by Diane Stanley
HarperCollins Publishers
Once there was a miller’s daughter who was ordered to spin straw into gold. If she didn’t, the greedy king said, she would die. Fortunately, an odd little man named Rumpelstiltskin showed up and did it for her. Now according to tradition she then proceeded to marry the king. But wait a minute! Royal or not, he was definitely not husband material! And besides, she had become rather fond of Rumpelstiltskin. Sixteen years later, their daughter falls into the clutches of that same greedy king. She must figure out a way to save herself while setting things to rights in the troubled kingdom.
Recognition & Awards
ALA Notable Book; School Library Journal Best Books; Booklist Editor’s Choice; Children’s Choices, Association of Booksellers for Children; Family Fun Magazine Best Books; New York Family Best Books; Children’s Literature Top Choice; Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books; Storytelling World Magazine, Honor Book Award; Book of the Month for Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children; Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Award; South Carolina Children’s Book Award; New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award; nominee for the Alabama Children’s Choice Award, Texas Bluebonnet Award, Georgia Picture Storybook Award, Delaware Blue Hen Award, North Dakota Flicker Tale Award; Nebraska Golden Sower Award; starred Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, BCCB.
As a giant, Otto is a complete failure. Oh, he’s big, all right, but he’s also embarrassingly polite. In school, he nearly failed his classes in Cursing, Growling, and Stomping. You see, Otto doesn’t want to be fierce; he just wants to sit in the garden and play with Clara, his beloved pet hen. When a terrifying human shows up one day and steals her, Otto must find the courage to climb down that beanstalk and rescue her from the mysterious Jack. Only—who knew there were so many Jacks down there?
Goldie is—well, let’s just say she’s a little picky. She knows exactly what she likes—and what she doesn’t. But when she loves something, she loves it with all her heart. Not surprisingly, Goldie has trouble finding a friend who isn’t too boring, too silly, or too rough. When she gets off the bus at the wrong stop one day and goes for help, she finds herself in a strange little cottage. Someone who lives there obviously shares her taste in sandwiches, chairs, beds, and reading matter. Goldie is about to find a friend who is “just right!”
Mrs. Sump is about as mean as an acre of rattle-snakes—too bad she’s runnin’ the orphanage out there in Possum Trot! One day the littlest orphan, Sweetness, decides she’s had just about enough of scrubbin’ floors with a toothbrush, and she hits the road. The sheriff sets out to save her. Now, he has a heart as big as Texas, but he’s as dumb as a stump. No tellin’ exactly who does the saving and who gets saved out there in the desert—but Sweetness sure getssaved in the end, when the sheriff adopts her.
Ever since the kindhearted sheriff done adopted little Sweetness (and all them other precious orphans), things has been darn near perfect out in Possum Trot. Only problem is, the meals is just a mite too interestin’ (such as catfish chili or pickle and banana pie) and the housekeepin’ is downright peculiar.
Jane Yolen’s classic easy-to-read tells the story of Princess Miserella. She’s beautiful on the outside, but inside she’s a mess! Spoiled, rude, obnoxious—bring on the adjectives! Plain Jane, on the other hand, has a face to match her name but a sweet and loving nature that earns her three wishes from a fairy. But then Miserella’s horrible manners infuriate the fairy so much that she ends up throwing them all into a deep sleep. Will the handsome prince kiss the right girl?