Fairy Tale Retellings

You would think with the number of fairy tale renditions, we would be sick of them. But these classic stories are beautiful and have a magic that is fun to apply to modern life. That's why Once Upon a Time is such a hit, why Disney is investing in live action remakes like Maleficent and Broadway movies like Into the Woods.

Because we still try to bring a little magic in our lives, and one of the best ways to do that is through stories.

Here are some of my favorite versions of these classic stories:


Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This fantastic novel is based on a few pages by the Grimm brothers. Shannon Hale had a lot of room to create, with just the skeleton of a pollen to base her story on.

Ani is a timid princess who has been sheltered from life before being sent away to be some other kingdom's queen. She's sent away because she's odd, but ultimately it's those oddities that help her survive her journey. She has to run from her own people and blend into a new country by adopting the native accent and hiding her golden hair.

She finds bravery and confidence in herself that she never had to use, and she embraces her talents that her mother always tried to hide. On the way, she makes friends, falls in love, and saves multiple kingdoms, all while putting up with a bunch of geese everyday.

Being a goose girl teaches Princess Ani to have spunk, and she becomes a better queen for it.


Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

This is one of my favorite books. Rachelle chooses the path of needles at a young age. Driven by curiosity, unable to sit still and wait for someone else to save her, fueled with desperation to discover the truth, she is not the helpless Little Red Riding Hood. 

Again, this author has a simple children's story to go off of, but she does so many amazing things with it. She throws in a magical forest full of supernatural creatures, a demonic villain, a haunting tempter, and an old legend that Rachelle must decipher to overcome her doom. 

Crimson Bound is a beautiful combination of legend, lore, and survival. It questions what it means to be human, how goodness can prevail, and if we all deserve to be saved even if we have chosen damnation. 

Sometimes, you need to break the rules in order to find a happy ending. 

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

I read this book so much as a kid, the book fell apart. I loved the story of this girl who was given a horrible lot in life, and worked through it. She won her life over with humor and adventure and extreme stubbornness. 

Ella is cursed. She is forced to obey every and any order given to her. She loses her mother at a young age, her father is mostly absent, her fairy godmother is her cook in disguise, and her best friend is the prince. 

She learns languages instead of embroidery, she laughs at Prince Char instead of swooning, and even when her stepfamily turns her into a slave, she uses every ounce of passive aggression to mess with their heads. 

She's not bitter, she's smart. She laughs and she works and she loves. 

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Beauty and the Beast has been reimagined again and again. This novel takes a more classic approach, with the three daughters of a merchant and their request gifts, their father plucking a rose from a castle garden, and a faithful daughter going to the castle to save her father.  

Beauty is settled with her nickname at a young age, deciding Honour is a lame name, especially following her two lovely sisters Hope and Grace. 

But while Beauty may find her name ill fitting, she has the honour to fulfill her father's promise, and she manages to find beauty in a beast-like creature. She leaves her family, adjusts to a magic castle, reads her way through a massive library, and learns to accept herself along with the Beast.  

Fairy tales are hugely influential in the arts. We love taking the fun stories we adored through childhood and twisting them into a different version we can appreciate as adults. In the end, all we want is a good story.