One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!: A Very Grimm Fairy Tale

by Aaron Shepard, Gary Clement (Illustrator)

Once there were three sisters who lived together in a cottage in the woods. The oldest sister was no different from other people. She had just one eye, right in the middle of her forehead. The middle sister was also quite ordinary. She had one eye on her forehead, and one on each side of her face. But the youngest sister was different. Her name was Two-Eyes, and that's just what she had.

In this playful retelling of a tale from the Brothers Grimm, a young lady with cruel sisters gets help from an old woman, a handsome knight, and some magical verses -- and in the end finds out she is not so alone as she believed.

Rated "A" by Entertainment Weekly
2007 New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing"

TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS -- A READER'S THEATER SCRIPT OF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE FREE ON AARON'S WEB SITE.

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Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of "The Legend of Lightning Larry," "The Adventures of Mouse Deer," "The Sea King's Daughter," "The Baker's Dozen," and many more kids' books. His stories also appear often in Cricket magazine.

Gary Clement is a political cartoonist for Canada's National Post, and the winner of the 1999 Canadian Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature, Illustration.

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"Scrappy little Two-Eyes is an especially appealing character. . . . Many classic Grimm tales are downright frightening, but this modern retelling manages to stay very close to the original while making it completely accessible to today's kids." -- Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly, Jan. 18, 2007, "A" rating

"Shepard proves that updating a classic can be a treat for a new generation of readers." -- Publishers Weekly, Nov. 13, 2006

"Wry fun for the early grades." -- Kirkus Reviews, Nov. 15, 2006

"An old tale gets a facelift in this lively version. . . . On the way to happily-ever-after, a good time will be had by all." -- Ilene Cooper, Booklist, Jan. 1, 2007

"Children will enjoy the humor in this reincarnation. . . . Will make excellent fodder for reader's theater, with a script available on the author's Web site." -- Grace Oliff, School Library Journal, Jan. 2007

"This may be a Grimm tale, but it is not a grim one. . . . . The broad comedy of Gary Clement's watercolor illustrations is a treat. . . . . Adult readers will enjoy sly touches." -- Susan Perren, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), Jan. 20, 2007

"Shepard's twist of having Two-Eyes be the unusual one adds the type of humor young readers often enjoy most, where they are in on the joke." -- The Horn Book, Jan.-Feb., 2007

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SAMPLE

Now, the sisters owned a goat, and every day Two-Eyes took it to the meadow to graze. One morning, when she'd had hardly anything to eat, she sat in the grass and cried her two eyes out.

All at once, an old woman stood before her. But the biggest surprise was that this woman had two eyes, just like Two-Eyes herself.

"What's wrong, my dear?" asked the woman.

"It's my sisters," Two-Eyes told her. "They never give me enough to eat."

"Don't worry about that!" said the woman. "You can have as much as you like. Just say to your goat,

'Bleat, goat, bleat.
And bring me lots to eat!'

Then you'll have plenty. When you don't want any more, just say,

'Bleat, goat, bleat.
I've had so much to eat!'

Then the rest will vanish. Just like this."

And the old woman vanished -- just like that.

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Classics

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 26, 2006

About the author

Aaron Shepard is the author of many books, stories, and scripts for young people, as well as professional books and resources for writers and educators. He has also worked professionally in both storytelling and reader's theater, as a performer, director, and teacher trainer. Aaron's lively and meticulous retellings of folktales and other traditional literature have found homes with more than a dozen children's book publishers, large and small, and with the world's top children's literary magazines, winning him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. His extensive Web site, visited by thousands of teachers and librarians each week, is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater, while his stories and scripts have been featured in textbooks from publishers worldwide, including Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, SRA, The College Board, Pearson Education, National Geographic, Oxford University Press, Barron's, Hodder Education, and McGraw-Hill.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mistreated by her sisters One-Eye and Three-Eyes, Two-Eyes is forced to do all of the work and given only leftovers for food. Crying her eyes out in the meadow one day, she is visited by a magical old lady who teaches her a rhyme that will provide her with plenty of food. When this blessing is eventually spoiled by her sisters, Two-Eyes is next given a seed that produces an extraordinary tree with silver leaves and golden apples. When a handsome knight comes riding by, her ability to harvest one of the apples gives Two-Eyes the opportunity to escape her unhappy life with her sisters, and to find true love...

Originally collected by the Brothers Grimm, One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!: A Very Grimm Fairy Tale reminds me a bit of Cinderella , but also a bit of stories like Pajaro Verde / The Green Bird , with its nine sisters, each of whom had a different number of eyes. It's interesting to note that in the original, Two-Eyes was the middle sister, as it is more common in stories of this type to have the heroine be the youngest. I wish that Aaron Shepard had retained that detail, in his retelling, as middle children seem to get short shrift in fairytales. Leaving that aside, this was a fairly engaging presentation, with appealingly humorous artwork from Gary Clement, who modernized the setting somewhat. Recommended to young folk and fairy-tale fans.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun retelling of an obscure Grimm's tale. Won't work for FFT unit.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute familiar story. Nice for a read aloud.

[Anne Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enrichment Readers Theater selection. Great way to warm students up for learning. Wonderful message of how some are defined by their appearance.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!: A Very Grimm Fairy Tale by Aaron Shepard, illustrated by Gary Clement is a retelling of a tale from the Brothers Grimm about an unusual two-eyed young lady, with cruel sisters who make her wear rags and eat leftovers, who gets help from an old woman, a handsome knight, and some magical verses.

A young sister with two eyes is treated horribly by her one-eyed and three-eyed sisters, who are both like all of the other people in their area. A woman appears to Two Eyes and tells her what magic verses to say to her goat to be able to eat until she's full. One of her sisters discovers this trick and chases the goat away. The woman appears and give Two Eyes a seed to plant to grow a tree with leaves of silver and apples of gold, plus the verse to say to get an apple to fall into her hand. When a knight approaches the two older sisters compete to get an apple for the knight but neither can reach them. Two Eyes appears and grants the knight's request. He then grants her request to be rescued from her life. At his castle, where everyone has two eyes, they live happily ever after.

The text is fun to read and should make a successful read-aloud. The note About the Story gives the tune for the sleeping song, the website for a readers theater script of the story, and the reference to the original story.

The illustrations are rendered in watercolor and pencil. They are detailed and humorously extend the story. Among the details I really enjoyed were One Eye reading the book Eye Claudius, Two Eyes hitting Reheat on the microwave, and the Knight and Two Eyes playing Music for Four Hands and Eyes on the piano at the castle.

This is a very fun fairy tale and I recommend it for school and public library collections.

For ages 4 to 7, fairy tales, differences, Grimm Brothers, humor, and fans of Aaron Shepard and Gary Clement.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two-Eyes, named for her two eyes on her face (as opposed to her sisters: One-Eye and Three-Eyes), is considered different because she only has 2 eyes. Her sisters only allow her to eat leftover scraps from their meals. But one day, while Two-Eyes is walking the goat, an old woman who floats through the air, appears to her. Upon hearing of why the girl is upset, the old woman teaches her a rhyme that makes a table-ful of food appear. And when she's finished the table disappears with another rhyme.

Well, her sisters quickly become suspicious when Two-Eyes no longer is eating her leftover scraps. One-Eye decides to follow her the next day. The old woman appears again to teach her how to put her sister to sleep so that she can eat. But then Three-Eyes decides to follow her. Two-Eyes tries the same rhyme on Three-Eyes and doesn't realize that it doesn't work the same. So Three-Eyes now knows that Two-Eyes says a rhyme and the goat makes food appear. The sisters get rid of the goat.

Well, not to be outdone, the old woman gives Two-Eyes a seed and tells her to plant it. The seed becomes a huge silver apple tree. When her sisters try to climb it the apple boughs stay out of reach. Suddenly, a knight in shining armor shows up requesting an apple. But of course, the sisters can't reach it. So they have to let Two-Eyes out of the barrel they've shoved her into. Once the knight sees her he's in love. Having been able to get an apple for him by way of magical rhyme, Two-Eyes has been taken away from her awful sisters to become the knights wife and live in a castle.

[Rudy Regalado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards: None

Grade Level: Ages 5-8 Grades K-2

Summary: This story is about two eyes, a seemingly normal girl who is viewed as "weird" in a world where everyone has either one or three eyes. She is constantly tormented by her mean sisters but throughout the course of the book we see her fortune start to change...

Review: I liked this book because i thought it taught a great lesson. Be yourself. I liked the way the story unfolded and that two eyes ended up making out okay. I liked the setting and the rhymes involved as well. Overall I thought it was a great book.

In class uses: One use could be teaching that we shouldn't treat people badly for being different, We could use the book to sing the songs together in class, we can also use this book to children about bullying and why it is wrong.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little One Eye, Two Eyes, and Three Eyes was always one of my favorite fairy tales when I was growing up, so seeing it in its own picture book was just heaven to me.

And this version lives up to the one I grew up with, too.

Little Two-Eyes is despised by her sisters for being "different" (in the version I grew up with, it was for being normal, which makes more sense, but being "different" makes for a funnier punch line in the end) by having two eyes instead of one or three like they do. (Weirdly, they're shown watching TV with odd-eyed people.)

So they treat her like the classic red-headed stepchild - leftovers and rags - until she cries and cries. You can work out the gist of the end now, I'm sure :)

Very funny, and neat illustrations.

[Karissa Fankhauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

In typical fashion for folk tales, this is a book about a set of three...this time, it's three sisters. The youngest sister of the three had the "unfortunate" luck of being born with two eyes. The oldest sister has only one, and the middle sister has three, both of which are very common. Two-eyes is always left out and mistreated by her sisters until she meets a mysterious old woman who teaches her how to do some magic. That magic is what eventually leads Two-Eyes away from her sisters and into the arms of a knight who is not all that different from her. I loved this book and how it took something normal like having two eyes and making it abnormal. I would definitely use this book in a study of folktales, perhaps in a comparison activity to Cinderella.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny tale! I found it clever how the “ugliness” of the two-eyed sister would be considered “normal” in society. In today’s society, if a person had anything other then two eyes they would more than likely be seen as “ugly” or "weird".
The dreary, bland colors help imply the two-eyed sisters distress, but the objects brought by the Fairy Grandmother had bright, vivid colors emphasizing the two-eyed sisters hope and happiness for a better life.
I loved the repeating 2-4 liners the Fairy Grandmother would give the two-eyed sister to say. I wanted to try them on my own and to see if they would work.

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Very Grimm Fairy Tale is fun to read. The illustrations by Gary Clement are rather primitive but work just fine. My boys love this book and love me to share it with others. They both have heard it so many times that it is a great sharing story because they help me read/tell it.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the two sisters have all crazy eyes, like 3 eyes and 1 eye and I think that is ridiculous.

[Mrs Royle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a good tale. It is sort of a cross between Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
C. 2007 genre traditional

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this original fairy tale. Cute story and fun idea!

[Ricky Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow the story was really strange! The illustrations are done in a cool messy free-hand style. The book definitely breaks the traditional fairy tale mold!

[Nila Fulgencio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite fairy tales when I was a toddler. My father would always read this to me

[MJ]

fractured this copy

[Leyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. It was sort of gross in an eye-sense, but I guess it also taught us a lesson on accepting differences or the so-called.

[Walter Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a nice story of individuality and acceptance. Probably good for 4 and 5 year old kids. I think it could teach phonological awareness and social skills.

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids were singing “Is your eye awake, is your eye asleep” for days after haha