Once Upon a Slime

by Andy Maxwell, Samantha Cotterill (Illustrator)

A slapstick, fractured fairy-tale mashup meets the evergreen kid obsession with slime.

Once upon a time—gloooooooorp! Ew, gross! Who slimed Goldilocks? Was it the Three Bears, exacting revenge? Not a chance! They're next on the list of fairy-tale sliming victims! Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Rapunzel, the Three Pigs...they're all under attack. Who could be the mastermind behind this icky, sticky plan?

Young detectives can look for clues and solve the mystery in this picture book whodunnit that's positively oozing with wit and charm, perfect for fans of Patrick McDonnell's A Perfectly Messed-Up Story.

Genres: Picture Books, Humor, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Fractured Fairy Tales, Mystery, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2018

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Goldilocks gets slimed while visiting the Three Bears, the curious (and outraged) little girl leads an ever-growing cast of fairy-tale characters in an investigation into who is responsible. Soon the Wolf (from both Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs), Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Pigs, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother have all joined the ranks of those who have been slimed. In the end, the culprit is the Frog Prince, angry that no one has been paying attention to him...

I picked up Once Upon a Slime with fairly low expectations, to be honest. Although I love fairy-tales, and appreciate a well-done revisionist take on them, I'm not really someone who finds "gross" things like slime and goo amusing. I was surprised to discover however that I found debut author Andy Maxwell's text quite enjoyable. There were moments, as when we discover that the wolf plays a role in multiple tales - "Just cool your chinny chin chins, dudes, said Wolf. "Let's not forget which one of us got burned last time." "Wait, you're that wolf too?" asked Red. The wolf shrugged. "Hey, it's a living." - that had me chuckling aloud. Samantha Cotterill's illustrations, done in ink and watercolor and then enhanced digitally, are cute, in a cartoon-like way. My favorite pages, visually speaking, were the decorative end-papers, which showed a map of the fairy-tale settlement. Recommended to young fairy-tale fans who also have a taste for gross humor and revisionist mash-ups.

[Nicole Salter Braun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny story w/ several fairytale characters who need to find out who was sliming them all

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book! It takes lots of fairy tales and combines them with...slime. See if you can figure out the mystery!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have liked this better if it hadn't taken forever to get where it was going.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews, check out my blog: craft-cycle

Fun read for fairy tale lovers who also want a little grossness in their lives. In the book, various fairy tales creatures search for who is behind the recent slime pandemic. Very humorous. I loved the new take on the characters (Goldilocks is quite the sassy one in this).

Weird ending, but very funny.

My favorite part was when no one had any idea what the frog was saying. Very comical and perfectly timed.

The illustrations are also very fun in a gross way. Loved all the slime. Reminiscent of Nickelodeon.

Overall, a hilarious book that is perfect for those of us obsessed with fairy tale retellings.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as Goldilocks enters the Three Bears’ house, she is slimed! Of all the nerve! Who would slime her? The bears unequivocally deny any knowledge of the act, even though Goldilocks has her eye on Baby Bear. So they go in search of the culprit. Could it be The Big Bad Wolf? Rapunzel, who is jealous of Goldilock’s curls (or so Goldy says.) What about the three pigs! Everyone denies any hand in the trap as they go from place to place getting slimed. So who is the real culprit? Hmmm, the slime looks an awful lot like pond slime. Hmmm ...

A fun read aloud with great voice. Should be popular with students.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once upon a mixed up fairy tale all of the characters were slimed by the frog prince who had his reasons. When Goldilock's plants a firm kiss upon him and he transforms into his old self they head off together to live happily ever after.

This is a cute story with some humor as the fairy tale characters interact to solve the mystery, but the prince loses his charm as he is out for revenge on all of them for perceived slights. It is the theme that revenge is okay that makes it just a dependable tale.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairy tale mashup that features The Three Bears, Goldilocks, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. It begins with Goldilocks getting soaked with green slime. As she tries to figure out who is responsible, the other characters in the story are also slimed. It turns into an active investigation where the characters even accuse the author. A humorous fractured fairy tale whodunit that will be fun to read and share.

[Karen Piedra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairy tale characters getting slimed on each page and a mystery to solve. Who has been sliming all of the fairy tale characters? Goldilocks seems unnecessarily distraught throughout the book. Didn’t people laugh on Double Dare when they got slimed?!

[Margaret Boling · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/5/2019 ~ Clever mash-up of a variety of fairy tales with an interesting premise. I enjoyed the map on the end papers and the slime culprit's legs disappearing from each slimed page. However, I generally felt like the pages had too much text and that the illustrations were too "cartoony."

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fractured fairy tale with lots of green slime.

[Maria Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this twist. And the illustrations are awesome. Loved looking for the frog on every page!

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goldilocks is kind of horrible in this book. I initially saw it as a mash-up of fairy tale retellings and Nickelodeon's Double Dare.

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but could have been better.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picture Book

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairytale characters keep getting slimed. Who could be doing this to them? A great collection of differnt fairytale cvharacters and a converstaion mid story with the author. Elementary and up

[Morgan Comeaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good fairy tale mash up story.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun

[Marta-Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Godilocks, the Big Bad Wolf, and other classic fairy tale characters set out to solve the mystery of who has been sliming them. Silly fun for grades K-3. Perfect length for a classroom visit.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, funny, delightful. My kids wanted to hear it over and over again.

[Patricia Varner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute fun book for any child!! My son read it with me.Great for all the sight words they need to know.From the 7 1/2 yr old and the mom 5 stars!!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters in this book keep mysteriously getting slimed. I noticed a hint the second time I read the book. Pretty entertaining, a conglomerate of a bunch of different fairy tale characters.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adult rating: 1 star
5yo rating: 5 stars

We had the Wonderbook read along version of the book.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

long, but good for elementary kids

[Kelly]

This was a funny book.

[Amy Miller]

Cute book!