Glasgow Fairytale by Alastair D. McIver

I am especially excited to tell you about this book because the author, Mr. McIver, has been a long-time member of my fairy tale community on LiveJournal. We've had quite a few talks about fairy tales and folklore, so I am just thrilled to see his storytelling in action here.

The story starts as several fairytales begin to act upon one another, with often hilarious results--as, for example, Reggie King decides to take out Snowy White (in a nicely done gender reversal) to be the bonniest man in Glasgow--and he hires none other than Ella McCinders to get the job done.

I won't give too much away, but I will tell you that this is one of the funniest adaptations I've ever read, mixing stories and rearranging the elements to fit McIver's own Glasgow. I giggled out loud frequently, and the Cinderella ball scene is my favorite every Cinderella dance. Also: Best Frog Prince Ever.

McIver's penchant for telling stories is apparent in his prose, which is excellent for reading aloud. As an American reader, I had to sometimes slow down to read the Scottish dialect, but even then it wasn't so heavy that I had trouble understanding it.

This is only available in America through intermediates on amazon.com marketplace, but it IS available, and for an excellent price for a trade paperback. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes mixed up fairy tales and funny retellings. I hope you'll check it out!

The Rainbow Kingdom by Paul Tracey

This album is the essence of my childhood nostalgia. While there are not strictly any fairy tale retellings, there are a few common tropes that make me feel like it fits, categorically.

The title track, "The Rainbow Kingdom," is about a land with the best colors, until they get blown away by the wind. Teaching us, early on, not to always expect a happy ending. (Although they get a reprise, later, which suggests that they figure out how to get the colors back.)

"I Found It In A Book" is a song to make any librarian take up her flag and sing. (At least, if there was an official Library flag.)

And "Fairy Godfather" turns the three wishes concept on its head for a fun song.

The whole album is clever and creative, and I recommend it if you've got little ones who you need to introduce to the storytelling world.

You can listen to some decent samples at CDBaby. It's available for purchase or download at amazon.com: