little lit: folkore and fairytale funnies

The theme is fairy tales this month for #littlelitbookseries.

In Little Lit, eighteen artists and illustrators turn fairy tales and folk tales on their head, reinterpreting them with unexpected twists and a touch of the bizarre.  Little Lit: Folklore and Fairytale Funnies includes some new originals as well.  It was the first in a series edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and is out of print, but should be relatively easy to find online.

To see what everyone else is sharing this month, search the hashtag #littlelitbookseries on Instagram.

a wolf's tale

We are sharing fairy tales this month for #littlelitbookseries.

Technically, A Wolf's Tale is a folk tale, not a fairy tale per se, but I thought it be a good one to share.  In the story, the great-great-great grandson of the infamous big bad wolf tries to crash a party at a brick house in Pig City.  But his reputation precedes him and he stands at the door trying to convince a bunch of pigs to let him in (sound familiar?!).  This one is a folk tale for the next generation. 😉

For more fairy tales, search for #littlelitbookseries on Instagram.

cinderella

Fairy tales abound this month for #littlelitbookseries and we have quite a few to share.

The age-old story of Cinderella needs no introduction—this edition is retold by Cynthia Rylant with art by Mary Blair, who painted the original pictures for Disney’s animated film.

“Cynthia Rylant’s stories about hardscrabble lives have won not only awards and honors, but hearts.  Who better to take a young girl from the darkness of her garret room to the the light and brilliance of a ballroom?  Together these two great artists have created a Cinderella that is breathtaking, heartrending, and joyous—both for those who are coming to the tale for the very first time and for those who know it well. “

To see the rest of our fairy tale collection, check out #littlelitbookseries on Instagram.

hoot owl, master of disguise

I don't know why, but I love #bookfacefriday.  Here's one from us, a day early.  We finally read Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise, this week.  Every once in awhile while playing, Nate has been calling out, “Disguise!”

Hoot Owl is ravenous, but unfortunately clueless.  He dubs himself the "master of disguise" but fails miserably each time he dons a costume to hunt down his prey.  In the end, he somehow manages to get a bite to eat, in a restaurant of all places.  A dryly hilarious, tongue-in-cheek story from Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien.

penguin dreams

Penguin Dreams by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh.  It’s a story of a penguin who has a dream that he can fly—the most awesome dream ever.  I was pretty excited to find a copy of Penguin Dreams at Green Apple Books when I was living in San Francisco.  In between spending innumerable studying hours and working when I was in grad school, I loved making a quick stop at Green Apple whenever I got the chance.  You just never knew what you would find—part of the magic of secondhand bookstores.