David Roberts' Delightfully Different Fairy Tales

Publisher: Pavilion

In this collection of three retold fairy tales, David Roberts and his sister Lynn envisage some rather different settings and outcomes for three heroines - Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty - complete with to-die-for period outfits, drawn with precise and fashion-loving detail.

In Cinderella, our favourite rags-to-riches heroine story is set during the Art Deco 1930s, with a dazzling array of flapper dresses, furs and fantastic hats.

In Sleeping Beauty, the myth of the male hero rescuing the sleeping princess is thrown out in favour of a library loving teenager, Zoe, who breaks the spell on a gloriously 1950s Beauty who also time travels to the futuristic world of 2950.

Finally, in Rapunzel, the long-haired princess lives at the top of a brutal concrete tower block with her evil Aunt Edna, and is saved by Roger, a music-loving boy from the local school who introduces her to the sounds of the 70s, and a career making wigs for musicians.

Roberts' beautiful, detailed period-influenced illustration is the star of the show in this collection of three stories that were previously published individually - however, it's great to have them together in this lovely, gifty hardback.

The stories are zingy and fun with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour: perfect stories to remind us that girls can rescue themselves and have a lot of fun doing it.

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