![]() ![]() ![]() I felt the character of Jack was hardest to get invested in. Shurtliff is great at setting up endearing characters and readable stories. I was also delighted by just how many stories Shurtliff combined to create Jack, and how creatively and seamlessly it came together. It borrows from “Tom Thumb” and “Thumbelina,” and maybe I'm reading into it but I even recognized a touch of “Thumbling the Giant” with the Tom Thumb character being kidnapped by a giant. Another interesting element was how we see the point of view swap of Rumpelstiltskin – first in Rump from the title character in Rump, then in Jack from the queen who bargained with him, who is rather foolish but also manages to be sympathetic. My personal favorites were Red – particularly the friendship between Red and Goldilocks - and Grump, with its worldbuilding of a dwarf society. ![]() So for instance, Red Riding Hood’s grandmother is Rose Red from the less-retold tale of “Snow White and Rose Red.” All four books take place in the same fantasy world, with interconnected characters. However, they bring in elements of multiple other fairytales. The books retell, in order, Rumpelstiltskin ( Rump), Jack and the Beanstalk ( Jack), Red Riding Hood (Red), and Snow White (Grump). I recently read Liesl Shurtliff’s series of fairytale retellings for children. ![]()
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