Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales by Ellen Datlow A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales by Ellen Datlow. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are well known for their anthologies of retold fairy tales for adults, and in A Wolf at the Door: and Other Retold Fairy Tales they turn their attention to younger readers. The 13 tales and poems in this collection are by well known fantasy and science fiction authors, many of whom write for young adults and children as well. Delia Sherman sets an unpleasant stepsister straight in "The Months of Manhattan," a modern retelling of "The Twelve Months" set in New York City. "Cinder Elephant" is a masterful retake of "Cinderella" by Jane Yolen. The heroine, Eleanor, or Elly, is tormented by her stepsisters Reen and Rhee, skinny girls with thin smiles and "hearts so thin you could read a magazine through them." Fortunately, Prince Charming cares more for who Elly is than what she looks like. (Yolen also finally exacts revenge on those twittery birds from the Disney movie.) Next, Neil Gaiman offers "Instructions" in a moody bittersweet poem about the things you learn from fairy tales. "Mrs. Big: 'Jack in the Beanstalk' Retold" by Michael Cadnum takes a sympathetic view from the perspective of the giant's wife. Nancy Farmer also switches perspectives for "Falada: the Goose Girl's Horse," telling the tale straight from the horse's mouth. Tanith Lee takes the title story "A Wolf at the Door," set in the next Ice Age which has been around long enough for civilization to return, with a few quirks. A 14-year-old girl and her father find themselves hosting a talking wolf who may be more -- or less -- than he appears to be. In "Ali Baba & the Forty Aliens," Janeen Webb gives a science fiction twist to a familiar tale from The Arabian Nights and Kelly Link considers whether a relatively practical-minded princess is made better or worse off by the transformation of her brothers in "Swans." Katherine Vaz dips into Portuguese folk tales for the lovely story "The Kingdom of Melting Glances." "Hansel's Eyes," by Garth Nix, is a chilling retelling of "Hansel and Gretel" made even more so by the urban setting. Kathe Koja's "Becoming Charise" is a subtly crafted retelling of "The Ugly Duckling," featuring a teen-aged girl who doesn't fit in, Albert Einstein and a wise and caring science teacher. Gregory Maguire's poem "The Seven Stage a Comeback" is like a reader's theater piece as the dwarves' grief at losing Snow White spurs them to a curious action. "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Patricia A. McKillip seems to be a sprightly and conventional retelling at first, but as the princesses begin their trek, the tale takes on a macabre tone. Each author comments at the end of his or her tale, adding another level of dimension to the story. As with their other anthologies, Datlow and Windling have done a remarkable job with their selection and arrangement of material. Make way in your To Read pile for A Wolf at the Door . A Wolf at the Door : And Other Retold Fairy Tales. All the fairy tales you've heard over and over again are revisted here, made new by award-winning fantasy and science fiction authors: Garth Nix tells a twisted new version of "Hansel and Gretel," Nancy Farmer shows us what life was like for the princess's magical horse, Gregory Maguire provides a side of the seven dwarfs you've never seen, and Neil Gaiman lays out the "Instructions" that fairy tales should have taught you. In all, thirteen new stories are born from old fairy tales, some disturbing and dark, others strange and funny, but each offering something original and unexpected -- and as surprising as a wolf at the door. A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (2000) by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Editor & Introduction) Other authors: Michael Cadnum (Contributor), Tristan Ellwell (Cover artist), Nancy Farmer (Contributor), Neil Gaiman (Contributor), Kathe Koja (Contributor) — 9 more , Tanith Lee (Contributor), Kelly Link (Contributor), Gregory Maguire (Contributor), Patricia A. McKillip (Contributor), Garth Nix (Contributor), Delia Sherman (Contributor), Katherine Vaz (Contributor), Janeen Webb (Contributor), Jane Yolen (Contributor) Series: Fairy Tales for Younger Readers (1) Members Reviews Popularity Average rating Mentions 709 19 23,822 21. Hm. I really liked these. I've a lot of experience reading children's stories and 'fractured' and 'modern' fairy-tales, so it's not just the charm of the novelty for me. I simply have to disagree with the reviewers who rated this so much lower. And I'm very sorry I can't explicate exactly why I like this collection so much. A little bit of the 'why' is that there's generally at least some humor in the stories. They often tend to pay homage, not only to the original of the specific tale they're updating, but to the fairy-tale tropes in general. But of course, because the tropes are almost cliches, the homage cannot be 100% respectful, and is actually more engaging when paid with tongue in cheek. Another bit of the 'why' is that the tales are for all ages. They're not too sophisticated or violent or erotic for children age 8, and they're not too simplistic or twee for adults. In my opinion. They're clever and fun and well-told. I will look for more by every contributor to the book, even if I'd passed when I encountered them in other collections like [b:Black Thorn, White Rose|863540|Black Thorn, White Rose|Ellen Datlow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1178999095s/863540.jpg|848964] or [b:The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest|249855|The Green Man Tales from the Mythic Forest|Terri Windling|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1311838445s/249855.jpg|242107] or [b:The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales|463033|The Coyote Road Trickster Tales|Ellen Datlow|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361075524s/463033.jpg|451480]. I will also reread this book before releasing it. (PM me if you live in the US and would like to read it - I would love for it to a good home and will gladly ship it gratis.) ( ) A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales is a collection of short stories that I selected from Cynthia Leitich Smith's list of children's and YA short story and poetry collections. I chose Neil Gaiman's Instructions as my short story for the purposes of this module, however, I read a few of the other stories and they were all wonderful. Q5 - As a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, I absolutely loved this story. Through his series of Instructions, he calls to minds bits and pieces of every fairy story you have ever heard, tidbits of wisdom that definitely apply to the magical realm and possibly even to the "real world." P3 - I really wanted to give this a P4 rating or higher, but I kept thinking that because of the magical theme of these stories and the easy readability, the writing in this collection is rather simplistic and probably more appealing to the younger members of the YA spectrum - late junior high, possibly early high school. It does have a bit of a juvenile feel to it, so it might not be attractive to older teens. ( ) This book is a collection of fairy tale retellings or fairy tale-inspired short stories intended for younger readers. These are the stories and their authors: The Months of Manhattan by Delia Sherman, Cinder Elephant by Jane Yolen, Instructions by Neil Gaiman, Mrs Big: Jack and the Beanstalk retold by Michael Cadnum, Falada: The Goose Girl's Horse by Nancy Farmer, A Wolf at the Door by Tanith Lee, Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens by Janeen Webb, Swans by Kelly Link, The Kingdom of Melting Glances by Katherine Vaz, Hansel's Eyes by Garth Nix, Becoming Charise by Kathe Koja, The Seven Stage A Comeback by Gregory Maguire, The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Patricia A. McKillip. I admit, if this hadn't been a book club read, I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own, and the reasons are threefold. First, even though I've been known to enjoy stories involving re-imagined fairy tales, it's not my preferred subject. Second, I'm not normally drawn to children's or middle grade books. And third, I'm generally not a big fan of anthologies or short story collections. One of the greatest joys of reading is being able to connect with the characters, and personally I find short stories are often too brief or are over too quickly for me to do that. Still, another great joy of reading is being able to try new things, and I was glad for the chance to read something different for a change. This was a nice change of pace and a good opportunity to discover some new authors and their takes on the fairy tale subject. I have to say, my feelings are mixed. There were stories I loved, and stories I did not like at all. Among my favorites were The Months of Manhattan (which I thought was the perfect story to open with) and The Twelve Dancing Princesses (likewise, the perfect closing story). As for the rest of the stories in between, there are a few that stand out, but I mostly found many of them to be mediocre.