Sleeping Bobby

This was a very cute retell on the classic story 'Sleeping Beauty'. I was very excited when I originally picked the fairy tale up because I have never seen the gender switch in an old fable. At first I thought that the story would make the princess out to be a strong, independent women that happened upon the prince But it stuck very much to the typical story. The witch placed a curse on the handsome, adventurous,smart, well-liked young prince and the princess had heard rumors that he was fast asleep, hidden away so she took it upon herself to go and find him. It gives a different perspective on the fable and I think that plays most to its overall main idea of the story. It can show readers that is not always the woman who needs saving show more and the hero of the tale does not always have to be a gorgeous prince jumping into the scene at the very last minute. It also sends a message that the prince was a very nice guy and he was generous and along with being so handsome, once he was in a fast slumber many maidens came to seek him. It stated in the text "The princess had heard that many young women had searched for Bob, but all had been stopped by the thorny hedge" it goes on to state that 'Like Bob, the princess had great curiosity and a taste for adventure'. This speaks even more to the main idea that if you really want something or someone you should take the risk and maybe like the princess you could end up with your prince. I remember as a child always wanting to be princess but thinking that I would have to find a prince to do so, this book lets the reader know about the princess but never even states where she is from. So perhaps she is just a beautiful, adventurous, modest, clever young women and all of her attributes make her a princess in her own way. I don't remember reading anything other than the traditional fables when I was a little girl, I feel like mixing up the storyline and switching the culture or gender is more acceptable today and I am in full support of it. show less

This is a spoof on "Sleeping Beauty." The king and queen want a baby, and one day the king finds out their wish will be granted. In honor of the baby's birth, they hold a party in his name, and they invite twelve out of the thirteen wise women (they had to leave one out because they didn't have enough china). Each wise woman gave the son a gift. Toward the end of the party, the thirteenth wise woman angrily entered the party, and she bestowed a curse upon the infant in spite of the king and queen: "on his eighteenth birthday he shall prick his finger with a spindle and fall down dead." In response, the twelfth wise woman, who had not yet given her gift, altered the curse, and instead of dying, the son will just sleep for one hundred show more years. The displeased king ordered that spinning be forbidden. On the morning of Bob's birthday, he goes exploring the castle and comes across the thirteenth woman spinning. She coaxes Bobby into trying it, and he pricks his finger. Not only did Bob fall asleep but so did everyone in the castle. A sea of thorny bushes grew around the slumbered castle, and no one was able to break through the hedge until a princess set out to find the prince. She finds the prince and wakes him from his slumber. This is a great book to show kids that guys aren't always the heroes! show less

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.

"Sleeping Bobby" is very similar to the fairytale "Sleeping Beauty". This story features a young child being cursed by one of the thirteen wise women of the castle. The thirteenth wise woman gave this gift because she was excluded from the feast which celebrated Bobby's birth. At the age of eighteen he is forced into a deep sleep which causes time at the castle to completely stop for 100 years. As time goes on for the rest of the world, one brave girl decides that she wants to rescue Bobby and his castle. She succeeds on year 99. This language of the story stayed very true to the fairytale. The major theme is to treat all equally and do one's best to include every one. Had the thirteenth wise woman been invited to the feast, Bobby would show more have never had to endure the curse. show less

This retelling of the classic "Sleeping Beauty" leaves much to be desired. The book is amateurish, but not in a silly, fun way.

This is a good book to read to kids. The story of the book is that a person's wrath to ruin someone else can become a blessing to the someone that the person is seeking to ruin.

Sleeping Bobby is a spin on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. The author has chosen to use a male as the main character instead of a female. The plot is similar to the story of Sleeping Beauty, the author has made few changes. The story would be great to share in a classroom. Boys could relate better to this story as it features a male as the lead character, most fairytales are about females.