John Warren Stewig

Gretchen's father, the mayor, sets near-impossible standards for her would-be suitors. But after a chance meeting, a village boy called Hans gets it into his mind that he will marry kind, beautiful, clever Gretchen. On his way to ask for her hand, he agrees to a deal with a small stranger; the man says he will make Hans the best huntsman in the world, but in exchange, Hans must go away with him after seven years - unless he can ask a question the little man cannot answer. Hans and Gretchen marry and have several happy years (and children) before Hans' time is up. Once he reveals his problem to Gretchen, she comes up with a clever way to stump the little man and keep Hans.

See also: Fin M'Coul, the Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie de Paola… (más)

Be extremely careful what you wish for. This should be the title of this book. Just because someone desires something does not necessarily means it will be beneficial for them, even if it is the power to change anything to gold. The king was never satisfied with what he had, and always demanded to have more and more , until he ultimate wish was fulfilled. Later in the story we learn for fact that having all the gold and fortune in the world won't buy you happiness . Happiness is something within , and can not be achieved from the outside. The king learned his lesson the hard way, but at the end he learned and started to see life for what it really is.… (más)

I read this book in a pre-K 3 class and we actually made the soup as a class to share as our snack for the day. But now this book will be an important book to me personally because my son sat with me and he read the book with me. We took turns reading the story. It was a mommy/son moment that are becoming less and less as my kids are getting older. He asked last night to read another story. I will read these books with him just to help make it easier for myself because it will be just another reason to do them.

In general, I love the story and funny how people fall in love with magic and the curiosity of magic. It brought a town together and made them look at the Grethel different too. I loved her name too, my daughter's name is Gretchen!… (más)

Rose is the nice, work-driven sister; her stepsister, Blanche, is the mean, lazy one. When Rose follows her spindle down a well, she finds herself in a different land, where she helps an apple tree shake itself free of fruit and milks a cow whose udders are full. She also lives with the ugly but kind Mother Holly and is showered in gold for her trouble. Then Blanche goes down the well, but she finds that the choices she makes lead to thorns. Towards the ending, Stewig has the girls returning together to Mother Holly, and Blanche is finally rewarded after Rose teaches her helpfulness. Kids will probably prefer the less-educational original in which good over rules the bad. This is an intriguing retell that captures the accent of fairy tales as well as the genre's sweet lessons… (más)