Title: Secrets, Monsters, and Magic Mirrors

SubTitle: Stone Arch Fairy Tales Volume 2

Publisher: Capstone

Imprint: Stone Arch Books

Pub Date: 1 August 2011

ISBN: 9781434234568

Author: Donald Lemk

If you love fairy tales, you’ll definitely love this bold graphic novel. Each page is beautifully illustrated and the fairy tale re-tellings are just as wonderful.

But as much as I recommend this to older readers, I wouldn’t exactly recommend this book to younger readers who tends to be very curious. This is because one of the fairy tale in this book: Rapunzel is rather creepy.

I’m not sure what exactly the original version of Rapunzel is, but I do not exactly appreciate the fact that the book implied that Rapunzel had spent the night with her prince before they got married in the tower and she got pregnant soon after.

I am not sure I if I want to explain to the children how Rapunzel and her prince managed to have children without being married in the first place. How am I supposed to explain about the birds and the bees to the children if they asked me about it?  Hmm… not sure if I want to deal with the issue of pre-marital sex with younger children.

I suppose this book is not for younger readers.While the retelling are wonderful, the illustration are too bold for a fairy tale. Rather creepy and provocative as well.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. I received an ARC of this book from Capstone publisher via Netgalley. I was not compensated in any ways for writing this review.

Book description:

Five of the world’s greatest fairy tales are retold in the popular and attractive graphic novel format. Beautiful, bold illustrations give these timeless tales a modern edge. The stories include Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Princess and the Pea, Snow White, and Thumbelina.