500 New Fairy Tales Discovered in Germany: Bookish News

ZOMG, the League of Disney Princesses can't believe it! And, neither can I. 

Evidently, five hundred (500) new fairy tales previously unknown to the world have recently been uncovered in Germany. (read the article from The Guardian) They have been locked away in an archive in Regensberg, Germany for over 150 years. The stories are made up of myths and legends, or just fiction gathered by a local historian of the era named Franz Xaver von Schonwerth (1810-1886) at around the same time the famous Grimm Brothers were collecting their fairy tales.

This image above depicts one of the newly discovered fairy tales titled, King Golden Hair (illustration by Barbara Stefan). Not all of those discovered were new to us modern day folks--Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin were accounted for as they've been told in many different versions across Europe. It is believed that these stories were not actually all meant for children, but rather for young adults just getting started on their lives.  

"Their main purpose was to help young adults on their path to adulthood, showing them that dangers and challenges can be overcome through virtue, prudence and courage," says Erika Eichenseer, the cultural curator at Oberpfalz, which is the region where the new fairy tales were discovered.

I don't know about you guys, but I want to read these new stories! Disney is back in business again....

Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Beastly 

by Alex Flinn

Genre: Fairy Tale Re-tellings

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: December 29, 2009

Source: local library (paperback)

Age Rating: 14+ (for light profanity)

Amazon | Book Depository

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster. 

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell. 

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

My Review

The book was so much better than the movie! I saw the 2011 film version of the book earlier this year, before reading it, and although the movie was great, the book blew past it by a mile. I suppose doing things in that order had its advantages, in that the characters that remained mostly the same from book to screen adaptation were very easy to envision. But, that only meant I could envision Kyle and Will, maybe Sloane, too. So much was altered and I think that's why the book is superior.

In the book, Kyle turned into an actual bona fide “beast,” not some hairless alien. In fact, having too much hair was one of his biggest problems. I think he was supposed to look similar to the 1992 Disney film version of the Beast. Lindy was not a pretty raven-haired girl who could have any guy she wanted at school. Rather, she was red-haired, freckled, and considered average-looking. And, the truth about Magda, the housekeeper, was one of the best reveals of the story, something that never came up in the film.

I already knew that the Beast was going to get his girl in the end and the curse would be broken, but I wasn't sure if I'd believe that the girl would convince me that she truly loved him, despite his hideous features. Re-writing Beauty and the Beast is tough, if anything, for that reason. I wasn't super convinced by the film version, but, the book made it work. It took nearly one full year from the time Kyle made Lindy live with him before any confessions of love were even made, something much more realistic, even for teenagers.

The author, Alex Flinn, did her research and mapped out this story well (and it shows). I think because Lindy was only sixteen-years-old, young and impressionable, she could be persuaded over time to overlook Kyle's physical condition and learn to love him. He mostly made her life better. And, Kyle went from being downright awful, saying things like, “I tried not to look at her crooked teeth. Why didn't she just get braces?” to changing into an insecure loner who feared rejection from everyone, and could see beauty even in the plainest rose.

When characters grow, I find myself loving them and their story ten times more than if they just bumble along mostly unchanged from beginning to end. But, the trick is that the characters have to go through believable transformations in the story, or they lack credibility. Thankfully, Kyle and Lindy's growth was convincing and paid a marvelous modern homage to one of the most beautiful love stories the world has ever known.

My score: 5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Raggedy Chan by Camille Picott

"Raggedy Chan" 

by Camille Picott

Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale

Reading Grade: Middle Grade (short story)

Publishing Type: self-published

Publication Date: May 7, 2011

Source: Smashwords.com

Rated: Children+

Amazon.com

Emma Chan-McDougal receives a special gift from her Auntie Gracie: a rag doll named Raggedy Chan. But Raggedy Chan is no ordinary doll. She is a beautiful Chinese princess who lives in a jasper palace on the enchanted isle of Kunlun. The peace of her island home is threatened when Drought Fury steals Winged Dragon, bringer of rain. Without Winged Dragon, Kunlun will wither and die.

To save her stricken homeland, Raggedy Chan sets forth alone. Her quest leads her to America, where she meets people who distrust her because she’s different. Can Raggedy Chan adapt to the strange ways of this new land and rescue her beloved dragon?

In this 10,000-word modern fairy tale, Chinese-American author Camille Picott draws on her heritage to weave a story of magic, adventure, and sacrifice. 

My Review

I didn't know what to expect from this very short story. I was able to get it for free (from Smashwords.com), so I decided to take a chance on it, and it turned out to be a really wonderful read.

The story begins with a little half-American/half-Chinese girl named Emma who is being babysat by her Chinese immigrant aunt Gracie. Gracie gives her a rag doll named “Raggedy Chan” and proceeds to tell her the fairy tale behind the doll. It weaves back and forth between the story and the scenes of Emma being sat by her aunt.

The story-within-the-story is about a princess named Yao-chi who lives on an enchanted island in China, and decides to go after a mythical rain dragon that has been stolen by an evil sorceress. If she doesn't bring it back, her land will dry up, and everything and everyone will die. She travels to San Francisco through the Pacific Ocean and has to enter a large golden gate. But, before she can enter, she has to give up her real name. Think of Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” Disney movie when she has to give up her voice to Ursula. It's a physical removal from her body, and it's the same thing for Yao-chi. She pulls her name out of her mouth and it's in the form of a small ball.

She is given the name Raggedy Chan, since everyone's names are “Raggedy” something-or-other. It's so interesting how she has to physically transform into what the Americans look like, and they all look like rag dolls: yarn for hair, button eyes, silk/cloth skin. She deals with discrimination while in the U.S., and, later, the difficulty of returning to her homeland after changing so drastically in order to fit in with the Americans. She ends up no longer feeling like a Chinese person any longer.

It's very telling for those who have had to leave behind their home countries for a new world and shuffle off their original skin for the new skin of their foreign home. I don't have any personal experience with this, but I can only imagine how hard this is for people moving from one culture to an extremely different culture. It must make one change forever, unable to be exactly the same person ever again.

This is a great story for kids and adults alike, as it not dumbed down in anyway. Nor is it written in a complex way, but it has an incredible depth to it that more analytical readers will love to plunge into, especially those interested in fictional analogies of discrimination.

My score: 5 out of 5 stars.