The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book, the first in the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley, has a clever premise - that fairy tales are real and that after years of tension and persecution from humans, fairy tale creatures, (or Everafters, as the fairy tale creatures refer to themselves), have left their homelands and moved to America. Settling here hundreds of years ago when America was still relatively unpopulated, tensions between Everafters and humans once again flare as civilization impinges on their new home. The series is centered around Sabrina and Daphne Grimm and their grandmother Relda who is in charge of solving any mysteries that arise involving the Everafters. And yes, they are supposed to be descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the original "fairy-tale guys." My first thought when I began reading this book was that it was nothing but a kid-friendly rip-off of "Fables," the long running graphic novel series by the talented Bill Willingham. The premise in "Fables" is very similar - characters in fairy tales are real, they have been persecuted and forced into exile in our world where they must learn to live in hiding among humans. “Fables” made its debut in 2002. The Sisters Grimm series began in 2005, so it's very possible that author Michael Buckley was aware of it. Now, the new ABC TV series "Once Upon a Time" has a similar premise, so I guess this is one of those ideas, that once out there, is picked up and 'borrowed' by others. Since all of these fairy tale characters are in the public domain, I guess they're fair game for authors to use in any way they want. If you want to trace this trend back even further, I suppose you could make the case that author Gregory Maguire popularized the idea when he wrote his best-selling novel, "Wicked" that gave us the backstory to the Wicked Witch of the West and allowed us to see the events from "The Wizard of Oz," from the 'villains' point of view. Anyway, I suppose authors borrow from one another all of the time. Although "Fables" and "Wicked" are definitely for adults, this is the first time I've seen the premise adapted for kids. I did enjoy this book quite a bit, it’s well written, the story moves along quickly and the three main characters are nicely developed. In the beginning of the book the two girls are orphans being shuttled from foster home to foster home. When they finally end up with Relda Grimm, the younger girl, Daphne, is delighted by the woman’s eccentricities but her older sister Sabrina doubts the woman’s stories and, since they were told they had no living relatives, believes the woman to be a liar. Buckley does a good job of dramatizing the tension between the two girls and in portraying Sabrina’s doubts and her later remorse when she finally is shown proof that Relda is what she claims to be. The plot revolves around the destructive appearance of a giant in the town of Ferryport Landing, a strange occurrence considering that all of the beanstalks had been destroyed and all of the magic beans confiscated, cutting the giants off from contact with the other Everafters. Who has helped the giants return to our world? Can the Grimms gain control of the situation before word spreads outside of Ferryport Landing? When Relda and her friend Mr. Canis are kidnapped by the giant, it’s up to the two young Grimm sisters to solve the mystery and save their grandmother. Along the way we get to meet Mayor Charming (the former Prince Charming), Jack (of Jack and the beanstalk fame), Puck (from ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream), the Magic Mirror (from Snow White) and several other familiar fairy tale characters. The book is a fun read, and Buckley does a great job of bringing childhood favorites into the ‘real’ world. Sure to appeal to fans of magical stories, especially those that enjoy an element of mystery. The atmospheric illustrations by Peter Ferguson are an additional treat!

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More Books That Remind Me of My Childhood . . .

I have a hard time getting rid of old books.  Actually, not just old books, but old toys, paper ephemera, etc.  Each item that I've saved is connected with a memory.  Since memories help to make us who we are, I feel that if I part with something old of mine that is connected with a memory, than that memory will eventually fade away and a part of my life will be gone.  I guess my sentimental nature also plays a role in my desire to save things.  Because of this, I still have in my possession, most of the books that I owned as a child.

Two books that hold memories of my childhood are two different Deluxe Golden Books - "The Fairy Tale Book," and "The Snow Queen and Other Tales."  "The Fairy Tale Book" was a Christmas gift to me from my parents in 1961.  I know the year, because my mother inscribed it on the title page.  It says "Vincent from Mother and Dad," but even though my father is mentioned, I know that this book was my mother's idea.  She always claimed that she believed in fairies, so fairy tales were very special to her.  I was a little over six years old on that Christmas.  After all of my presents had been opened, I remember taking this oversized storybook back to my bedroom and spending a long time looking at the beautiful illustrations by Adrienne Ségur.  The cover on this book is another of those illustrations that I use to love to stare at, studying the details, imagining what was going on in the scene. At that age, I still believed in the possibility of finding a magical tea party taking place beneath the gnarled roots of a tree.

The book contains 28 traditional stories from all over the world.  The cover illustration comes from the story "The Seven Crow Princes," a Brothers Grimm tale.  All of the illustrations in the book are very sumptuous and filled with wonderful details, like the woodland plants and the costumes seen in the illustration from "Bright, Deardeer, and Kit," by Madame la Comtesse de Ségur (above left) or the finery worn by the cat in this illustration from "Queen Cat," by Madame d'Aulnoy.

A year or two after I received that book, I received a companion volume called "The Snow Queen and Other Tales," with more tales translated by Marie Ponsot and illustrations once again by Adrienne Ségur.  The stories in this book are from the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and a selection of traditional Russian fairy tales.  The last half of the book is filled by "The Nutcracker," by Alexandre Dumas.  The cover illustration is from that story.

The Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Snow Queen" has always been a favorite of mine.  My first exposure to the tale was from a 1957 Russian animated film that was dubbed in English with the voices of Sandra Dee as Gerda, Tommy Kirk as Kay, Louise Arthur as the Snow Queen and with an English prologue by Art Linkletter.  The animation in this film was beautiful and I found the tale very haunting.  I think my obvious enjoyment of this film is probably what prompted my mother to give me this volume.  On the right is an illustration from "The Snow Queen."


"The Fairy Tale Book" was reissued five or six years ago with a slightly altered title, "The Golden Book of Fairy Tales," but it is the same book and it is readily available. "The Snow Queen and Other Tales" has also been reissued but with a different cover illustration.  This time the illustration is one chosen from "The Snow Queen," (and not "The Nutcracker," which was featured on the original cover) which makes sense considering the title of the volume.  Unfortunately "The Snow Queen" volume seems to have already gone out of print and is only available in very expensive used copies.