Lydia Monks

When a mouse shows up at breakfast one day, everyone in the family screams "Eeeek, Mouse!" except Minnie. She likes mice - why not? Daddy decides to build a cunning trap, assuring Minnie that the mouse won't be harmed, but Minnie isn't so sure so she comes up with a cunning plan of her own...and soon she has a whole family of mice in her little mouse house! But someone else has a cunning plan of their own - the cat! Can Minnie save her mice?
There's something inherently funny about mice show more traps, and this story is delightfully familiar and yet new at the same time. The child saving the mice from her parent's trap and the cunning cat has been done before, but Lydia Monks breathes new life into this story with her hilarious depictions of mad inventor Daddy, the cat's violent daydreams, and Minnie's ingenious solutions. "Mouseholes" cut into different pages pull the reader's eyes into the next segment of the story and there are funny asides and details from all the different characters.
Verdict: Recommended - a sweet and funny read with something for everyone to enjoy. show less

children's picture book (grades 1st-3rd)
I liked this when I originally read it several years ago (slapstick comedy! a rhyming scheme! lots of unique vocabulary words!), but now when I read it I am much more sensitive to the issues of consent (the princess does deliver a knock-out punch to the face to the prince when she wakes up, "Who said you could have a kiss?")--I made a note to the kids that you NEED TO ASK FIRST, but the whole sleeping beauty concept has been spoiled for me.
I recommend show more instead: Leah Wilcox's Falling for Rapunzel, which is another twisted fairytale with a (thankfully) totally conscious princess. show less

Donaldson is still not one of my own personal favorites, but I loved the slapstick potty humor of this one. And the idea of the tiniest of all saving the day is a nice variation on the runt being the hero. (I have not read the first book of the ladybug's adventures.)

a spin on an old classic. in this version the prince is unaware that he must kiss the princess to wake her. He is a tad daft. the fairy godmothers try to give him clues but he keeps taking the wrong measures to wake her. when he finally realizes it is a kiss she needs he is nervous and of course worried as girls have germs...but he gives it a try - only to end up on the receiving end of an upset princesses left hook. the prince is knocked out cold and now it is up to the princess to wake show more him. written in rhyme. cute alternative to the regular...delighted it was not full of Disney created royalty!

This would have received 3 stars from just me - but my daughter requested we read it three times over so it gets bumped to a four.

If you like alternative fairy tales I would also recommend Prince Cinders and The Paper Bag Princess show less