libraryjen's review against another edition
3.0
A decent twist on the original, this one is entertaining, but not outstanding. It's a little too long for a story time read aloud.
kstoczanyn's review against another edition
4.0
This was my second picture book for traditional tales.
Sleeping Bobby by Will Osbourne and Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Giselle Potter is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of Sleeping Beauty, which I discovered in an author's note. The author's twist the story around by making their sleeping beauty a male instead of a female. Bob is born to the king and queen who have longed to have a child. Having only twelve china place settings, they do not bother to invite the 13th wise woman and she gets angry. She bursts into Bob's celebration and curses him to die on his 18th birthday after pricking his finger on a spindle. Luckily one wise woman is left and alleviates the curse so Bob will only sleep 100 years until a princess awakens him with a kiss.
I really enjoyed the twist on this book. I think it showed that the tale can be just as fun and engaging if the gender roles are reversed and it challenges students to think in non-traditional ways. The authors also inserted fun little details that showed how quickly the sleeping curse took over the whole kingdom by mentioned that even the dog, while scratching away its fleas fell asleep as did the flies buzzing around the kitchen. Giselle Potter did a wonderful job illustrating the story. The detail in her illustrators complemented the humor in the story (I especially enjoyed the endpaper!) and was visually appealing and different from illustrations that I have seen before. I would recommend this book to early elementary school students or those who are comparing fairy tales or considering gender roles.
Sleeping Bobby by Will Osbourne and Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Giselle Potter is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of Sleeping Beauty, which I discovered in an author's note. The author's twist the story around by making their sleeping beauty a male instead of a female. Bob is born to the king and queen who have longed to have a child. Having only twelve china place settings, they do not bother to invite the 13th wise woman and she gets angry. She bursts into Bob's celebration and curses him to die on his 18th birthday after pricking his finger on a spindle. Luckily one wise woman is left and alleviates the curse so Bob will only sleep 100 years until a princess awakens him with a kiss.
I really enjoyed the twist on this book. I think it showed that the tale can be just as fun and engaging if the gender roles are reversed and it challenges students to think in non-traditional ways. The authors also inserted fun little details that showed how quickly the sleeping curse took over the whole kingdom by mentioned that even the dog, while scratching away its fleas fell asleep as did the flies buzzing around the kitchen. Giselle Potter did a wonderful job illustrating the story. The detail in her illustrators complemented the humor in the story (I especially enjoyed the endpaper!) and was visually appealing and different from illustrations that I have seen before. I would recommend this book to early elementary school students or those who are comparing fairy tales or considering gender roles.
More...