Retold Modern Fairy Tales
The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children is a modern retold fairy tale chapter book. My middle daughter’s book club read it for the December meeting and it paired nicely with Gingerbread House decorating. The five girls in her book club all thought the book was funny; the idea of a witch living in your hometown is intriguing! Just like Hansel and Gretel which this book riffs off of, the story is an adventure with a daring rescue.
The Witch’s Guide to Cooking With Children by Keith McGowan, illustrations by Yoko Tanaka (A Modern-Day Retelling of Hansel and Gretel)
And what if there is a witch in your town? I think she would live in a house like this (an actual house in my town). It screams “I Used to Live in a Gingerbread House with Candy Cane Trim but Now I’m Incognito.”
Doesn’t this look like it’s trying to blend in but doesn’t succeed?
The idea of the supernatural or even monsters living next door starts to feel normal after reading books like the Twilight series (not for this age, it’s YA). It’s fun to imagine that perhaps vampires can be friendly neighbors. If so, could you identify them? I tried, and I think these boys that I found on The Sartorialist would certainly be candidates for vampires: pale, extremely good-looking, cold to the touch, and buff.
Could these boys be vampires? On the Street…….Quai Voltaire, Paris
My other candidate for a potential vampire would be designer Tom Ford. Apparently, he also needs very little sleep — around 4 hours a day — and he takes 4 hot baths a day as well. I think it’s to warm up to human temperature! He’s interviewed here at Harper’s Bazaar.
Tom Ford is a vampire? It could be true …
You must be thinking that I clearly have too much time on my hands. I would counter that I’ve been having a Twilight series benders lately, so I’m all about vampires these days!
Anyway, I digress. If you are interested in the gingerbread house activity, below is a DIY version for those of you with hidden talents or a kid for those of us who know our limits.
How To Make a Gingerbread House
Or just buy a kit …
More Retold Modern Fairy Tales
Picture Books
The Three Pigs by David Weisner
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
More Retold Modern Fairy Tales
Chapter Books
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (chapter book, ages 9-12)
Breadcrumbs by Ann Ursu (chapter book, ages 9-12)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer, great review by The Brain Lair (Young Adult)
I know I’m missing more of these retold modern fairy tales. Can you help me out with a comment? Thanks!
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Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
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Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
This book looks really good – adding to my list for later! Sounds like it really fed your imagination – I love that!
I know we have read many retellings, hard to remember…
We have out now The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greece, Anthony Manna
Carmine: A Little More Red, Melissa Sweet
3 by Lynn Roberts
The Little Lit series by Art Spiegelman
The Sister’s Grimm series
To Ann,
I’m so glad you liked it. I think reading Twilight series so much makes me think the supernatural are everywhere amongst us! Thanks for the book recs! Will add to the list!
This book looks great, and I’ll second the Sisters Grimm series. Fen loves the books! I’m going to go read your post on starting a kids’ book club now. Ta ta!
To Craftwhack,
I can’t believe I’ve missed out on the Sisters Grim series! I will try to get it for my kids. I hope I am not too late. Are you going to start a kids’ book club? Yay! It’s sooo fun!