Me and You by Anthony Browne

Me and You by Anthony Browne is a fairly new retelling of Goldilocks. It is somewhat original, though, in that Baby Bear tells the whole story -- all the text of the picture book comes from what Baby Bear is thinking or saying. And, oddly enough, the three bears are apparently living an idyllic life in the big city. So a few changes from the traditional telling.

The story isn't entirely from Baby Bear's perspective, though -- on facing pages, we see the story of Goldilocks, with no text, and in darker, contrasting images. She's lost, and alone, and scared, we see, moving through the big city. When she comes across the Bears' cozy cottage, where the door just happens to be propped open -- well, you know what happens.

I really liked the style of this one, as well as the unique format. I'm not a big fan of Goldilocks, but this version was refreshing and different enough to be memorable. Definitely recommended for your fairy tale library.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Goldilocks and the Three Bears

This is one of my favorite Faerie Tale Theatres AND one of my favorite Goldilocks...es... in terms of how much was added. Goldilocks by itself isn't much of a story--well I suppose it depends on if you go for the happy or the tragic ending. There's a rich grounds for symbolism and metaphor, but the story alone is simple (which leaves a lot of room for interpretation).

Instead of the normal FTT, straight-up retelling, the actual bit about the finding the house and eating the porridge, sitting in the chairs, and sleeping in the beds is a pretty short part of the episode. Much more time is spent on Goldilocks's shenanigans and fibbing. Tatum O'Neal does an impressive job of being a bouncy little girl.

I really like this interpretation, from the Ranger's back-country narration to the bear's failing scheme to give away honey to the wild stories Goldilocks comes up with to try to get out of trouble. The writing is sharp and witty, getting more chuckles out of me than your average... bear.

It's available to watch on hulu now.

Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women by Nancy Madore

I love looking at the amazon.com reviews for sexy books. I always read all the one star reviews because it's fascinating to me to contrast the ones who thought the book was too sexy with the ones who thought it wasn't sexy enough....

But anyway. Nancy Madore's Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women is the first in a series of short story collections, focusing on fairy tales. The second book seems to mainly draw from nursery rhymes, the third from a more general fantasy background. The stories are gently erotic--you won't find anything harshly graphic in this collection.

The collection includes these stories:

Beauty and the Beast

Bluebeard

Cat and Mouse

Cinderella

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Goldilocks and the Three Barons

Mirror on the Wall

Mrs. Fox

Snow White in the Woods

The Empress' New Clothes

The Goose Girl

The Sheep in Wolves' Clothing

The Ugly Duckling

I quite enjoyed the twists on Beauty and the Beast and The Goose Girl. The rest of the stories I found less memorable; some were more clever than others.

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

I picked Into the Wild up after hearing about Sarah Beth Durst's newer book, Ice.

Into the Wild is aimed at grade-schoolers, and the language reads like it. I tend to like my fairy tale remixes to be a little more mature, but taking this for what it's intended as, it's very well done. At first I thought the stories/type characters would stick pretty closely to their origins, but Durst managed some nice twists that left me feeling like she wasn't just rehashing the usual material.

The story is about 12-year-old Julie and her mother, Rapunzel, as well as several other friends who escaped "the Wild" and now live in the real world (such as the flighty "Cindy," selfish "Goldy" and Julie's "brother" Puss in Boots). Until someone breaks into the well at the Wishing Well Motel and makes a wish -- which sets the Wild free to grow and shape their lives again.

In the end I thought it was a nice blend of several stories, with some new ideas. I enjoyed the characters and I think Durst has a nice little package of a story here. Nothing too in depth, but perfect if you're just looking for a light read.

There is a sequel, Out of the Wild, which I haven't checked out yet (but I will). This might be slightly misleading, because the story isn't left hanging with characters in dire straights; however, the possibilities for the sequel are fairly clear.