157. All at Once Upon a Time. Mara Rockliff. Illustrated by Gladys Jose. 2024. 48 pages. [Source: Review copy, picture book, humor] [5 stars]
First sentence: Once upon a time (now, tell me if you've heard this one before), locked up in a tower, lived a princess with the longest....
Premise/plot: Looking for an over-the-top SILLY book that makes as much sense as any fantastical dream? All At Once Upon a Time thrives on the dot, dot, dot for fracturing ALL the fairy/folk tales that ever could be. (Well, most of them. More than you might expect in just forty-eight pages).
My thoughts: This one is ridiculously silly and sometimes that kind of humor can be a very good thing. This would be a GREAT fit for teachers who are required to teach fairy/folk tale units that also include a WRITING section where kids have to write their own twisted tale.
Because this one can be expanded upon in classrooms, it goes beyond the traditional audience you might expect. I think it builds upon a knowledge of the originals.
I definitely enjoyed it! Just a few of the fairy tales it fractures:
- Rapunzel
- Pinocchio
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Hansel and Gretel
- Three Little Pigs
- Cinderella
- The Frog Prince
The illustrations feature even more.
© 2024 Becky Laney of Young Readers
