and some discussion questions and
writing prompts to get the reader thinking and creating. These are
set-- "Poisoned Rationality Blog"
What is not to love about the story called The Emperor's New
Clothes? Doing this story in a graphic novel adds great
illustrations. Graphic format is a favorite of mine! It makes it
perfect for students who are reluctant readers and never seem to
finish a book on their own. Young readers who want to read anything
they can get their hands on will also enjoy the graphics and
fast-paced text. The full-color graphics make an enormous impact on
the story. Vocabulary has been well selected in the retelling of
this story. The Emperor has an insatiable desire to own as many
clothes as he can. He gets them from far and wide. One day, when
the Emperor was traveling through town, he came across some
beautiful cloth and asked the two men selling it if they had woven
the material. They said yes, but they were actually thieves. They
were able to take much of the emperor's money and made him a
beautiful suit. The problem was that there really was not a suit
and the emperor was actually in his underwear. Everyone was afraid
to tell him that he had been tricked. This is a delightful story
that teaches a lesson about greed and pride, and will be enjoyed by
both boys and girls. At the end of the book the author includes a
glossary, a mini autobiography, information about the author who
retold the story, and the illustrator. The last two pages have
discussion questions and writing prompts. I highly recommend this
book. 2009-- "Children's Literature Comprehensive Database"
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