Waking Beauty

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 instead: Leah Wilcox's Falling for Rapunzel, which is another twisted fairytale with a (thankfully) totally conscious princess.

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

Waking Beauty is a new take on the traditional fantasy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Prince Charming hears a sound that "shook the land for miles around." This horrendous sound turned out to be a snoring girl. Three fairies try relaying the message she needs to be awakened by a prince's kiss. However, the fairies could not get the point across to a stubborn prince with his own ideas. When the prince finally gets the message he has to kiss her, he first thinks of the morning breath she will have after 100 years of sleeping. Yuck!

The illustrations are great. They are done in mixed media. The pages are covered in pieced paper, photographs, print paper, and colored pencils. I enjoyed the crazy ideas the prince had to wake the sleeping show more girl--pouring a bucket of water on her, shooting her through a cannon, jumping on her bed, and yelling in her face.

In the classroom, I would introduce the story as a new take on an old tale. After reading the book, I would encourage students to take one of their favorite stories and re-write it to reflect a modern-day view and/or something that reflects their day-to-day personalities. show less

Leah Wilcox has done it again! Another hilarious re-tell, this time a parody on Sleeping Beauty. The funny and creative storyline will have you and your child laughing out loud.

The prince thought he was off to fight a dragon, but when it turns out to be a snoring Sleeping Beauty that he can only save with a kiss, he'll try out any other possible cure to get her to wake up. Boys will love this humorous story of a prince who is not quite ready for his first kiss.

A really cute, rhyming fractured fairy tale. Warning, though, there's some violence in the end.

I love Leah Wilcox's humorous versions of fairy tales! First "Falling for Rapunzel" and now this one. This is a hilarious version of Sleeping Beauty that boys & girls will both like!