Penguin published this collection of forty contemporary retellings of classic fairy tales in 2010. Many are quite creepy and strange; some are original works entirely. All are quite good.

The title of this collection is taken from the refrain to The Juniper Tree.

Aside from the concept, the most interesting thing about this book is that it is arranged geographically with respect to the source materials. And unlike a similar collection, this book seems more likely to appeal to any reader, not just those with a penchant for fairy tales. Some of the stories drawn upon are not traditionally considered "fairy tales", as a retelling of one of Calvino's cosmicomics is included.

Authors collected in this book are: Gregory Maguire, Joy Williams, Jonathon Keats, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, Alissa Nutting, Francine Prose, Kevin Brockmeier, Neil LaBute, Shelley Jackson, Joyelle McSweeney, Lydia Millet, Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Brian Evenson, Michael Cunningham, Karen Joy Fowler, Rikki Ducornet, Timothy Schaffert, Katherine Vaz, Karen Brennan, Lucy Corin, Ilya Kaminsky, Michael Martone, Kelly Link, Chris Adrian, Jim Shepard, Kathryn Davis, Kellie Wells, Sabrina Orah Mark, Aimee Bender, Marjorie Sandor, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, Rabih Alameddine, Stacey Richter, Neil Gaiman, Francesca Lia Block, Lily Hoang, Naoko Awa, Hiromi Ito, Michael Mejia, Kim Addonizio, and Kate Bernheimer.

Highly recommended.

ISBN: 978014311784

608 pages

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.