Monster Stew

A mixture of three fairy tales packed with new versions of old stories ranges from a girl monster who sleeps on a tower of mattresses to impress a prince and his parents, to a witch whose gingerbread house is eaten by two plump young monsters.

PreSchool-Grade 3-Three amusing fractured fairy tales that feature unusual protagonists. In the first, based on "The Princess and the Pea," a young monster prince chooses his best friend Griselda, a tough, spiky-haired, horned tomboy, for his wife. Since she is far from a princess, his parents seek out a more suitable mate. The girl of their choice passes the test of royalty but is so ill-suited to their son that they finally relent and allow him to marry the indomitable Griselda. In the second tale, when Jack chops down the beanstalk, the grumpy giant he is running from is wounded. Befriended by the boy and his mother, the beast soon ends up as part of the family. In the final story, based on "Hansel and Gretel," two insatiable fuzzy critters eat up the witch's house and drive her off with only a broomstick to her name. The full-page watercolor illustrations are appropriately funny and ghoulish without being frightening. Children will love these quirky, irreverent twists on favorite stories, flavored with a mix of delightful creatures.
Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this hearty three-course storybook, Modarressi (The Beastly Visits) assembles a cast of sympathetic monsters that trump their human acquaintances. Each chapter revises a classic tale in favor of the underdog, and each cleverly refers to some stew ingredient. In "Peas," for example, the dinosaurish, aqua-blue prince Thugmond compares his squat and swamp-loving best friend, Griselda, with "a dainty, delicate girl with golden hair and a gown of silk and satin. Not Thugmond's type at all." Given the pea-under-the-mattress test, the dainty damsel can't sleep a wink: "A girl so rude and fussy could never make Thugmond happy," the king and queen decide, and finally allow Griselda a crack at the mattress (she peacefully slumbers). "Beans" takes the side of a hairy blue giant who falls from a beanstalk but later befriends a thief named Jack, while the title story up-ends the tale of Hansel and Gretel. Modarressi's soft, padded-looking monsters have beady eyes and spiky fur, but their facial expressions show them to be good-natured and kind. The sepia-tinged palette of terra-cotta orange, claylike brown and ash green likewise communicates warmth rather than inspiring terror. Modarressi wittily champions monsters and wryly implies that it's people who need to learn some manners. Ages 8-11.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A new slant on three familiar tales, featuring a cast of benevolent monsters. In ``Peas,'' Thugmond, a round, green monster prince, would like to marry his monster friend, Griselda, but his parents disapprove because she's not royalty. After the ``real'' princess makes such a rude fuss about a tiny pea buried under her stack of mattresses, though, Thugmond's parents see Griselda in a new light. In ``Bean,'' Jack steals the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs and clambers down the beanstalk ahead of the monster, a great hairy purple fellow. But when the monster gets injured in his fall Jack's mother takes pity on him and chastises Jack for stealing. In the end the three live happily ever after, together. ``Monster Stew'' is a takeoff on Hansel and Gretel, starring two fuzzy young monsters who eat everything in sight. The dialogue in ``Peas'' is funny and well-timed; character development makes ``Beans'' the most effective story overall; ``Monster Stew,'' while funny, is a one-joke story that goes on too long. The humor is amplified by details of Modarressi's fully saturated watercolors; in one of the finest scenes in the book, the giant makes furrows for Jack by dragging his large fingers through the soil. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 5^-7. Modarressi turns three classic children's stories--The Princess and the Pea, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Hansel and Gretelupside down in farcical retellings that feature monsters as heroes. In "Peas," Griselda, the prince's choice of girls, proves her worthiness by her manners, her hearty appetite, and her ability to sleep soundly. In "Beans," the giant is taken in by Jack's mother after Jack cuts down the beanstalk. In "Monster Stew," hungry little monsters Hansel and Gretel unknowingly outwit the witch by eating her out of house and home--munching on the cellar, the walls, everything. Children familiar with the original stories will appreciate these retellings, and the bold illustrations make them perfect for story hour. The muppetlike monsters always unwittingly come out on top. Helen Rosenberg