Fairy Tale Mix Ups Three Blind Mice Team Up with the Three Little Pigs

Three Blind Mice Team Up with the Three Little Pigs is another entry in the Fairy Tale Mix-Ups series.

In this mash up we are introduced to the challenging living situations of both the Three Pigs and the Three Blind Mice which are now reaching a critical stage. We discover the Three Pigs huddled down and living safe but cramped in the small brick home of the Third Pig. Space is tight and food is running low. The mice on the other hand live in a spacious farm house, but because they can't see it is rather hard to find their way around, especially with a rather scary Farmer's wife who does not enjoy having them in her home and regularly tries to evict them.

Oddly the Farmer's wife succeeded in scaring them out of the house on the very same day the Pigs got desperate for food and made a dash for the woods to hunt for some. Despite the size of the woods they found each other and struck up a conversation about their challenging living conditions. This being a fairy tale mash up there had to be a solution. If you look at the cover you will get a hint. The mice dress up with pig noses and the pigs conceal their ears and noses with mice costumes.

Thus when the Big Bad wolf climbs down the chimney he sees tiny mice size pigs and doesn't think they'd be worth his time to eat. The Farmer's wife is terrified that the mice have grown to be pig sized and flees leaving the huge home unoccupied. The Three Pigs and the Three Mice decide a home switch would work out well as the size of each home is better suited to the other.

It is a cute story and for kids who are familiar with the Nursery Rhyme of the mice and the Three Pigs Fairy tale the elements are still there in this mash up. The endings clearly are different.

After the Fall How Humpty Got Back Up Again

I am always looking for alternate fairy tales and nursery rhymes. When I saw Dan Santat's After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) I decided to borrow it from the library to see if it was worth adding to my list of alternate titles.

This is actually a different kind of tale than the ones I usually write about for my alternate tale reviews. Other than changing the premise that the King didn't have the resources to put Humpty back together again, the story doesn't try to change the basic premise that Humpty liked to climb and fell. It instead is aimed at teaching children how to cope with a painful, scary accident that can lead to someone not wanting to do something again.

In this story after his fall Humpty doesn't want to resume wall climbling even though prior to his fall it was a great passion. He simply can't face the thought of the damage he could do to himself again. The author doesn't push Humpty up the ladder again, but instead leads Humpty there by acknowledging that his fears are logical and giving him some time to heal by exploring a new interest. Mind you this is a picture book so it isn't a long healing process, but it does give the reader enough time to understand that Humpty isn't giving up climbing forever, but he needed time to deal with his near death experience and to realize accidents do happen, it is just a part of life. There is no way to live an accident free life. Through his new hobby, Humpty comes to terms with the reality that nothing he does will be safe from accidents and he resumes his climbing.

This book packed a powerful message and it would be good to share with children because at some point most kids deal with fear, frustration, accidents, and failures. This book isn't the solution, but it is a way of talking about how hard it is to want to try again and how with time it is possible to overcome fears and challenges and to try again.

The Crown Affair Nursery Rhyme Mystery

I was very excited to discover The Crown Affair (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries) had been published as the sequel to What Really Happened to Humpty? (Nursery-Rhyme Mysteries) after 5 years. I think I've been spoiled in finding sequels published so quickly or at all that I have been too demanding that they should come faster or at all. However, this sequel was worth the wait.

The author draws upon the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill for the basis of this mystery. When Jack loses his crown the fate of the Gooseland Games is in jeopardy. Unless the crown is returned, a new winner can't be awarded the crown. Chief Goose is not moving fast enough for Jill, so she calls on Joe Dumpty to find the crown.

He interviews Jack at the hill and it appears that another Jack might have been involved in the crime, however, Joe isn't ruling anyone out, just yet. With help from Spider, Joe begins to track down evidence.

This is a great way to introduce, review, or just entertain children by keeping the characters of the nursery rhymes, but introducing them in new settings. First he visits Jack Sprat and his wife and learn more of their story. Jack B. Nimble sends Joe to Jack Hammer's House (of the House that Jack Built), but Joe Dumpty only finds the fairy tale character Goldie there. She sends him on to Little Jack Horner who needed a crown, but had his work done at the dentist. However, he hints Jack of Beanstalk fame might have been involved. Dumpty and Spider proceed to solve the case so the games can continue.

As a fan of the series I was pleased to see a tease at the end for Dumpty's next case. It appears the cow has jumped over the moon and not been seen since. I only hope it is less than 5 years before we see another Joe Dumpty book.

Humpty Dumpty Jr. Hardboiled Detective the Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost

I finally had the chance to read The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost (Humpty Dumpty, Jr., Hardboiled Detective)and it was not quite the sequel I had hoped to find. What made The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop (Humpty Dumpty Jr., Hard Boiled Detective)a fun read was the focus on fairy tale characters and lots of humor.

This second novel has Humpty's investigating a mysterious ghost that has hurt his client's father at Merlin's Institute for the Knowledge of Everything. The beginning starts out with the same kind of fun old style detective movie introduction as the first book, which gave me hope. However, we quickly lose momentum. Humpty goes undercover at the school as a janitor and Merlin enrolls Rat as a student thinking he is the next King Arthur.

While many fairy tale mysteries employ characters from other literature successfully, this one flopped. I cannot help but think that the authors were perhaps thinking of another early chapter series that has been working the Merlin/Mordred story line to a very successful financial gain. I think the authors would have had a much more successful series had they stuck to nursery crimes that made the first book so much fun.

Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?

I found another nursery rhyme detective picture book in Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty?: And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries written by David Levinthal and John Nickle.

This is one of those wonderful stories both adults and children can appreciate together. The opening line "There are eight million stories in the forest. This is one of them." will draw in the adult readers familiar with the classic mystery movie genre. The nursery crimes will appeal to adult and child alike.

Binky the Frog works in Pinecone's robbery division. As the story begins, he is working on the case of a burglary involving the Bear family. After he works through the Goldilocks’ situation, he moves on Hansel and Gretel. After the first case, we are left wondering, will he side with the witch or the children. With the Hansel and Gretel's situation resolved he hears terrible news from Harry Wolf, Humpty, the lead drummer of All the King's Horses and all the King's Men band was discovered in pieces. As an old friend, Binky feels obliged to take a bus into the city to discover the fate of his friend.

After locating Humpty's killer, Binky takes on the Queen from Snow White and the fate of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.

This is the authors first trip into nursery rhyme crime and I hope it is not the last time we see Binky working his way through nursery rhyme and fairy tale crimes. This is a great way to open up discussions about fairy tales children have read. For older children it is a way to discuss crime and punishment as it relates to fairy tales and nursery rhymes. I used to use fairy tales and nursery rhymes as a great introduction to debates. Was Humpty pushed? Was Little Boy Blue overworked or lazy? Should Goldilocks have been arrested for breaking and entering or just forced to make restitution for her destruction?

This book works better after children have read the original tales. It is harder to understand the fun of the stories if you do not know the original tales.

Humpty Dumpty Jr. Hardboiled Detective: The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop

If you have read any of my previous reviews, you know I love alternate nursery rhyme and fairy tale stories. I am also a huge fan of detective stories for children. I think they help developing readers with comprehension skills like predication, sequencing, timelines, and a range of other important skills. Students who are reluctant to read, sometimes can be drawn into mysteries, especially those that combine mystery with a bit of humor.

The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop (Humpty Dumpty Jr., Hard Boiled Detective) is the first book in what appears to be a two book series. I have the second one from the library to review later. I was hoping the authors had produced more, because the characters and the premise of an egg detective were promising.

Humpty's detective character is based on the old movie detectives, right down to his trench coat and hat. Humpty's eggshell creates a bit of a challenge most of the movie PI's never had to work around, but Humpty manages. In the opening pages we learn that Humpty has been a rather successful detective working with some of literature's great characters including Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh. However, we soon learn that he has one unsolved case, the death of his father that still haunts him. He also has a nemesis Johnny Cakes whom he has captured and jailed more than once who has escaped from prison and has plans for chaos.

Against the backdrop of Johnny Cakes escape Humpty gets a case, Patty Cakes is in trouble. He grabs his magic wand, which to most of us resembles a very familiar kitchen instrument, and heads off to help his friend. He finds evidence of a struggle, but no Patty Cakes. His clues lead him to the Knave of Hearts where the reader is reminded of Alice's experiences with the Queen of Hearts.

Humpty picks up a human teenage sidekick and continues to encounter nursery rhyme, fairy tale, and children's classic literature characters along his path to discovering the fate of Patty Cakes. The story does have a few twists as Humpty follows the clues to their logical conclusions. We learn about the origins of one of the characters, which explain the reason for Patty's situation. She ultimately demonstrates forgiveness and the story is resolved. I am looking forward to reading The Mystery of Merlin and the Gruesome Ghost (Humpty Dumpty, Jr., Hardboiled Detective)so I can review it as well.

Detective Blue

In Detective Bluewe discover Little Boy Blue has left the farm to become a detective. Using a comic strip format, Steve Metzger tells of Blue's latest case, finding Miss Muffet. As he explores the mystery, we encounter his first case in the story, the Dish and the Spoon, which he "cleans up" prior to taking on the missing Miss Muffet. He also meets Mary's Lamb and his encounter there is a different take on the lamb's attempt to get into school. Jack Spratt lets Blue know about the missing Miss Muffet and he is on the case. He encounters Bo Peep and Humpty during his inquiry. The Three Blind Mice are little help and Jack Horner sends him to Old King Cole's Castle. Miss Muffet's nursery rhyme provides him with a fairy tale clue and an unexpected twist to the story at the end.

This is a great way to generate interest in reading nursery rhymes to understand the jokes in the book or as a way to review nursery rhymes for children already familiar with the characters. Children will find the dual nursery rhyme/fairy tale identity twist interesting.

I am hoping this is not Detective Blue's only case. I would love to see a series of nursery rhyme mysteries developed around this character.

Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again

In Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again David Horowitz tells an interesting story of what happens to Humpty after he recovers from his fall.

After struggling to put Humpty together again, the King's horses and men decide to consult with a doctor who tells Humpty he must be more careful. Humpty takes this to heart and rarely leaves the house. The Kings men and horses take to mocking him about his new found caution.

The Dish comes to visit Humpty to convince him he needs to get out of his chair and return to the brave egg he once was, failing he runs away with the Spoon. When he returns to watching TV a spider drops down and frightens Humpty out of his house causing a Little Dog to laugh at the sight.

Despondent, Humpty heads for the hills. For old time’s sake, he tries climbing when he reaches the wall. There he discovers the King's Men with climbing ropes and fears they will mock him once again.

The King's men have their own problem. Seeing their climbing gear, Humpty hitches himself up and begins climbing with safety ropes. Humpty not only gets his courage back, but also is able to save the day.

This is a great alternate Humpty story and it teaches a valuable lesson about overcoming fear and using tools.

Legally Correct Fairy Tales

Imagine what would happen if Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tale characters got access to legal counsel and the court system and you have the basis for David Fisher's Legally Correct Fairy Tales an amusing collection of cases.

In the first case, a lawyer is civil court suing on behalf of Jack and Jill for defective pails that caused them to fall while acquiring water. With the current awards for people spilling hot coffee on themselves, the outcome of this case is not hard to predict.

The second case finds us again in civil court with a tailor suing the Emperor for payment of clothing delivered. Considering the power of the Emperor and his humiliation suffered at the hands of the boy, I was amused, but not surprised by the outcome.

The third story covers a hearing to determine the sanity of Hansel and Gretel to determine if they can be considered guilty of the crime of murder in killing the alleged witch that threatened to eat Hansel. The outcome of this case was touch and go.

The next story is a petition for guardianship of Sleeping Beauty that would award the sole survivor of her family the right to prevent anyone from waking her up and thus total control of her estate. This one is left without resolution.

Next, we discover Snow White is being sued by the EEOC for discrimination because she only hires the dwarves to work in her mining and food service industries. Again, no resolution to this case just an announcement of pending actions.

In the next story, Mr. Wolf is brought to court to give a deposition under the RICO act as a member of an organized crime family the Wolves. The lawyers grill him about various activities of his family including Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and specific to him the incident with the three pigs.

Humpty is next on the docket as he is lodging a complaint against King's hospital for negligence and malpractice.

The Old Lady in the Shoe dies without a will leaving a lower court to rule that her eldest son inherits all. In the next case, the children appeal the ruling.

The courts are next presented with a custody battle over Pinocchio between an Oak Tree and Gepetto. While Gepetto admits he found him in the forest, he says the boy was neglected and in need of care. The court psychologist expresses concern over Pinocchio's delusions about nose growth. Eventually the judge decides drug treatment is required before any custody choices can be made.

The author also covers cases involving Cinderella's Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, the Frog Prince, and Goldilocks. Some are stronger than others.

My suggestion is to read the stories before sharing them with children. Some are more appropriate for certain age groups than others. Prince Charming's foot fetish is not something I would want to explain to children.