Once Upon a Time: A Story Collection

Ever After High #0

by Shannon Hale

Read these exclusive introductions to all your favorite characters to find out what their lives are like at home! A new chapter is about to begin at Ever After High, and all the students are preparing to start their Legacy Year. In just a few weeks it will be Legacy Day when they will sign the Storybook of Legends and commit to live out their fairy-tale destiny, repeating the famous stories of their parents.

This volume collects together for the first time 12 short tales, including five BRAND-NEW stories. For the first time, find out what Dexter and Darling Charming, Cedar Wood, Lizzie Hearts and Kitty Cheshire were doing just before school started. This collection also includes the stories of Apple White, Raven Queen, Madeline Hatter, Briar Beauty, Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman, and the fairy tale The Tale of Two Sisters, which were previously only available online.

Don't miss this Once Upon a Time special edition of enchanting stories by bestselling and Newbery honor-winning author Shannon Hale.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fiction, Short Stories, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Retellings

241 pages, Hardcover

First published October 21, 2014

About the author

Shannon Hale is the New York Times best-selling author of six young adult novels: the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy, multiple award winner Book of a Thousand Days, and the highly acclaimed Books of Bayern series. She has written three books for adults, including the upcoming Midnight in Austenland (Jan. 2012), companion book to Austenland. She co-wrote the hit graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge and its sequel Calamity Jack with husband Dean Hale. They live near Salt Lake City, Utah with their four small children, and their pet, a small, plastic pig.

Reviews

[Yusra ❥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shannon Hale kinda popped off with the Kitty story ngl. Still hits 6 years later.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have loved stories from the O'Hare twins, or Cupid...the sort of 'lesser' characters at this point, to get to know them better.

[Bookkitten (collector of nice things) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here are the links to the stories of this book I already reviewed:

page 19: Apple White and the ebony-haired legacy = Apple White's Story
page 31: Raven Queen and the mirror prison = Raven Queen's Story
page 45: Briar Beauty and the jewelry thieves = Briar Beauty's Story
page 63: Madeline Hatter and the upside-down day = Madeline Hatter's Story
page 83: Ashlynn Ella and the mysterious woodsman = Ashlynn Ella's Story
page 99: Huner Huntsman and the forest maiden = Hunter Huntsman's Story
page 229: From the Storybook of legends: The Tale of Two Sisters

Now about the other characters in the book:

Cedar Wood: I really feel sorry for her. She´s one of the EAH characters i want to see fulfilling her destiny. A curse forcing you to tell the truth no matter what is as bad as acurse forcing you to lie.

Dexter Charming: Dexter notices details that the others of the Charming family don´t see. He pays attention. I hope he becomes more confident in his actions & his skills.

Darling Charming: Daring´s and Dexter´s little sister. She has to pretend being a Damsel in distress, but the truth is, sshe´s super strong and has time-slowing hair. It´ll be interesting to see her at Ever After High. Dexter could really need someoe to help him out of awkward situations more often

Lizzie Hearts: Don´t give up hope, girl! You´ll return home someday. Until then: Off with their heads!

Kitty Cheshire: The only story with narrator footnotes *grin*. Maddie is able to talk to the narrators, but kitty is able to sense and to scratch them =^.^=
Also, she might be the mischievious trickster kitty of Wonderland, but she has also a big heart. And you can only grin like a Cheshire cat when you are done with her story

[amelie (government barbie’s version)ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am an ever after high girlie and i will be forever, also a monster high girlie, ima share some of my FAV quotes from this book, this is a children’s book btw 🥰🤪🎀💝

“Once upon a new school year, Raven Queen was packing. She blasted Tailor Quick’s new album from her MirrorPod, dancing while grabbing things from her closet and tossing them in her clothing trunk” 🕺👯🪩💋💄

“Then, as has been Huntsman tradition for hundreds of years, they enacted the Huntsman-To-the-Rescue Move. With shoulders back, chests out, they tore off their shirts, showing that nothing-not even a shirt- can get between them and Saving the Day. The two Huntsman held the pose while invisible trumpets played a heroic fanfare” 🐺🐺🪖💅🏻🥰🎀

“In Huntsman Stealth Mode, he ran through the brush and around trees in absolute silence” 🤐 🤫🧏‍♀️

“Tomatoes are sneaky. They love to trick you into believing that are strawberries or cherries or apples. Before taking a bite, point at the thing and declare, ‘You are a tomato!’ That’ll show them!” 🍅🥫😌🤨🤓

“‘I am bored’ Kitty said aloud. ‘Bored,’ She repeated. ‘Bored bored bored. Boooored. Booooo. Boogie. Beauregard. Banana Squash’.” 🙀🍌🫶🐈🐈‍⬛

[TheCrazyFanvergent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annabella dopo 10 anni torna nel buco nero che era questa saga e ne è incredibilmente più infogata di prima
Rinnovo il mio amore per Dexter e soprattutto per il lore dei personaggi di Wonderland, Maddie, Lizzie e Kitty restano sempre nel mio cuore

[Becky Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how they give you more of an intro to the other characters of the ever after books, definitely a fun read :)

[Dorian Jandreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was huge joy to read this book since I'm doll collector of Ever After High.

[Isha Saeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apple white is a hypocrite

[Sara☽༊‧₊˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I miss my babies so dang much.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I had already read these short stories which did not seem to be edited or revamped for this collection:

Apple White's Story
Raven Queen's Story
Briar Beauty's Story
Madeline Hatter's Story
Ashlynn Ella's Story
Hunter Huntsman's Story
The Tale of Two Sisters

The new stories that are found in this collection alone are:

Cedar Wood's Story
Dexter Charming's Story
Darling Charming's Story
Lizzie Hearts's Story
Kitty Cheshire's Story

Of those, the only ones with a substantial depth are Dexter and Darling.
The set that just got released has all the characters questioning their destiny which was not as evident in the earlier story set. I don't think this is consistent with what we see as readers in the Storybook of Legends. I don't know why they didn't do more characters because the later books start expanding outside just the Apple/Raven focus. It is nice that they have now collected the stories together for fans of the series, but besides the Charmings the collection was a let down.

[Bara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice. Not shocking but I still liked to delve more into the world of EAH. Favourite story was about Kitty, Cedar probably being close second. The Charming stories had their moments, too, even though I found Dexter my the least favourite (not as character but the story as a whole). And the others I already rated.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

2015 Reading Challenge - a book of short stories

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the different aspect this book takes through the different characters lives, we get to see more of them from a more personal perspective, plus it gives more background!

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Shannon Hale knows how to do is write banger books. Can’t believe I didn’t know what peak literature was until this book. (No but seriously, the Ashlynn/Hunter story made me ❤️🥺❤️, literally punching myself, that’s how cute that was)

[Vendea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roztomiloučké a moc pěkně graficky zpracované. Ze všech příběhů se mi nejvíc asi líbil ten Darling Charming, a pak Ashlynn.

4/5*

[Tifany · Rating 4 out of 5]

— 3.75

[Eva Kovacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was a good add on to the series. Loved getting to see more from the wonderlandian characters like Lizzie and Kitty :) loved how her chapter being the last brought us through the book again because it turns out she was there the whole time!

[Different Is Beautiful · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong four Stars

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had been on the hunt for this book for a while and I finally acquired it from a popup book sale. Before I critique the writing, the binding and formatting of this book was genius. It was a solid hardcover with a dust jacket and all the pages were purple. The detailing on the paper was so beautiful and it almost distracted me from the subpar writing. I've never been one for short story collections, but I only caved because I like the characters of Ever After High. Nothing really happened in any of the stories and all the students were making preparations for their first day of school. We barely even got to see Ever After High. I did like the creativity and fairy tale puns, but it was really mediocre. My favorite character was Darling Charming, the daughter of Prince Charming who was a badass princess in a ballgown. I wish she was more prevalent as the other characters, but I'll take what I can get. I think there's a few publications left for me to read regarding Ever After High. It's a shame it's not as popular as Monster High. Those ghoulies seem more genuine and know how to party. I'd rather matriculate there, but still keep Darling Charming as a study buddy at EAH .

[Poonnapa Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book base on the series "Ever after high". This book tell us about the character life, a character home. Including Apple white, Raven queen, Ashlynn Ella, Lizzie hearts, Cedar wood ,Dexter, Darling charming,Kitty Cheshire, Madeline hatter, Briar beauty and Hunter Huntsman. All the series about was writing your own destiny. The book is the tale of two sister. The very main character was Apple white and Raven queen. The destiny had written that apple white is snow white daughter and raven queen is the evil daughter. Apple white is the person that everyone likes her but raven queen seems different. And this book will tell you about all the character that base on the series. Raven queen wants to make her own destiny because she thinks that we doesn't need to follow the destiny but apple white thinking the opposite ......But this book is very different to the series because this book doesn't tells about the tale of the two sister but telling about their homes. There's 17 chapters and 241 pages.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a short and sweet novel to introduce you to the Ever After High characters and let you see a little of how the world works. The short stories are cute and entertaining and I love how the extra shorts in the book are longer and tell you more about the characters that aren't featured in the videos (check out Youtube if you don't know what I'm talking about). I know this may seem like a children's book, but I think that these stories have a feeling that older people can learn a little something from these characters and their adventures. I loved how in one particular short Hale collected all of the shorts together in one way (which was actually a pretty cool way of doing it). I liked the end short story "The Tale of Two Sisters" and the under-lying message in that tale and also there are little messages after the story that I liked as well (read the short, its actually pretty funny). Over all, I liked the short stories in this book and am excited to read the main books for this series.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm starting my reread of this amazing series with this book. This is a collection of short stories told from different character's perspectives. Shannon Hale surprised me with how distinctive each character's voice and writing style was. My favorite was Kitty's and how she tied the whole book together while illustrating the In-Between. This is a great book that you should read after the main trilogy, or before if you already know the characters.

[Casey Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book of short tales. A prequel of sorts for the first book in the series with a very small story about many of the main characters and what they were doing the day before school started in the first book. It does not add to the overall plot of the story but does give depth to more characters.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide if new readers of the series should start here and get a peak at the characters or read it afterwards like I did. I enjoyed looking back at things that happened before they went to that fateful year of school, but I can also see how it would be fun to know all of this stuff ahead.

[Sophie Hannah Barden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever after high

I think this book so perfect in every way. The different story's, all tide together by kitty, a wider look at fairy tale family's, and, of course, the fore shadowing of legacy day. I was hooked. Keep up the good work!

[✨Jinglemarco✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A nice collection of short stories, wrapped up at the end in a completely satisfaying way.

[Anissa Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool

I love it , it was awesome. Gives a little story about all the characters. But,the Raven and Apple stories were in the first book

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite story is Cedars/Ashlynns, can't choose between them

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

explicitness: 0/5 (sex: none)
violence: 0/5
language: 0/5
alcohol/drugs/smoking: 0/5
intense scenes: 0/5
age rating: 9-10+

[Karen Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Shannon Hale plays in this world of fairytale characters. I know this is a middle grade book but I just need to say that it's really creative, bursting with imagination and fun. It's like Mattel gave her the bare minimum of straw and she somehow spun it into gold. They probably didn't expect her to really dive into this world and expand it but she did it anyway. The book is written with her signature witty style and she slips in sly little nods to other stories, myths and legends. It's just so refreshing to see references and callbacks to other works of literature. You can really sense this is a project of love for her and she's having a lot of fun writing these characters. It feels like reading a very fun fanfic on A03 sometimes but perhaps the most significant thing I have to commend her for is breathing life, personality and depth to these characters. Seriously, if you were to just watch the web series of Ever After High on YouTube, you would probably dismiss these characters as juvenile or one-dimensional. But in Hale's fun, playful world, they are given fully-fledged personalities, fears, anxieties and problems. They have dreams, failures and even family drama. I never expected to explore Kitty Cheshire and Lizzie Hearts' past as refugees missing their Wonderland nor did I expect to read about Cedar Wood feeling sad about not being a real girl. I actually feel for these characters, even the least expected ones like Dexter and Darling who have to hide their true personalities/skills from the world because it doesn't align with their destinies. We get to explore so many stories of the side characters that we only saw in passing in the other books so if you're a fan of them, you won't be disappointed. I wish we had a little more insight into Cerise who is missing from this collection but we probably just had that already in the second book.

Anyway, here were some fun things I spotted in the book which I knew the author slipped in for fun and I am not sure if she expected any of her middle grade readers to notice. Maybe they might come back to these novels in the future to find out what the author is referencing there and in turn, stumble upon some impressive books. A win win situation.

1. In the story 'Lizzie Hearts and a Home for Hedgehogs', Kitty quotes HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu by saying "Rlyeh" and "Fhtagn" when twisting the word "Really" in response to Lizzie Hearts. I just found this so amusing because she is an agent of chaos and I think the author just really wanted to insert some Lovecraft in Kitty's speech which matched her character so well. It is arguable whether or not she knows what she's saying as she's mad but I thought this was great.

2. I just really love how the author sprinkles in actual lore and world-accurate details from the source materials. For example, the Wonderland characters think and reference actual locations and details from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The Jub Jub Bird, Jabberwock, Tum Tum trees...anyone who has read the original book would definitely notice this. A lot of research has been done for this book which I did not expect.

3. The fairytale versions of actual pop culture and media were very amusing and cute. Tailor Quick and One Reflection were most amusing. I wonder if this means that in the context of this universe, does this mean that these bands are following their destinies? or are the destiny routes only reserve for the actual fairytale characters? how Raven must envy Tailor Quick for not having to follow any destiny since there has not been any known fairytale about her. Idk, this thought exercise is certainly fascinating.

4. Was Shannon Hale inserting some of her favourite books in this collection of stories? In the story "Darling Charming and The Razor Eel", Darling's cousin Charity references her favourite books which I immediately caught on as parodies of actual books! I had to smile reading the names and I gave a little chuckle reading the lore that in Ever After High's world, the books are about normal stories which is ironic since the actual books are fantasy novels. It's also impressive how these books may also match the setting of this EAH universe.

Dreams of Dogs and Lobsters ~ a reference to Laini Taylor's Dreams of Gods and Monsters

The De-viners: Tales of Foliage Removal ~ could possibly refer to The Diviners series by Libba Bray

Why We Woke Up ~ reference to Why We Broke Up by Daniel Bray

Beautiful Sneakers ~ most definitely refering to Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

There were probably others that I missed out but these were what I caught. Also, it was a pretty bold move of the author to insert King Lear's daughter as a character in one of the stories. We are getting Shakespeare in the context of Ever After High?? Not sure if they would be considered fairytales but I am rolling with it. But the actual details of King Lear are pretty tragic so I am not entirely sure how King Lear even lived long enough to sire daughters. Then again, this is one of those moments where I had to suspend my disbelief and accept that in this world, somehow the progeny of the fairytale characters must exist.