Previously

by Allan Ahlberg, Bruce Ingman (Illustrator)

"Read this book aloud so that youngsters can chime in. . . . Children will delight in this energetic, amusing, and very approachable tale." — School Library Journal

Do you know what Jack and Jill were arguing about before they went up the hill? And what happened before that? Every story, every person, and every thing started somewhere. Author Allan Ahlberg and illustrator Bruce Ingman, the whimsical team behind  The Runaway Dinner  and  The Pencil , reverse direction in this clever pastiche of fairy tales in which everyone lives happily ever . . . before.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Nursery Rhymes, Fractured Fairy Tales, Fantasy

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2007

About the author

Allan Ahlberg was one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born in Croydon in 1938, he was educated at Sunderland Technical College. Although he dreamed of becoming a writer since the age of twelve, his route to that goal was somewhat circuitous. Other jobs along the way included postman (not an especially jolly one, he recalls), gravedigger, plumber, and teacher.

Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.

Reviews

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute fairytale-inspired story where the story starts at the end and ends with 'Once Upon a Time' My class enjoyed this!

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun twist on fairy tales. Illustrations were “okay.”

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mostly worked for me. I read it because I enjoyed this author’s The Runaway Dinner. Here, the premise is what happened before each of the plots of several fairy tales, and each story flows into and is connected to the other. I thought that it was very clever and sweet, and I particularly liked all the babies toward the end. The connected multiple fairy tale story wasn’t 100% successful in my opinion, but overall I found it very enjoyable, and I appreciate the effort it took to create this. And, I really enjoyed the illustrations and especially enjoyed the humor they managed to convey. I can see readers loving this and hating this; I liked it quite a bit.

[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea was to start with a fairy tale, work backwards very briefly through the plot and segue into another fairy tale that happened 'previously'. If 'previously' happened to be a harmonious, onomatopoeic word it might have worked, but the constant repetition of such a long, going-on unlyrical kind of word just didn't read well. The wonderful illustrations almost redeem it and I suppose if I had been a pre-reader and could have told myself stories from the pictures alone I might have loved this book, but I was just too damn old for that.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do think this is such a cute, clever idea. Telling various fairy tales "backwards."

None of the fairy tales are told with much depth or description, but I did think it was cute how Ahlberg intertwined the various characters. The ending seemed a little out of place, but it was sweet. And the illustrations were cute. I pretty much felt that both the illustrations and story were cute, but nothing really wow. Still, fun enough and a quick read.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was quite fun and I think it would have intrigued me as a kid. I like narratives that "go backwards" and this one is even more fun as it ties together various fairy tale characters and how their paths cross. I'm glad I gave it a chance!

[Jessica Sharland]

Every sentence starts with the word previously. This could really help children to think of previous event in their lives and form these into sentences. A good use of an adverb to explain what happened previously.
The focus around traditional characters could really help children to engage with the story - goldilocks, jack and cinderella and so forth.
There is also a focus on science with the likes of baking, making a gingerbread man and that he came from flour.
it also focuses on that frogs were previously tadpoles, bears were previously cubs - evolution of life.

[Caleb · Rating 1 out of 5]

A librarian on the radio said this was one of the best overlooked books of 2008. She was a liar.

[Anna Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very clever story, intertwining characters from well-known and well-loved fairy tales, stories and nursery rhymes, such as Goldilocks, Jack from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, Jill from the nursery rhyme ‘Jack and Jill’ and Cinderella. More generic fairytale characters such as a frog and a prince also make an appearance. I enjoyed this story and think it has a lot of potential to be used in class. However, I also think that it would be important for the children to be familiar with all of the traditional stories referred to here in order to fully understand and appreciate it. I think this book could be used effectively in a Key Stage One class – for example, if the children are coming towards the end of a unit of work based around traditional or fairy stories. The book lends itself well to lots of different literacy activities, for example, hot-seating or role-play activities - the children could act out the many different characters from the story in small groups. Furthermore, I think the whole concept of ‘previously’ could encourage some interesting classroom discussion on what the children themselves have ‘previously’ done, and they could even write their own stories/poems based around this idea.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh...I would not borrow this from the library again. My daughter (5) did mention (so I guess she did realize) that there were many different tales intertwined into this story. But when I read it out-loud to my younger daughter (4), I wasn't impressed with it. It just felt like 'name-dropping' from character to character. I wish the stories and characters were more intertwined...besides just bumping into each other as they were running. Like if Jack's (from Jack and Jill) family had a huge medical bills to pay from his bump from that fall that they did indeed become poor...so that's why his mom sent him to go sell the cow, etc. But I guess that wouldn't be the most appropriate for kids :P But my point, I wish there was more creativeness and more time and effort spent on actually telling a story how one character/story linked to another...again, more than just running into so-and-so while so-and-so was running.

Because I was not having a good time reading this out-loud, I also got quite annoyed that I kept having to say "previously" :P

[Dolly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this story. Combining several fairy tales into one story is compelling and a unique challenge. But this book just doesn't entertain. The "previously" gimmick just really falls flat and makes it irritating to read aloud. The mixture of the old fashioned classic stories and modern day doesn't work. And the illustrations aren't good enough to give the story a boost. Nice concept, but just not catchy or engaging. By the way, what is up with the "milk-white Mercedes?!?" Meh.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of the book is good--going backward in time through common folk and fairy tales, but the execution is weird. The book would be very hard to follow if you were not familiar with all five tales, and it seems like kids today are less familiar with common folk and fairy tales than they used to be. In the end, the book goes back in time to when all the characters were babies and all the houses, chairs, carts, etc were still trees. Very hard for a child's developing brain to wrap itself around. Best suited for at least elementary age students if not 3rd and 4th graders.

[Leona · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the traditional fairy tales--only told backward. Cute idea and cute illustrations but it wasn't very fun for some reason.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea, weak execution. The writing felt stilted - this would be a very difficult read-aloud.

[Tara Schloetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a modern twist on many widely-known fairytales, such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, and Jack and Jill. The story ties in all these individual stories into one storyline, and discusses what happens previously in the fairytales that many children are familiar with—hence the title. This would be a good book to use during a read aloud session because students are already familiar with these stories, so a teacher can use this book as an opportunity for students to use their guessing skills and predict what will happen next. For example, one line says, “Previously he had come tumbling down the high hill with his argumentative little sister….” and the next page reads, “Jill. Jill and Jack had been climbing the hill with a bucket.” Students can use the text on the first page to think about what fairytale involves kids tumbling down a hill, and use those clues to decide on Jack and Jill. Additionally, this book could be used when learning about transition words, such as next, finally, also, etc., because the title itself is a transition word.

[Amy Stalder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked that there was links to well-known fairytales and nursery rhymes, which most children would be able to relate to. However, this is something you would need to be certain of before using it in the classroom so the children could fully understand the text. The element of repetition of the word ‘previously’ brings continuity for the children, reminding them of the things that have happened and taking the fairytales right back to where they began.

There would be good links to science (life cycles), writing recipes, and getting children to think about their own ‘previously’ stories.

I am not sure I would use this as a picturebook to base a unit of work on but it certainly gets you thinking about what the author wants you to take away from it!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the book Meanwhile..., Previously teaches a literary device. I really like how this is structured.

We begin with Goldilocks arriving home. By using "previously", the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears is told. Then that leads to Jack and the Beanstalk, again told in reverse using "previously". That lead to Jack and Jill. We had the Gingerbread Man in there too.

The story ends with "Once upon a time."

I really like how this story was structured. My students very much enjoyed it. We had a good time predicting.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is aimed at young children and talks about what the different fairy tale characters were doing previous to where they are now- a fairy tale told in reverse. It does get a little confusing about how all the characters are linked- but to smaller children this may be considered a fun thing. Towards the end of the tale it goes more into the past arguing that previously they were all once tiny babies, that the 3 bears were all once cubs and the ballroom floors were planks of woods. It teaches children about the past tense and about repletion as most sentences start with 'Previously'.

Fairy tales

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful tale that leads us back through the life events of several fairy tale characters, starting with Goldilocks. The way the story segues into different characters is very clever and seamless, one flowing naturally into another. An ideal book for working on perfect progressive and progressive tenses with children and an enjoyable story too. The illustrations, although deceptively simple, are bright and colourful and demonstrate what's happening in the text very well. A great addition to any primary school library/classroom.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an incredible retelling--instead of starting at what we recognize as the beginnings of fairy and folk tales and going through to the end, Ahlberg and Ingman start at the beginning and work their way backwards.  They weave together these well-known fairy and folks tales, and in doing so create something utterly amazing and circular.  This is definitely best for children who are already familiar and comfortable with these tales, and works great for reading out loud!

Review cross-listed here!

[Abby Hargreaves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Previously describes classic fairy tales in reverse, linking each one to the next. This tangled web of stories may be confusing for younger audiences, though older ones who have familiarity with the original tales will enjoy identifying the ones they know. While it has a clever concept, Previously does not quite reach its potential. Illustrations by Bruce Ingram display a childish style that seems rather flat and messy -- no doubt this is by design, but it was not in my taste.

[AD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a clever look at traditional fairy tales... in reverse! Combining well-known characters like Goldilocks, Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk), Jill (of Jack and Jill fame), and the frog prince, the story meets each character at the end of their tale and traces back their steps until, finally, we reach "once upon a time". This is an interesting book for exploring narrative structure (especially when compared with the original tales).

[Ellen L. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Ahlberg's books and I loved this one too. The book, which features fairy tales told backwards, cleverly transitions from Goldilocks to Jack to Jill to the frog to a Prince to Cinderella to the Gingerbread Boy. Love the ending, taking us back to the beginning of people and animals and the things in our houses.

[Aolund · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of this one was better than the realization. While young readers will delight in the mashup of fairy tales, the tangle of characters, settings, and timings certainly becomes confusing and the actual impact of all of the fairy tales is lost. The "previously" concept comes across well, though I'd be interested to see how this one reads with children.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremely unique but yet I really enjoyed it. Puts quite a spin on the fairytales as we know them but I have always wanted to know what happened/is happening to my favourite fairy tale characters. I think the children would really love this book, as there is a lot to talk about and a lot of laughs to be had.

[Tavia · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Includes lots of different fairytale characters.
- Goes 'backwards' and finishes with 'once upon a time'.
- Good for discussion around sequencing and how books are normally structured.
- Could talk about checking over our work when we have completed it to make sure our sentences make sense. Use the blurb as an example.

[Scholastic Squid · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter enjoyed the book, but uh, it had me there for a min because one of the pages started out with “Cinderella was running through the woods all hot and bothered” or something along those lines.. and I asked myself what book was I reading again? 😂
I enjoyed the idea the author had but got annoyed saying previously a whole heck of a lot lol.

[Nina Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a clever way to follow up and extend both conversation and learning once children are familiar with the classic stories included in this book. Perfect for reinforcing the concept of past time, chronological, sequencing, verb tense for referring to past events, retelling the key events of a story and much more.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Allan Ahlberg to honor his passing. Previously Allan was alive. Previously he wrote children’s books. Previously he thought up this funky story which uses fairytale characters to describe how matter and energy transform from one state to the another. Currently this idea found in a children’s book is blowing my mind.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

One must really know the history and complete stories of their favorite fairy tales. Ahlberg lets us know what happened to these characters BEFORE they got into their situations. So sit down, concentrate, and enjoy.