Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/15/2024 *Starred Review* Definitely providing a public service, C. C. Cecily, senior secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club, has assembled a set of querulous letters from children to renowned fairy-tale characters, along with often-revealing responses. Readers who have wondered, for instance, how someone could be swallowed by a wolf and survive hear from both Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf—the latter disingenuously complaining about the “Meanie in the Red Hoodie” who “refused to help a brother out” by sharing a cupcake. (“Hi—I’m just a nonthreatening wolf” reads the caption under Roberts’ accompanying view of a looming, exaggeratedly toothy predator. Right.) In other correspondence, Sleeping Beauty responds indignantly to 12-year-old Anna’s “You actually marry someone who kisses you without your permission. Er, passive much?” and the Little Mermaid reminds a movie lover what actually happened to her in the original tale: “Saw a boy I liked, rescued him, and now I’m doing community service.” In a final letter to a deservedly angry frog, the “editor” sagely points out the value of fairy tales in providing readers with different perspectives on themselves and their lives. That’s an important lesson to absorb, though only one of several in this indispensable collection. “If there’s anything to learn from me,” writes a rueful Rumpelstiltskin, “I’d say it’s never give anyone the chance to get out of a promise. These golden-haired princesses are dark.” - Copyright 2024 Booklist.