Once Upon a Golden Apple

by Jean Little, Phoebe Gilman (Illustrator)

In this hilarious fractured fairy tale, everything seems to go wrong. Goldilocks lives with the seven dwarfs, a princess kisses a reluctant dragon, and she and her prince rescue the Wicked Witch of the West...until all mischief is sorted out and everyone lives happily ever after. Jean Little and Maggie de Vries' whimsical text and Phoebe Gilman's magical illustrations make this a magnificent feast for anyone who loves a good story — even when it's wrong!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1991

About the author

Jean Little is a Canadian author, born in Taiwan. Her work has mainly consisted of children's literature, but she has also written two autobiographies: Little by Little and Stars Come Out Within. Little has been partially blind since birth as a result of scars on her cornea and is frequently accompanied by a guide dog.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the story and love the pictures! It will be much more fun once my kids know the original fairytales.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asked for a story during a picnic, a father teases his son and daughter by mixing up elements from different fairy-tales and nursery rhymes. In the background, puppy and baby wreak havoc with the picnic basket. Very cute.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

ooh, this is a cute book. I love this book. This was one of the books that my parents were forced to read again and again when I was little.

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book by Jean Little & Maggie deVries with perfect illustrations by Phoebe Gilman. I read the 25th anniversary edition & cannot believe I'd not seen it, ie bought it, before ;-) Oh well, will enjoy testing it out on the grandchildren next weekend.

Love the fact that there's a story but that there are references and teasers to so many others so I suspect it will be the source of many a stall by the listeners ;-)

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and funny, with nice illustrations, but pretty heavily gendered so I can't imagine choosing it over another book. Too bad, because I love de Vries and Gilman and was really excited to see what they'd created together.

[Joelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

the storytelling dad in this book tells a tale just like my husband would. this book is cute and funny - my daughter and i giggled through every page. sure to be one of our favorites

[Lucero Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon a Golden Apple is a fun book, in which a father who tries to tell his children stories, just can't get the stories out in the classic way in which we have all heard them. This is a great story for students who have heard about or read the fairy tell stories can identify what parts of the stories do not coincide with the ones they have heard. Creative writing may be a great way to extend the book's read aloud.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a father who makes up a story for his two little kids, and mixes up all the fairy tales, to the kids' delight. The illustrations are just beautiful, and full of funny little details that my kids love to look at. They enjoy the story, too, especially because they can help read it by saying "No, No, No!" on every page.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story that tells how to make up a story. As the father reads the story, the children get to choose what happens next and create a fairy tale of their own. Lively illustrations and a funny, friendly story makes this book very appealing.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story where the Dad gets the story wrong (over and over, it starts to get a little irritating) and his children keep saying "No," until he gets it right. Our girls enjoyed it, saying, "No" along with the children in the book.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good read-aloud for early years and kindergarten. The repetivite nature of the tale, and the sheer ridiculousness of the scenarios makes kids giggle and, by the end of the story, they will chime in with the two children in the story to say 'no' to the versions of the tale they dislike.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindergartners get a kick out of it! They love to say nooo! or yesss! along with it. Too cute!

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, especially if you know your fairy-tales. Dad goofs up while his kids correct him.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be fun for storytime.

[Elizabeth Tyree · Rating 4 out of 5]

My tutoring student read this to me today and we had so much fun giggling and sorting out which stories should be which!

[Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fractured fairytale about a Dad reading his kids a bedtime story and he gets the stories all twisted up! Too funny!