Tag neo fairy tale

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess

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The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess
Tom Gauld
Templar Books

This is a whimsical, truly magical neo fairy tale that begins as often fairy tales do with a king and queen ruling happily, from their hilltop castle; but they are childless.

One night both husband and wife decide to try and change that: the king consults the royal inventor; the queen pays a visit to a clever witch living in the woods.

Inventor and witch set to work right away, the former using her best tools to fashion a tiny intricate robot, the latter uses her deepest magic on a log and from it conjures a perfect little living log princess.

All family members love one another and the siblings spend their days playing happily but they share a secret: by night the princess reverts to her log form and is only woken by her brother’s incantation of “Awake, little log, awake.”

One morning though, the princess is left alone in bed sleeping and catastrophe – she is tossed out of the window by a maid and ends up rolling away toward the village.

Her brother gives chase only to discover she has been sold to a barge captain taking a cargo of logs to the Frozen North. Unhesitatingly to rescue her, he boards the barge as it sails away and eventually his search is rewarded. Then it’s time to begin the arduous journey home, a journey that is so full of hazards and adventures that the hero’s parts wear right out.

But not before he’s uttered the magic words, brought the princess back to life and recounted all that’s happened.
Words of forgiveness are spoken, then it’s her turn to take charge of the situation and she bravely steps up.

The princess too has many adventures, with obstacles to overcome, not the least being her increasing tiredness. Fighting sleep she trudges on until she can go no further and …

Will they ever reach home? Well, this is a fairytale that began, as many do, ‘There once lived a king and queen …’ so as readers will be hoping, it does end ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ Before that though, there’s a further sequence of selfless acts of kindness, a witch encounter and yet more kindness.

There is a tremendous amount to love about this book, not least being the wonderful montages of both heroes’ adventures. Then there’s Tom Gauld’s artistic style with its textures, well-chosen colour palette and the wealth of delightful details that start on the front endpapers and continue throughout the book, adding further depth to the text, while his portrayal of characters be they key protagonists or bit part players, are an absolute delight.

A cracking book to get lost in, time and again, whether you share it with one child, several or a whole class.

Princes, a Princess and a Dragon

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The Red Prince
Charlie Roscoe and Tom Clohosy Cole
Templar Publishing
Set in a make believe kingdom named Avala, this wonderfully illustrated neo fairy tale is the story of how the young prince is kidnapped by strangers who invade the shores of the realm one night. Having seized the city, the invaders capture the prince hiding him away in a dark fortress dungeon.
Near to despair, he eventually manages to escape one dark night and off he dashes through the falling snow

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until he comes upon a young girl who tells him he must get to the city. You will find help in unlikely places, she reassures him. Her words prove true …

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for having crossed the island and managed to sneak through the city gates an amazing sight meets the red prince’s (and the reader’s) eyes …

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With all Avala sporting red prince garments, the strangers realize they are now faced with a near impossible task, so they return to their boats and sail away.
In his powerful illustrations Tom Clohosy Cole makes dramatic use of dark and light

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creating amazing atmospheric scenes employing all manner of angles and perspectives.

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The Princess Who Had No Fortune
Ursula Jones and Sarah Gibb
Orchard Books
A princess (albeit one with a best pal talking cat) too poor and with too much work to do to go to the prince’s ball surely has its roots in Cinderella. However, in this neo fairy tale the work to be done is down to her father’s latest exploit: she has to prepare for a special party to celebrate the inaugural flight of the king’s latest flying machine. Cupcakes not court balls are her preoccupation, and so is getting the garden into shape for the event.
However, the young man who gets the gardening job is about as good at doing his task (he tries to cut the lawn with a penknife) as she is at baking cakes – terrible!

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When the two sit down together for a coffee break, the gardener makes some suggestions.

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The princess turns down his first idea of a “prince in shining armour” but what about “making a wish to your fairy godmother,” Now there’s a thought, even if you’re not sure you have one …
Ursula Jones witty tale is perfectly complemented by Sarah Gibb’s lush illustrations:

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her colorful collage and paint style scenes resemble a theatrical production and the alternate silhouette spreads, which put me in mind of those by Jan Pieńkowski, are stunningly beautiful.

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The Extremely Greedy Dragon
Jessica Barrah and Chris Saunders
QED Publishing
When a sleepy and very large dragon decides to take a snooze on the railway line at Little Chiddling the residents have a problem, or most of them do. Young Georgie Johnson however is eager for the reward money offered to anyone able to move the creature and so decides to try her luck.
The crisps she offers the huge beast hit the mark …

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and before long Georgie and the dragon are off in search of more tasty tidbits to satisfy what proves a very large appetite. Those they encounter however are happy to share their food in return for a little help from the dragon in drying out the picnic spot, lighting the barbeque fire, warning up the wedding venue and finally, once Georgie has persuaded the mayor, drying out the damp fireworks to make the festival go with a sparkle and a bang.

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With its inbuilt messages about not judging by appearances and eating healthily, there’s plenty of food for thought and discussion herein.

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Exciting event in Piccadilly, London till 29th October : The Children’s Book Illustration Art Exhibition

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