I read The Looking Glass Wars not to long ago and loved it. It is a twist on the Alice in Wonderland story. Just finished a book by Terry Pratchett call The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. This one was a take on the pied pipper story. Anyways, I really liked both of these, what else is out there?

Transformations by Anne Sexton -- witty, whimsical, dark and brilliant.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean, it's a retelling of the Tam Lin story in a 1970s american college setting.

Once and alsop The Magic Cottage both by James Herbert, are very fairytale-ish novels aimed at adults. Both excellent reads too.

I'm a big fan of children's books myself so some of my absolute favorites are written for little people but still have spectacular twists. Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci is a dark and beautiful retelling of one of my least favorite fairy tales, Cinderella and I never really got along so as you can imagine this book has to be extra special to make it into my favorites. Jon Scieszka also has some hilariously spectacular retellings under his belt, namely The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Frog Prince Continued.

Tam Lin and pretty much all the books in that updated fairytale series, and Robin McKinley's Beauty and several of her other books.

I use the tag Fairytale reimagining for them, as opposed to more straightforward tellings of the stories, which I just tag fairytale.

And haven't a lovely lot of tags been pulled together under retelling fairy tales?

I loved loved loved The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. It's rather dark, which is always a good thing to me. Transformations is great, too.

I'll have to check out some of the others mentioned here that I'd never heard of.

NativeRoses and ClaraBear you might also like The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales.

Once upon a time I read a lot of Angela Carter, but I may have missedThe Bloody Chamber. Can you hum a bit of it for me?

In my on deck circle of books is a collection of short stories retelling fairytales by Robert Coover called A Child Again. I heard him read one of the stories, based on the Pied Piper; it was very dark and strange and haunting. I have no idea what it means. Assuming that goes well, I also want to read his Pinocchio in Venice and Briar Rose.

Message edited by its author, Mar 23, 2007, 2:13am.

There are also several YA novels by Donna Jo Napoli, my favorites being Crazy Jack (Jack & the beanstalk,) Sirena (little mermaid, sort of,) The Magic Circle (Hansel & Gretel,) and Spinners (Rumplestiltzken.) These are fairly moody retellings, also.
A great adult one is Nobody's Son by Sean Stewart - what happens after "happily ever after" turns out not so happily after all? Very amusing.

Just finished Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I enjoyed it.

Just stopping in to recommend a terrific recent YA novel, Into the Wild, by LT author Sarah Beth Durst. It's her first book, and I'm looking forward to reading whatever she writes next.

I don't know if these qualify, since they don't necessarily 'retell' fairy tales...but I read and very much enjoyed both The Book of Lost Things and The Stolen Child, which both draw very heavily on fairy tales and other fantasy worlds.

Oooh, fan, I LOVE Lost Things. It's one of my all-time favorites. I've read it 3 times.

>13, lefty33 - Yeah, I recommended it to everyone - and they all read it and loved it too! It came at a good time for me - I had been reading and went on to read a number of "just ok" books, so it really helped to read something amazing at that point.

On the children's book front, I just enjoyed Prince Cinders and Tarzanna by Babette Cole. Eleanor Farjeon's The Glass Slipper and The Silver Curlew are favorites of mine; also The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.

My favorite???
I must say Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

The best.

I really love the orphan's tales: in the night garden by Catherynne M. Valente
It isn't based on any actual fairytales but all the interlocking stories read like fairytales.

Message edited by its author, Apr 1, 2008, 11:08am.

I love reading retold fairy tales and folklore, and I'm always on the lookout for more. So glad to have found this group!

My favorites are Beauty by Robin McKinley, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and Ella Enchanted,

But I also enjoyed the sort of fractured fairy tales in The Unhandsome Prince and Heroics for Beginners by John Moore. And I've found Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series hysterical.

I just got ahold of Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock. The set-up reminded me a little bit of Dealing with Dragons, but upon reading it, I'm finding it more like Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.

I really like some of the other fairy tales the author wove into her tale (Jack and the Beanstalk is the most obvious), and I'm enjoying the characters and the magic. Has anyone else read Princess Ben yet?

I'm reading Emma Donahue's, Kissing the Witch (I love the title). It is a beautiful collection of linked fairy tale retellings. It reminds me of Angela Carter's Bloody Chamber tales.
I'm also a fan of Enchantment by Orson Scott Card and The Book of Lost Things John connolly. I highly recommend The Gargolyle by Andrew Davidson to fans of those books.

I remember back in the 80s enjoying Tanith Lee's darkly retold fairy tales. My favorite though is Beauty by Sheri Tepper.

I just finished Bound by Donna Jo Napoli which is a re-telling of the Chinese Cinderella story. I liked it a lot - there was a lot of interesting cultural detail, but mostly the character of Xing Xing just really spoke to me. She was so upbeat about everything!

I did think the ending was a bit too abrupt, though. I would have loved to see a smidgen more personal romance...

I love "The Glass Slipper" and "The Silver Curlew" by Eleanor Farjeon. Has anyone else read Eleanor Farjeon's "Martin Pippin" books? They are linked by her own brand of "fairy" stories set in Sussex and are really lovely. I loved Andrew Langs series of rainbow fairy books when I was small. And for something darker and more adult I agree with Clarabear etc on Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber". Thanks to contributors for the recommendations of "Transformations" and "Poets Grimm" - I can't wait (so many books, so little time)

My favorites are "The Bloody Chamber" by Angela Carter, "Beauty" by Robin McKinley, "Sirena" by Donna Jo Napoli which is a sort of re-telling of The Little Mermaid, and "Shed Seven Tears into the Sea" by Terri Farley which is based on Selkie legends. Currently I'm reading Robin Mckinley's "Deerskin".