An anthology of many fairy tales told by different cartoonists and graphic novelists, e.g. The 12 Dancing Princesses by Emily Carroll, Rapunzel by Raina Telgemeier, The Boy Who Drew Cats by Luke Pearson, and many more. ( )

I won this awesome collection through Goodreads' First Reads giveaway. First Second is such a great comics publisher, and Fairy Tale Comics is an excellent companion to their previous collection, Nursery Rhyme Comics. I love the diversity of renditions here, that they picked selections not only from the classic Grimm and Perrault tales ("The Prince and the Tortoise" by Ramona Fradon/Chris Duffy, "The Boy Who Drew Cats" by Luke Pearson, "Rabbit Will Not Help" by Joseph Lambert, and "Baba Yaga" by Jillian Tamaki were particular favorites), and that they made sure to balance stories with both male and female protagonists, as artist and editor Chris Duffy points out in the editor's note. I found myself chuckling aloud throughout the whole dang thing and pointing out particular frames to my boyfriend (that final frame in Karl Kerschl's "Bremen Town" is classic). Other favorites include "Sweet Porridge" (Bobby London), "Puss in Boots" (Vanessa Davis), "Snow White" (Jaime Hernandez--totally reminded me of something I would have seen on Fractured Fairy Tales), "Rapunzel" (Raina Telgemeier--I can't ever get enough of her), "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (Graham Annable), and "Give Me the Shudders" (David Mazzucchelli). Totally recommended! ( )

A fun collection of illustrated fairy tales. ( )

This collection would be best for introducing kids to classic (and a few not-so-classic) fairy tales for the first time. For veterans, however, flip through this volume for the extraordinary art, not for the retellings of the stories, which lack originality. The exceptions are "Puss in Boots" by Vanessa Davis, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by Graham Annable, and "Bremen Town" by Karl Kerschl.

An eclectic collection of fairy tales adapted by 17 cartoonists. The majority are based on tales by the Brothers Grimm, but there are a couple surprises tossed in the mix. The illustrations offer just about something for everyone.

There are a couple stand-outs in the ways in which the story was reimagined. My favorite being "Little Red Riding Hood" by Gigi D.G., who gives us a female lumberjack to the rescue. My favorite art is a tie between Brett Helquist's "Rumpelstiltskin" and Karl Kerschl's "Bremen Town" - both just feel... classic, and the deep, rich coloring evokes a fairy-tale atmosphere, to me.

4 stars ( )