title: Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist
author: Jane Yolen
description: Gr 3-5-Mining the world of standard fairy tales, these poems are presented in the voices of the various characters. The pea relates his tale of woe upon being smashed by the princess. The giant's wife from "Jack and the Beanstalk" takes pity on the boy and facilitates his escape. A wounded Cinderella regrets her choice of shoes, and an introspective Beauty wonders if she chose the right spouse. A table of contents as well as summaries of the original tales augment the text. Stunning painterly illustrations may compensate for a few less-than-thrilling twists on the familiar tales. Stellar depictions of Rumplestiltskin and The Frog Prince richly enhance the text. Some poems are thoughtful and others merely silly but the illustrations are consistently eye-catching. The concept is fresh, and most of the poems are enjoyable if a few feel more contrived than creative. Still, this unique offering will find a home in language-arts classes, and the art begs to be shared one-on-one.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  <svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
  
  
  xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
  
  
  width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 992 1499"
  
  
  preserveAspectRatio="none">
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![More Praise for Jessica Cluess](../Images/image00209.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Is it clear that Cluess adores the Harry Potter series and _Jane Eyre_? Yes.
  So do you. So does everyone. What matters is that her voice is her own.”
  
  
  — _The New York Times_
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00210.jpeg) “[A] smashing dark fantasy.”
  
  
  — _Publishers Weekly,_ Starred
  
  
  “Jessica Cluess is an awesome storyteller!”
  
  
  —TAMORA PIERCE
  
  
  “A fun, inventive fantasy. I totally have a book crush on Rook.”
  
  
  —SARAH REES BRENNAN
  
  
  “With the emotional intensity of my favorite fantasy books, this is the kind
  of story that makes you forget yourself.”
  
  
  —ROSHANI CHOKSHI
  
  
  “A glorious, fast-paced romp of an adventure.”
  
  
  —KELLY LINK
  
  
  “The magic! The intrigue! The guys!…This team of sorcerers training for battle
  had a