Book List: Fairytales and Fairytale Retellings

If you love fairy tales or fairy tale retellings, check out these great fiction and nonfiction books in the children's section. Make sure to bookmark this list, we'll be updating it. Also, if an item is in red, that means the book is on order. Place a hold on it to be the first to read it!

After Happily Ever After Series by Tony Bradman (J-F BRADMAN)

The Sisters Grimm Series by Michael Buckley (J-F BUCKLEY)

Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser (J-F DeKEYSER)

Cinderella (as if you didn’t already know the story) and Thumbelina (Tiny Runaway Bride) by Barbara Ensor (J-F ENSOR)
 

Once Upon a Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick (J-F FREDERICK)

A Tale Dark & Grimm and In a  Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz (J-F GIDWITZ)

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin (J-F LOFTIN)

The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children and The Witch’s Curse by Keith McGowan (J-F McGOWAN)

Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli (J-F NAPOLI)

Twilight Land by Howard Pyle (J-F PYLE)

Whatever After Series by Sarah Mlynowski (J-F MLYNOWSKI no. 1)

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey: the True Tale of Sleeping Beauty by Jane Yolen (J-F YOLEN)

The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler (J-F ZAHLER)

Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde (J 398.2 VAN)

Check out the 398s in the Children’s Nonfiction Section for many more fairy tales.

New Juvenile Fiction and Nonfiction Books

There are always new things to check out at the Helen Hall Library. These are just some of the amazing new fiction and nonfiction books for children that are just waiting to be checked out!

Fiction
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee: An Origami Yoda book by Tom Angleberger (J-F ANGLEBERGER) - McQuarrie Middle School's students miss Origami Yoda when Dwight leaves for Tippett Academy, but he sends Sara a paper Fortune Wookiee that seems to give advice just as good as Yoda's--even if, in the hands of girls, it seems preoccupied with romance.

Canterwood Crest series by Jessica Burkhart (J-F BURKHART) - Follow Sasha Silver, her horse Charm, and other students in their adventures at Canterwood Crest Academy, a school for equestrian riders.

Little Magic Shop of Horrors by Annette Cascone (J-F CASCONE) - A boy must save his headless best friend when a talent show magic act goes horribly awry.

Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes (J-F KEYES) - Twelve-year-old Keara runs away rather than sacrifice Caw, the darkbeast she has been bound to all her life, and, pursued by the Inquisitors who would punish her for heresy, she joins a performing troupe of Travelers.

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin (J-F LIN) - An innkeeper's chore boy discovers that a visitor's stories hold the key to returning the moon to the Starry River of the Sky. 

Here Where the Sunbeams are Green by Helen Phillips (J-F PHILLIPS) - Sisters Madeline and Ruby travel to a Central American jungle to help find their missing father, a renowned bird watcher, only to discover a nefarious plot that puts their lives in danger.

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Schlitz (J-F SCHLITZ) - When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at her twelfth birthday party, suspicion of kidnapping chases the trio away from London and soon the two orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini's ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it is too late.

Never Girls: The Space Between by Kiki Thorpe (J-F THORPE) - While wondering if she has a talent for animals, Lainey, along with her three friends and the fairies of Pixie Hollow, discovers a passage between Earth and Never Land.

Nonfiction
Haunted Histories: Creepy Castles, Dark Dungeons, and Powerful Palaces by J. H. Everett (J 133.122 EVE) - Shares facts about the locations where calamitous historical events occurred, covering topics ranging from the Tower of London and the torture methods used there, to dungeon life for prisoners, and the most popular poisoning methods. 

The Elephant's Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India by Marcia Williams (J 398.2 WIL) - Draws eight stories from well-known collections of Indian folktales--Hitopadesha tales, Jataka tales, and Panchantra tales--and presents them with cartoon-like illustrations.

The Glaciers are Melting! by Donna Love (J 551.312 LOV) - Presents facts about the melting of glaciers around the world and the impact this has on the animals that live near them, in a text with a story about Peter Pika and his friends who go to the Mountain Monarch to find out what they can do about it. 

Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart (J 591.5 STE) - A collection of gross animal facts details the strange behaviors of different animals, including desert tortoises who use urine to protect themselves from predators and penguin chicks who feed on regurgitated food from their parents.

Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg (J 599.665 FRY) - Traces the work of two wildlife veterinarians who protect and chart the lives of Assateague Island's wild horses, describing their shared efforts to balance the horses' ecosystem and raise awareness. 

Every Day's A Dog's Day: A Year in Poems by Marilyn Singer (J 811.54 SIN) - A lighthearted treasury of canine-themed poems presents a year's worth of seasons and holidays as experienced by dogs and celebrates such special occasions as Hole Digging Day and the dreaded Visit to the Vet Day. 

Make Magic Do Good by Dallas Clayton (J 811.6 CLA) - Presents a collection of poems that features such elements as a boy with a beard who wants to remain six years old forever, a frightful monster who fears children, and a magical rope to the sky that invites youngsters to climb.

Preschool Picks

Are you bored with the books you are reading to your three to six-year-old? Do you and your child have a sense of humor and enjoy laughing together? Why not read some of these books:

E WIL Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Pigeon begs, pleads, and wheedles to drive the bus.

E WIL Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
Pigeon gives many reasons why he shouldn’t go to bed.

E CRO Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin
Using a typewriter, the cows demand electric blankets or they will go on strike.

E CRO Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin
Farmer Brown goes on vacation not realizing the animals have special plans while he is gone.

E STA Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley
When little Sweetness runs away from Mrs. Sump, the mean woman who runs the orphanage, the kind hearted sheriff goes to rescue her from the dangerous Coyote Pete. The question is who is rescuing whom?

E STA Raising Sweetness by Diane Stanley
The kind sheriff has adopted eight orphans, but his ideas about housekeeping and cooking, such as spaghetti with peanut butter, lead Sweetness to find a wife for the sheriff.

F WAT Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts
Scaredy Squirrel is a afraid to leave his tree, but something changes his outlook. (Be sure to read the fly leaf where it gives the reader a warning before reading the book.)

F WAT Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watts
Scaredy sets out to find the perfect friend, preferably one with no teeth, and who is germ-free and predictable.

My Favorite Picture Books

After 12 years of assisting in story times and paging through picture books, I've listened to and read many wonderful stories. Below is a list of some of my all time favorites (based on responses from children in story time, my love of the subject, or how loud I laughed when I read them):

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Viorst, Judith
Bark, George by Feiffer, Jules
Bear Snores On by Wilson, Karma
Big Bug Ball by Lillegard, Dee
Book! Book! Book! by Bruss, Deborah
Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Morris, Carla
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Jr., Bill Martin
Chester by Watt, Mélanie
Clap Your Hands by Cauley, Lorinda Bryan
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Cronin, Doreen
Clip-Clop by Smee, Nicola
Doghouse by Thomas, Jan
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Willems, Mo
Duck In The Truck by Alborough, Jez
Duck On A Bike by Shannon, David
Dumb Bunnies series by Pilkey, Dav
Five Little Ducks by Raffi
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Christelow, Eileen
Franklin in the Dark by Bourgeois, Paulette
Froggy Gets Dressed by London, Jonathan
From Head to Toe by Carle, Eric
Giraffes Can't Dance by Andreae, Giles
Girl and Her Gator by Bryan, Sean
Hooway for Wodney Wat by Lester, Helen
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Yolen, Jane
I Went Walking by Williams, Sue
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (and others in series) by Numeroff, Laura
I'm Not Cute! by Allen, Jonathan
I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs by Katz, Alan
I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Sherry, Kevin
Is Your Mama A Llama? by Guarino, Deborah
Librarian from the Black Lagoon by Thaler, Mike
Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Dewdney, Anna
My Lucky Day by Kasza, Keiko
No, David! by Shannon, David
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by O'Malley, Kevin
Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) by Kloske, Geoffrey
Pigeon Finds a Hotdog! by Willems, Mo
Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Willems, Mo
Punk Farm by Krosoczka, Jarrett J.
Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Shields, Carol Diggory
Saving Sweetness by Stanley, Diane
Scaredy Squirrel series by Watt, Melanie
Spider on the Floor by Raffi
Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Scieszka, Jon
Stupids series by Allard, Harry G.
Tacky the Penguin by Lester, Helen
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Taback, Simms
Too Many Frogs by Asher, Sandy
True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Scieszka, Jon
We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Rosen, Michael
What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Thomas, Jan
Wide-Mouthed Frog by Faulkner, Keith
Wolf's Chicken Stew by Kasza, Keiko
Wolf's Coming! by Kulka, Joe