The singing rock and other brand-new fairy tales by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer and Simini Blocker

I love fairy tales and the fantasy spin-offs are... fun, but sometimes I think they get too far from the original stories which are short and often funny, weird, or just random. This collection of "new" fairy tales (There's a word for this! It's called KUNSTMÄRCHEN and I wrote a paper on it in college!) is just what I love.

The four stories included introduce readers to animals and humans, all dealing with something a little different. A frog goes up against a genie who's just desperate to grant some wishes. An irritable witch meets her match in a determined singer. A clever sorcerer outwits a rival. An artist finds an unexpected patron in an ogre king.

There are no princesses or happy-ever-afters here, but there is magic, humor, and cleverness. There's also a variety of skin colors, body types, and settings, from forests to a Mediterranean village. One of the thing I love about stories like this is there's no worry about age-appropriateness or content. Kids and adults of any age can appreciate the artist's confusion in trying to meet the ogre's demands, the annoyance of the witch, and the sorcerer's clever tricks - especially when they backfire. There are morals here if you want them, but they're not required for enjoying the stories.

Verdict: I never thought I'd have much audience for this type of book, but I turned out to have several kids who are huge fans of Fairy Tale Comics and Nursery Rhyme Comics and will absolutely love this book. Truly an all-ages book that can be enjoyed by many readers.

ISBN: 9781596437500; Published June 2019 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium