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Sleeping Bobby
A beautiful baby, a sinister spell, a pricked finger, a hundred-year sleep, a true-love wake-up kiss.
We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty, but not the one that Will and Mary Pope Osborne tell -- with a handsome prince named Bob, a feisty princess who wakes him from his enchanted slumber, and charming artwork from acclaimed illustrator Giselle Potter. Here's a fresh, magical reworking of the classic fairy tale that's sure to have kids begging, "Read it again!"
As soon as he touched the wheel's spindle, a splinter pricked his finger.
"Ouch!" said Bob.
"Good night, Bobby," said the old woman.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2005
2 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Mary Pope Osborne
531 books2,666 followersMary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
February 22, 2008
Although some fun details, such as the 13th wise woman being overlooked because the queen only has china for 12, make this retelling of the Grimms' version of Sleeping Beauty fun and whimsical, for the most part this is just a gender swap of a tale. The spreads with pictures of Bob's various romancers stuck in the hedge are priceless though. This could work well as one of a set of spoofs of fairy tales for storytime or as one of several versions of Sleeping Beauty.
August 18, 2022
Traditional rendition of Sleeping Beauty except that Beauty is a boy.
October 10, 2017
Summary:
This book is based on the story of Sleeping Beauty but instead of "Beauty/Aurora", our main character is "Bob". We follow a similar story to Sleeping Beauty, but instead of three fairies who care for Aurora, there are 13 Wise Women. The 13th Wise Woman who is not invited to Bob's celebration casts an evil spell on Bob, where on his thirteenth birthday, he would prick his finger on a spindle, and die. Similar to the traditional story, Bob is saved by the last fairy who, instead, makes the spell turn to Bob pricking his finger and sleeping for 100 years. The story ends similar to the traditional Sleeping Beauty with being saved by a magical kiss.
Evaluation:
This was a witty and comical version of Sleeping Beauty that had unique illustrations. Instead of following the traditional story of Sleepy Beauty with a boy character, the story has different elements that make the events unexpected and make the story interesting. While some aspects were similar, the book would be a fun read for any age.
Teaching Idea:
This book could be used to introduce fairy tales to students and the different versions of a traditional story. Students could work together with different traditional fairy tales along with an alternative version and then work on comparing and contrasting them with graphic organizers. The students could then present their books to the class along with their findings of similarities and differences.
This book is based on the story of Sleeping Beauty but instead of "Beauty/Aurora", our main character is "Bob". We follow a similar story to Sleeping Beauty, but instead of three fairies who care for Aurora, there are 13 Wise Women. The 13th Wise Woman who is not invited to Bob's celebration casts an evil spell on Bob, where on his thirteenth birthday, he would prick his finger on a spindle, and die. Similar to the traditional story, Bob is saved by the last fairy who, instead, makes the spell turn to Bob pricking his finger and sleeping for 100 years. The story ends similar to the traditional Sleeping Beauty with being saved by a magical kiss.
Evaluation:
This was a witty and comical version of Sleeping Beauty that had unique illustrations. Instead of following the traditional story of Sleepy Beauty with a boy character, the story has different elements that make the events unexpected and make the story interesting. While some aspects were similar, the book would be a fun read for any age.
Teaching Idea:
This book could be used to introduce fairy tales to students and the different versions of a traditional story. Students could work together with different traditional fairy tales along with an alternative version and then work on comparing and contrasting them with graphic organizers. The students could then present their books to the class along with their findings of similarities and differences.
February 14, 2017
This is a fractured fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. There are elements of the classic version of Sleeping Beauty with a couple of twists. The King and Queen wish for a child and finally have a son they name Bobby. So instead of a sleeping beauty, it's a sleeping Bobby. Instead of fairies, this story has wise women. During a celebration of Bobby's birth, the thirteenth wise woman who was not invited to the party shows up and casts a spell that on Bobby's 18th birthday, he will prick his finger with a spindle and die. The twelfth wise woman changes the spell so that he will not die, instead he will fall into a deep sleep. A princess finds the prince asleep and kisses him and he wakes up. They end up marrying and living happily ever.
This version has the Prince falling under a spell and the Princess being the one to save the Prince by kissing him and waking him up. Instead of an evil witch casting a spell, it is one of the wise women who do so. Also, the spell happens on the Prince's 18th birthday rather than his 16th, which is what happens to the Princess in the original story. In both the original and this fractured fairy tale, the main characters prick their fingers on a spinning wheel which causes them to fall asleep.
This version is not as entertaining as some of the other fractured fairy tale versions. The primary difference is that the Prince is saved by the Princess so we don't have a damsel-in-distress rescued by the handsome Prince in this version. I do like this change because it doesn't follow the time honored tradition of the male character saving the female character, but I do think it could have had more twists from the original to make it more interesting.
This version has the Prince falling under a spell and the Princess being the one to save the Prince by kissing him and waking him up. Instead of an evil witch casting a spell, it is one of the wise women who do so. Also, the spell happens on the Prince's 18th birthday rather than his 16th, which is what happens to the Princess in the original story. In both the original and this fractured fairy tale, the main characters prick their fingers on a spinning wheel which causes them to fall asleep.
This version is not as entertaining as some of the other fractured fairy tale versions. The primary difference is that the Prince is saved by the Princess so we don't have a damsel-in-distress rescued by the handsome Prince in this version. I do like this change because it doesn't follow the time honored tradition of the male character saving the female character, but I do think it could have had more twists from the original to make it more interesting.
July 24, 2021
A great idea for a children's book, but there isn't a whole lot done with the gender swapping premise.
December 23, 2011
Similar to their story Kate and the Beanstalk, Mary Pope Osborne and Giselle Potter team up again (with Will Osborne) to create a gender-bending version of a classic fairy tale. This story is basically the same, only with a young man named Bobby in place of Sleeping Beauty. And they added a few additional humorous details, too. The illustrations are unique, and while they do not appeal to me, they are humorous. We enjoyed reading this story together.
April 14, 2012
The Osbornes really understand children. They get it. So they took the story of Sleeping Beauty and turned it on its head. Some might think it is folklore for boys, because it is a prince who is sent into a 100-year sleep. But I think this is the best folklore for girls, because it is an adventuress princess who rescues him. A wonderful book for young childen that makes a scary story not so scary. And is there anyone out there who wouldn't love the reason for not inviting the 13th Wise Woman - there wasn't enough china!?
July 5, 2008
This is a cute "boy version" of sleeping beauty.
My 2 favorite things? 1 ~ the first page shows a chubby, homely, king and queen seated alone at a huge table each with one fat sausage (and nothing else) on their plates. (I just like it, that's why!)
2 ~ When the queen declares her child so extraordinary and delightful that she must give him a very special name...Bob!
The illustrations are cute, and the story is fine even for the very faint at heart (unlike some traditional tales...)
My 2 favorite things? 1 ~ the first page shows a chubby, homely, king and queen seated alone at a huge table each with one fat sausage (and nothing else) on their plates. (I just like it, that's why!)
2 ~ When the queen declares her child so extraordinary and delightful that she must give him a very special name...Bob!
The illustrations are cute, and the story is fine even for the very faint at heart (unlike some traditional tales...)
August 11, 2010
The faces in the illustrations look weird.
October 1, 2018
"Sleeping Bobby" by Marry Pope Osborne is the reverse Sleeping Beauty story, told with a male character who falls under the spell, and a female heroin. The prince is told to be given gifts such as kindness, courage and modesty, although very handsome. The female heroin who rides to find the prince is described to be kind, clever, modest and very lovely as well. The princess must ride throughout her land and then search the castle to try and find the sleeping prince, to wake him up and save the rest of the castle from a hundred year slumber.
The theme of this book is the disillusionment of gender stereotypes, and breaking the typical imagine of princesses.
I thought this book was a good start to teaching women about breaking the typical fairytale story of a male saving a female. This book showed the princess as an equal to the prince by describing her with the same words as the prince. The only part of the story I did not think broke the stereotype for women was that the princess could not resist kissing the prince because of his looks. I thought this lessened the effects of the princess saving the prince because it showed the princess saving the day only for love.
I would recommend this book for a kindergarten or first grade classroom, one where fairytale stories are still being told. I think that this book would be a good counter lesson after the classic Sleeping Beauty story is told, to illustrate to students that women can also save the men, and are equal in character to them.
The theme of this book is the disillusionment of gender stereotypes, and breaking the typical imagine of princesses.
I thought this book was a good start to teaching women about breaking the typical fairytale story of a male saving a female. This book showed the princess as an equal to the prince by describing her with the same words as the prince. The only part of the story I did not think broke the stereotype for women was that the princess could not resist kissing the prince because of his looks. I thought this lessened the effects of the princess saving the prince because it showed the princess saving the day only for love.
I would recommend this book for a kindergarten or first grade classroom, one where fairytale stories are still being told. I think that this book would be a good counter lesson after the classic Sleeping Beauty story is told, to illustrate to students that women can also save the men, and are equal in character to them.
November 14, 2019
This story is a retelling of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty. This could best be incorporated into the classroom as an introduction to the topic of gender norms and the LGBTQ+ community. It paves the way for children to ask inquisitive questions in a judgement free, safe space. The awareness and amount of open discussion about the LGBTQ+ community has increased drastically over the years, so I believe it is an important conversation to have with students. If the students in my future classes identify themselves as a part of this community, I want to make them feel comfortable being themselves – unconditionally – without having to hide who they are. I want to build an environment where our differences are valued and accepted. I liked that the illustrations of this book were able to show the characters’ facial expressions, and I especially liked that the characters were not stick thin as royal in cartoons and illustrations are typically depicted – this gives students a more realistic idea of what a prince, princess, king, or queen looks like in real life.
September 20, 2023
"Sleeping Bobby" by Mary Pope Osborne is a twist on the fairytale we all know and love, "Sleeping Beauty." When the king and queen host a celebratory feast with twelve of the queen's Wise Women chaos breaks loose when the thirteenth woman isn't invited. The thirteenth woman makes an appearance nevertheless, and curses the baby prince to prick his finger on a spindle on his 18th birthday and die. Luckily, a young, brave princess saves the prince from his slumber with true love's kiss. I really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations of the story that make you feel immersed into a fairytale world. Though children may be already familiar with this story, I believe the magic and anticipation to save the prince are still present. In addition, I enjoyed the little alternations made from the original story such as the damsel in distress being a prince instead of a princess. This book would be enjoyed by many ages, but most likely best suited for grades 1st-3rd. Overall, I would highly recommend this delightful fairytale twist.
June 17, 2024
Raising my child as a loving and attentive parent, I made up plenty of stories. Other stories I read from a ton of picture books. Never did I deem it necessary to repeat old fairy tales.
By contrast, Mary Pope Osborne has tasked herself to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty. To make it fresh and magical.
Between you and me, Goodreaders, I'm left wondering, why?
SO FRESH, SO CONTEMPORARY, SO IRONIC
Here's a sample of the author's hardworking (and perhaps, also, rather self-conscious) cleverness:
As luck would have it, the princess arrived exactly one hundred years to the hour since Bob had pricked his finger.
Before her very eyes, the thorns of the giant hedge turned to flowers and the branches beckoned her inside.
When the princess got off her horse, the hedge parted to let her enter the castle grounds.
RATING THIS BOOK
Sure, I'll give it FIVE STARS. By now, Goodreaders, you know what this pretty little book delivers. Already you likely have a sense of whether this story appeals to you.
By contrast, Mary Pope Osborne has tasked herself to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty. To make it fresh and magical.
Between you and me, Goodreaders, I'm left wondering, why?
SO FRESH, SO CONTEMPORARY, SO IRONIC
Here's a sample of the author's hardworking (and perhaps, also, rather self-conscious) cleverness:
As luck would have it, the princess arrived exactly one hundred years to the hour since Bob had pricked his finger.
Before her very eyes, the thorns of the giant hedge turned to flowers and the branches beckoned her inside.
When the princess got off her horse, the hedge parted to let her enter the castle grounds.
RATING THIS BOOK
Sure, I'll give it FIVE STARS. By now, Goodreaders, you know what this pretty little book delivers. Already you likely have a sense of whether this story appeals to you.
November 3, 2017
This spin on a classic fairytale was uninspired and bland. The only notable deviation from the original tales was in the genders of the prince and rescuers; but even this lacked any motivation. There was a lukewarm attempt at female empowerment, a vague footnote to show character development, and a few jokes that fell flat. The story read as an unfunny satire of Sleeping Beauty paired with disturbing illustrations (perhaps another misguided humorous effort?). After reading the story, there was the strong impression that the author put forth the barest amount of creativity in reviving this cherished tale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2018
This was just an super-simplified version of the Sleeping Beauty tale with a gender swap. It doesn’t work as a “twisted tale” because the only part that changed was gender, & it doesn’t work as a primary reading of the tale because it is so simplified. I also don’t think that Potter’s fanciful-style illustrations work for this tale in which beauty is pivotally important. Overall, it just fell flat.
January 7, 2018
Finally, the story rewritten with a better set-up, but I feel the author could have gone a bit farther in making this a progressive, empowering story. We are still dealing with "handsome", as if that is the most important trait and moreover, instead of marrying right away, they could have just waited a bit longer....A good first step in the the right direction, though...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2019
It’s literally just a reverse gender Sleeping Beauty tale, simplified, and with no new elements to make it unique in any way. Also be warned that while it starts out short and sweet, perfect for a bedtime story for a toddler, the text quickly turns to long, dry paragraphs and honestly even I had a hard time staying focused.
February 28, 2023
This retelling of the classic sleeping beauty is a more modern take on the classic fairy tale. In this story it is the princess who comes and saves the sleeping prince. Apart from this change the rest of the story is essentially identical to the original fairy tale. I think it is a good book and is refreshing with the gender change.
November 23, 2020
I really enjoyed this book because it is has a great twist on the classic tale of sleeping beauty! The illustrations are fun and engaging and I feel like students would enjoy this book because it is the boy version of a fairy tale they all know. This book is recommended for students aged PreK- 3.
July 20, 2018
A decent twist on the original, this one is entertaining, but not outstanding. It's a little too long for a story time read aloud.
September 16, 2020
Cute story!!!
October 29, 2022
Gender bent sleeping beauty. I wish there’d been more modern updates, and I didn’t care at all for the illustrative style.
October 31, 2022
Simply a role-reversal retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
April 12, 2024
yay a prince instead of a princess! fun, round illustrations that has all the classic sleeping beauty tropes (frogg, slept for 100 years, hedges eventually gave way, etc)
November 18, 2022
I thought this book was very humorous and engaging, especially for kids who know the original story of Sleeping Beauty. This book is a good example of a spin-off tale and I definitely enjoyed reading it. However, it seemed to perpetuate the Sleeping Beauty theme of kissing someone without their consent.
November 12, 2015
This was my second picture book for traditional tales.
Sleeping Bobby by Will Osbourne and Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Giselle Potter is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of Sleeping Beauty, which I discovered in an author's note. The author's twist the story around by making their sleeping beauty a male instead of a female. Bob is born to the king and queen who have longed to have a child. Having only twelve china place settings, they do not bother to invite the 13th wise woman and she gets angry. She bursts into Bob's celebration and curses him to die on his 18th birthday after pricking his finger on a spindle. Luckily one wise woman is left and alleviates the curse so Bob will only sleep 100 years until a princess awakens him with a kiss.
I really enjoyed the twist on this book. I think it showed that the tale can be just as fun and engaging if the gender roles are reversed and it challenges students to think in non-traditional ways. The authors also inserted fun little details that showed how quickly the sleeping curse took over the whole kingdom by mentioned that even the dog, while scratching away its fleas fell asleep as did the flies buzzing around the kitchen. Giselle Potter did a wonderful job illustrating the story. The detail in her illustrators complemented the humor in the story (I especially enjoyed the endpaper!) and was visually appealing and different from illustrations that I have seen before. I would recommend this book to early elementary school students or those who are comparing fairy tales or considering gender roles.
Sleeping Bobby by Will Osbourne and Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Giselle Potter is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of Sleeping Beauty, which I discovered in an author's note. The author's twist the story around by making their sleeping beauty a male instead of a female. Bob is born to the king and queen who have longed to have a child. Having only twelve china place settings, they do not bother to invite the 13th wise woman and she gets angry. She bursts into Bob's celebration and curses him to die on his 18th birthday after pricking his finger on a spindle. Luckily one wise woman is left and alleviates the curse so Bob will only sleep 100 years until a princess awakens him with a kiss.
I really enjoyed the twist on this book. I think it showed that the tale can be just as fun and engaging if the gender roles are reversed and it challenges students to think in non-traditional ways. The authors also inserted fun little details that showed how quickly the sleeping curse took over the whole kingdom by mentioned that even the dog, while scratching away its fleas fell asleep as did the flies buzzing around the kitchen. Giselle Potter did a wonderful job illustrating the story. The detail in her illustrators complemented the humor in the story (I especially enjoyed the endpaper!) and was visually appealing and different from illustrations that I have seen before. I would recommend this book to early elementary school students or those who are comparing fairy tales or considering gender roles.
June 20, 2008
The king and queen had been desperate for a child and finally their wish came true with a gorgeous baby boy they promptly named Bob (a very special name). To celebrate their good fortune, the couple host a large party in honor of Bobby and invite the tweleve Wise Women. There are really thirteen Wise Women, but only enough china for twelve; so the thirteenth wasn't told about the party. She found out anyway and gave Bobby the "gift" of death upon his eighteenth birthday. Another Wise Woman was able to slightly rectify this, but only a little--she stated that he would sleep for 100 years. What will happen to Bobby on his big day? And will anyone be able to save him?
I was looking forward to this book, as I always like fairy tales with a twist--especially with a female hero. This was a bit of a disappointment. Just Sleeping Beauty with the roles reversed. I was especially disappointed that although the princess "had great curiousity and a taste for adventure," it was only mentioned that once and she immediately wanted to marry Bobby because he was "so handsome." Still a cute story and worth a read--just don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.
I was looking forward to this book, as I always like fairy tales with a twist--especially with a female hero. This was a bit of a disappointment. Just Sleeping Beauty with the roles reversed. I was especially disappointed that although the princess "had great curiousity and a taste for adventure," it was only mentioned that once and she immediately wanted to marry Bobby because he was "so handsome." Still a cute story and worth a read--just don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.
October 7, 2008
Sleeping Bobby is a fairytale based off Sleeping Beauty. The book is about a prince name Bob that had a curse put on him, that on his eighteenth birthday that he will prick his finger and fall asleep for a hundred years. His father banned all spinning wheels from the town, scared that the curse will actually occur. On his eighteenth birthday he found an old women in the attic spinning he tried it and pricked his finger and fell asleep immediately. The curse fell upon the whole castle putting every one to sleep; vines and thorns grew on the castle and eventually covered the whole castle. Many princesses heard about the prince asleep in the castle but no one could get through. One hundred years later a beautiful princess tried, she got into the castle and ran upstairs and kissed the prince awake. The whole castle woke up and the prince and princess were married right away.
Activity #1- Have the students take another famous fairytale and twist it around to make it a spin-off of the original. Have them share with the class.
Activity #2 – Have students compare two fairytales they know. What do they have in common (castles, princess) and what makes them different from each other.
Activity #1- Have the students take another famous fairytale and twist it around to make it a spin-off of the original. Have them share with the class.
Activity #2 – Have students compare two fairytales they know. What do they have in common (castles, princess) and what makes them different from each other.
March 21, 2016
Gender-swapping the lead roles (or all of them) in stories can be both fun and highly revealing. This book turns Aurora into Bob, the prince into a princess, and has the prince's birth announced to the king (and the queen is the one concerned about the place settings for the guests and unfortunately chooses not to invite one of the fairies). However, for some reason, the thirteen fairies are now thirteen Wise Women instead. I would have been interested to see that swapped as well. Regardless, while there were a few bits of humor sprinkled through (apparently, Bobby is "very handsome"), I felt like something was just slightly missing in this. Maybe it didn't go quite far enough? The illustrations were also not quite hitting for me. They were good, yes, and went a bit into caricature, but there wasn't any one in particular that drew my attention or stood out. Oveall, it's a fun book and would work well in a grade school classroom, but it wasn't my favorite version.
March 27, 2012
The orientation of this book is landscape. What I found interesting was the use of the long pages, some pages had an individual image on each, while others shared one large image across two pages. The variation here was very interesting. Another touch that made me look closer at the book was the fact that the text was written in shapes, a paragraph would fit perfectly inside a doorway for example. The placement of the text, along with the borders around the images portrayed a very fun and playful storyline. While there are borders around the image, to show the reader it is still just a story, the borders are wavy, just giving off a fun vibe. As the for the story itself, I know it is supposed to be a spin off Sleeping Beauty, but I just didnt really like it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews