62. Endlessly Ever After

Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings. Laurel Snyder. Illustrated by Dan Santat. 2022. 92 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Your mama shakes you out of bed. She says, "My darling dear, you need to run to Grandma's quick! She's feeling ill, I fear. Now take this cake, to cheer her up, and have a lovely day. But mind the path! For danger tends to lurk along the way." 

Premise/plot: This picture book is a choose your own adventure fairy tale. Readers become "Rosie" the heroine of more than a dozen (honestly I did NOT count so don't hold me to that) fractured fairy tales. The first decision you, dear reader, must make is whether to wear the RED CAPE or the faux fur coat. But that is just the beginning of the decisions readers are called upon to make. Some story threads end quickly--very, very quickly. (For example, one decision has you heading straight back to your own house to try again another day!) But beware, not all decisions end happily ever after. In fact, quite a few end up with you (the reader) dying. 

This choose your own adventure book begins like Little Red Riding Hood, but how it ends is up to you. Plenty of paths borrow from other fairy tales. (So many fairy tales!)

My thoughts: I'm still not sure if I explored EVERY path of this one. I tried. I think if I had a print copy in hand instead of an e-book (library checkout), I'd have made sure I tried EVERY SINGLE path. Clicking the links worked way better than I thought, to be fair. But it's just hard to keep track of every crossroad. Usually I read choose your own adventure books with a notepad and pen...and a handful of paper scraps. I mark each crossroad, I plot out every possible combination. (I sometimes indicate which paths lead to quick ends.)

I liked this one. I did. I really loved the creativity of it. I enjoyed the text, for the most part. It was entertaining. I could see how this one could be appealing to kids in various situations--at home and at school. I could see this being great to read on your own OR great to read aloud, just parent-and-child. I could see this being fun to add to your home library or your classroom library. Fairy tale units are still a thing, so this could be a fun addition. 

I didn't personally love the illustrations. That is not a deal breaker for me.

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers