Gr 3–4—Fiona and Frieda love to act out fairy tales. Usually Frieda takes on the evil witch role, while Fiona favors princesses and fairies, but the real fun begins when the girls invoke MRP, their magic rhyming powers. Their incantations make the real world recede, thrusting the third graders into a fantasy realm where they handle such emergencies as, in Cinderella, a ruined ball gown and the prospect that the poor heroine might not even make it to the ball. Knowing the story endings gives the girls a definite advantage, though their contribution of such modern devices as a digital watch alarm that can remind Cinderella to leave on time presents a new challenge. In Goldilocks, the duo discovers that the three bears are really pandas residing in a bamboo forest. Goldie is now in a new adventure—she is being pursued by the notorious big bad wolf. When the friends help Hansel and Gretel to find their way out of the subway, they become imprisoned by the witch along the way, and use the facts of the original story against her. Though the writing is not especially inspired, these fractured fairy tales, accompanied by simple, black-and-white line drawings, offer solid independent-reading choices as well as ideas for dramatic play.—Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT
