Fairy Tales

Movie Review: Puss in Boots

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Here is your classical fairy tale flipped on its head. We are all familiar with the Puss in Boots made famous by his appearances in the Shrek movies, and now he has his chance to shine all by himself.

This story takes place when Puss (in Boots) is a kitten and getting up to mischief with his sidekick Humpty Dumpty. Their search for the Giants’ magic beans and golden goose gets them into all sorts of trouble, until one day, Humtpy gets them both into so much trouble that they are separated- Humpty to Jail, and Puss is exiled. Years later they reunite only to experience danger, backstabbing, love and finally triumph as they storm the giants’ castle and claim the Golden Chick (the Golden Gooses’ baby) for themselves.

A very entertaining animated film, well worth watching. The humour is well aimed at the kids, and any adults watching will certainly appreciate all the innuendo. Neither mum, dad or kids could possibly be bored watching it.

I give it 8/10

Review by: Emily Simcox, Librarian at the Wellington Central Library

 

Happening this week

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More activities are on in your local libraries this week:

Monday 8 October, 11am Tawa Library: Come along and experience Gruesome and Gory Grimm. Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Brothers Grimm Fairytales with stories and fun activities. Don’t forget your costume.

Tuesday 9 October, 11am Island Bay Library: Funtastical fairytales and fables. Join us in celebrating the Brothers Grimm 200th anniversary with a special storytime.

Tuesday 9 October, 11am Johnsonville Library: Come along and experience Gruesome and Gory Grimm. Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Brothers Grimm Fairytales with stories and fun activities. Don’t forget your costume.

Tuesday 9 October, 11am Central Library: Celebrate the Grimm 200th anniversary with a Hansel and Gretel bonanza! Follow the trail, but beware of the witch

Thursday 11 October, 11am Miramar Library: Get ready for Halloween. Come along for witches’ tales, scary stories and spell making ideas! And don’t forget to dress up in your favourite Halloween costume

 

All activities are free and perfect for 5-12 year olds. No bookings required – just turn up! All our events are listed here – check it out.

 

Two Stories in One

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Amazon Book CoverCan you remember any character from your fairy tale books that is named Jack? I bet you’d say Jack and the Beanstalk , Jack and Jill or maybe Little Jack Horner. But did you know that there are still two unknown Jacks? If you’d like to get to know Jackwitch or Jack and the Giant-Killer then you should go read A Pair of Jacks by Michael Lawrence with cool illustrations by Tony Ross. It has two stories in one book (Jack and the Giant Killer and Jackwitch) and is really good for a quick read.

How bear lost his tail

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I was reading a folk tale the other day that I hadn’t read since I was a child, ‘How Bear lost his tail’. This folk tale originated in North America (it’s an Ojibwe legend) but it has been retold by Julia Wall and beautifully illustrated by Ali Teo. It’s all about Bear, who thought that he was it, & his tail was so beautiful. All the other animals got a tad sick of this & they thought it wasn’t “all that cool”, but were too afraid to speak up, because Bear had sharp claws.

 

Anyway, one day Bear saw Fox fishing without a pole, and he wanted to know how he had got such a huge pile of fish. So Fox explained that, by dipping his tail into the water, the fish latched on and “voila”! Well as you can imagine, Bear wanted to do it too! Food was scarce because it was winter and since he had such a huge tail, he was sure to catch bigger fish. So Fox decided to play a trick on Bear… If you want to know the end of the story you will have to read it for yourself, all I can say is the book is beautiful and well worth reading! (even big people should read it if they don’t know it!)

Oldie but a goodie

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The Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly stupid tales by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith.

This book has been around for some time but is worth checking out. There are hilarious twists to some famous fairy tales. Do you know Cinderumpelstiltskin, Little Red Running Shorts and who is the Stinky Cheese Man? The bookformat is also wacky: isn’t the contents page usually at the beginning? This really is a fun memorable book with lots to look at and enjoy.