________________ CM . . . . Volume XIX Number 34. . . .May 3, 2013

cover

It’s Not About the Ball! (Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales series).

Veronika Martenova Charles. Illustrated by David Parkins.
Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2013.
64 pp., pbk. & EPUB, $7.99 (pbk.).
ISBN 978-1-77049-330-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-77049-335-3 (EPUB).

Subject Heading:
Fairy tales.

Grades 1-4 / Ages 6-9.

Review by Robert Groberman.

*** /4

   

excerpt:

Juan picked up the little frog and held her tight to his heart.

"This is my wife," he said.

"If she can't come in, then neither can I."

At that moment, the frog trembled and transformed into a girl in a beautiful green dress.

"I was enchanted and turned into a frog," she said

 

It’s Not About the Ball! is from a series of 10 books by Veronika Martenova Charles. Each book explores a single well-known fairy tale by retelling it in versions from different cultures. In this case, the title,"It's Not About the Ball!", refers to a central object, a ball, found in a well-known version of "The Frog Prince" but is not found in any of the alternate stories which share the theme of a royal person who is cursed into being a frog and is freed by an act of true love.

      This volume begins with an introduction by author Charles in which three children, playing by a pond, spot a frog and are reminded of the story of “The Frog Prince”. Each child goes on the tell the others a frog prince story, stories which comprise the three following chapters in the book. The stories are: “The Promise”, from Scotland; “The Frog Boy”, from Vietnam; and “The Singing Frog”, from Chile.

     Author Charles and her illustrator, David Parkins, bring each story to life with simple vocabulary and detailed illustrations respectively. Young readers will find the stories easy to understand and also interesting to compare thematically.

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade three teacher at Kirkbride Elementary School in Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
Hosted by the University of Manitoba.
 

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