1001 STORIES

This ingenious amalgamation of fairy tales will have readers opening it over and over, never reading the same tale twice. As with Choose Your Own Adventure, each page offers a short snippet of story, then two choices in the form of questions. These allow youngsters to shape the plot and turn the fairy-tale world upside down. What if the Big Bad Wolf got sick on the way to Grandma’s? Or mixing things up: What if beautiful Little Red ran from the wolf and got trapped in a castle by a beast? Children will quickly memorize the page numbers of story beginnings so they can skip straight to a new tale. Those familiar with the older series may be disappointed to find that some of the choices offered will undo the fate that has just befallen the character. Prap’s illustrations bring to mind scratchboard art, with black outlines and bold, textured colors. The characters are easily recognizable, and the back endpaper features a map. A great addition to any fairy-tale collection, teacher’s bookshelf to teach parts of a story or carry-on tote. (Picture book. 3-8)