Princess Tales Around the World: Once Upon a Time in Rhyme with Seek-and-Find Pictures

by Grace Maccarone, Grace Maccarone

ONCE UPON A TIME…

A princess laughed, A princess sang, Another made a trade.
One told stories, One was kind, Another refused to wed.
One cast spells, One was cursed, Another silently sewed every day.
And one tossed golden apples away in ten fairy tales retold.

In Princess Tales Around the World ten beloved princess stories, ingeniously told and gorgeously illustrated—with hidden pictures for readers to find—by author Grace Maccarone and artist Gail de Marcken, will delight readers, happily ever after.

Tales include: Rapunzel, The Golden Goose, The Little Mermaid, The Firebird, Scheherazade, Princess Moonlight, The Princess on the Glass Hill, The Loathsome Dragon, Toads and Diamonds, and Six Swans, with Source Notes from the author.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

Grace Maccarone is an American children’s book editor and author, notably of Miss Lina’s Ballerinas, illustrated by Christine Davenier, and its sequel Miss Lina’s Ballerinas and the Prince. She has also worked as an editor at Scholastic, Wireless Generation, and currently Holiday House.

Reviews

[Katherine Cowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of princess fairy tales from around the world, told in poetic form. The illustrations were lovely, and I loved how many different traditions were represented. Because of the poetic form, some of the stories were rather dense, so during the first read of a poem my daughters would have me pause every five or six lines to explain the story to them, define a word, or orient them to the context. But I think that's good for them and helps them to be critical readers. We actually didn't look for any of the seek-and-find pictures.

I really wished this book had a list of where each of the stories was from.

[Annie Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and putting the stories into verse is creative and fun, but some of the stories are altered or shortened too much.

[Allison Tebo · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I was really surprised (and didn't care for) the rhyming stories in this book. For one thing, I didn't think they rhyme well at all, and it didn't quite seem to go with the illustrations.

But then, the real reason I picked up these books was because of Gail de Marcken's exquisite artwork.

Colorful and unique, lush and quirky and infused with an multi-cultural flavor - her artwork sparks the imagination. There is also a humorous, rather obsessively detailed quality that I like. There's all kinds of little details that are unnecessary, but enrich each illustration. In one illustration of Rapunzel in her tower, we can glimpse Little Red Riding Hood below in the woods, bumping into the Wolf. In the illustration of Sleeping Beauty's gifting and subsequent curse, all the couples at the party are couples from the previous fairy tales! There is also a fun little game (find the ball cap, the kitten, and so forth) in each illustration. I really appreciate it when an illustrator puts such care and detail into a children's book and makes it feel twice as loved.

[Mrs. Melaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princesses AND seek-and-find AND rhyme? Oh, my! In their second set of princess stories, Maccarone re-tells ten fairy tales from around the world allotting two to four pages to each one while DeMarcken depicts the events in lush, attractive pictures. Despite potential limitations imposed to fit the rhyming structure, the stories are succinct and well-told. Each painting contains specific things hidden in it, but readers are also given a list of eleven items to search for that are hidden in all the stories (star, apple, glasses…etc.). It can be challenging to find items hidden within the bright, busy illustrations. The stories go from familiar ones like “Rapunzel” and “The Little Mermaid” to less standard fare such as “The Firebird” and “Princess Moonlight”. It was nice to see that source notes for the fairy tales were included.

[Greymalkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this more but the rhymes created a block of text that became hard to read and made the story convoluted. I also was not sure why the stories included so much violence and death in a book that I presume was for very young children because of the "seek-and-find pictures" aspect. But maybe not since the text includes words like "disparaged" and "ilk" and "vengeful".

I guess I'm not sure who the audience for this book is or I'm maybe underestimating how much older kids might enjoy being told to "find 11 swords and a toad"?

I did appreciate that some of the stories were changed from their classic darker endings to give them a happier ending, but still, a little odd to change that and not change that people died or were blinded or almost burned to death.

I also liked the illustrations that do their best to show ethnic diversity, that's a nice touch.

[Drucilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel is just as good, if not better, than the first Princess Tales book. The illustrations are still gorgeous and de Marcken continues to show diversity through the pages. Of course, most of that it because the majority of the tales found here are from non-western cultures. That's why I might give an edge to this book rather than its predecessor.

[Martha Trzepacz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique collection of tales to add to your fairy tale section. Bright ,colorful illustrations with a seek and find story character feature adds to the appeal of this book. The repetitive poetic text can become a little monotonous. However, I do think that as a "Princess for a Day " read aloud feature it would work.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of this book with fairy tales and folktales from all around the world- there are some obscure ones in her that I never heard of before. I like the detailed illustrations that include a search and find on each page. I had a hard time with each story being told in poetry; it seemed less interesting that way. A beautiful book anyway.

[Emily Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of fairy tales and thought that this book is very fun! I love that the tales come from all over the world which to me has a lot of diverse influences going on. I loved the rhyming and use the imagery throughout the story because it drew me into picturing in my mind what would happen. I think that this book would be good for a read aloud for mid elementary.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retells some familiar and lesser-known princess stories. Fun seek-and-find illustrations. The rhyming text became tedious but would probably be less annoying if the stories were not read all at onece but rather one day.

[Whole And · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the greatest retellings of fairy tales focused on princesses told through poetic rhyme. Gorgeous illustrations with hidden images to look for on every page. One of favourite books to read and reread.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, stunning illustrations, great cultural and racial diversity among each story; the book is told completely in rhyme, each fairytale roughly 2-3 pages long; It is also a Search/Find for Kids, its really cute;

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the rhyme scheme and it has a nice spread of tales from around the world. Each page has seek and find elements.
Only negative is that it might be hard for children to understand the stories.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations contain seek and find items and they all are in rhyme.

Rapunzel. The Golden Goose. The Little Mermaid. The Firebird. Scheherazade. Princess Moonlight. The princess on the Glass Hill. The Loathsome Dragon. Toads and Diamond. Six Swans.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super abrivated sanitized versions of fairytales. Does not say which country the story is from or is, you have to guess by the style of drawing. The seek and find objects are some items a child this books age range is for would not know. Includes looking for characters from other fairytale stories.

[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shortened fairy tales combined with a fun search and find on every page. No Key - some images are easier to fin than others. Some tales were familiar and some were new to me.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice rhyme scheme. The story really flowed.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice rhyming/poetic renditions of many tales the addition of seek and find pictures is fun.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second collection of unique and beautifully illustrated Princess Tales. The seek and find an added plus. Looking forward to more in this series.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty pictures, poems were a nice touch. There are better fairy tale, illustrated books out there.

[msfox_librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful children’s book where the illustrations also contain hidden pictures to find. I loved the poems that captured the essence of classic fairy and folk tales, several of which were new to me!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so well-written! It is a number of fairy-tales written in poetry format. The illustrations are beautiful. I would highly recommend as a read-aloud.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a perfect gift for a fairy tale fan. The seek and find aspect and the stories being in verse give this one a ton of staying power. Recommended for ages 4-7.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple tales I wasn't familiar with, but felt like watered down versions of the tales. The seek and find portion was hard due to the art style.