Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cousins, Lucy. 2009. YUMMY: EIGHT FAVORITE FAIRY TALES. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763644741

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this collection, Cousins retells eight popular fairy tales. Included are the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Enormous Turnip, Henny Penny, Goldilocks, The Little Red Hen, the Three Little Pigs and The Musicians of Bremen. These classic tales are familiar to many and only contain slight variations from what I remember as a child. In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf eats both her and her grandmother, but is later decapitated and the two escape. Goldilocks and Henny Penny only have slight variations with how hot the porage was, and the names of the characters respectfully. The first two pigs in The Three Little Pigs get eaten instead of running to the next pig's house. The Enormous Turnip and the Musicians of Bremen were not familiar to me. In the Enormous Turnip, many animals in the village helped pull out a giant turnip, then feasted on it. The Musicians of Bremen were a group of misfit animals who worked together to scare off some burglars. Both of these stories contained an important message; teamwork pays off.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Overall, the stories contained in this collection were blunt and rigid. They did not hold back on details, yet did not embellish on them either. I was a little disappointed with the violence in Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, however, many of the stories were just like I remember.

The illustrations were simplistic, but delightful. They were on white backgrounds with crudely drawn pictures; similar to that of a child's drawings. Additionally, the titles and some of the text were handwritten, including the entire table of context. This gave the book a charming feel and showed that the target audience was aiming at children.

4. HONORS AND REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: Starred Review “Beloved classics are successfully served by these bold, striking renditions.”

5. CONNECTIONS
* Compare these retellings with other popular versions
* Have older children write their own versions of one of the stories and make their own collection.
*Additional reading:
Pinkney, Jerry. THE LION AND THE MOUSE. ISBN 0316013560
Portis, Antoinette. A PENGUIN STORY. ISBN 0061456888
Garton Scanlon, Liz. ALL THE WORLD. ISBN 1416985808