A Wolf at the Door, and Other Retold Fairy Tales
edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
This anthology, for eight-to-twelve-year-old readers, features stories and poems inspired by fairy tales. The authors who have written for the book are Michael Cadnum, Nancy Farmer, Neil Gaiman, Kathe Koja, Tanith Lee, Kelly Link, Gregory Maguire, Patricia A. McKillip, Garth Nix, Delia Sherman, Janeen Webb, Katherine Vaz, and Jane Yolen. The cover art is by Tristan Ellwell.
For a taste of the book, read Neil Gaiman's poem "Instructions," online here.
"Harking back to a time when 'fairy tales were scarier . . . and the heroes and heroines were more interesting, 13 fantasists spin trenchant remakes or sequels... Readers will come away from this collection satisfied, whether they're after romance or danger, psychodrama or belly laughs." — Kirkus
"The diversity of content, style, and tone makes this an excellent collection for sampling. Most of these stories ask readers to think a bit more about fairy tales and what they may be saying to and about us." — School Library Journal
A Wolf at the Door is published by Simon & Schuster Children's Books in hardcover and Aladdin in paperback.
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Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold
edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
This sequel to A Wolf at the Door contains original stories based on fairy tales, but also goes farther afield to include stories based on folk legends and traditional ballads. The authors who have written for this volume are Bruce Coville, Gregory Frost, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Kathe Koja, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Lois Metzger, Will Shetterly, Midori Snyder, Christopher Rowe, Jane Yolen, Pat York and Katherine Vaz. The cover art is by Kamil Vojnar.
"The stories in this volume are familiar and unfamiliar. They deal easily and imaginatively, beautifully and wisely, with the sorts of situations children have to live with, like death and abandonment, sibling rivalry, first love. Everyone has little people in the family. This book would be a precious gift to them." — The Fix: Short Fiction Review
"Noted children's and adult fantasy writers play with the bones of traditional stories, songs, and characters to create 13 vibrant, imaginative short stories. There's something for everyone in this anthology, which proves once again the immense flexibility of traditional tales in the hands of gifted storytellers." — School Library Journal
Swan Sister is published by Simon & Schuster Children's Books in hardcover and Aladdin in paperback.
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An omnibus volume combining the contents of A Wolf at the Door and Swan Sister has been published under the name The Dark of the Woods. The cover art is by Charles Vess.
This is a special Aladdin edition produced for Barnes & Noble bookstores.
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Troll's Eye View:
A Book of Villainous Tales
edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
In our latest anthology of stories based on fairy tales, we focus specifically on fairy tale villains this time: trolls, ogres, witches, evil sorcerers, etc.. The book features new works from Holly Black, Peter Beagle, Michael Cadnum, Nancy Farmer, Wendy Froud, Neil Gaiman, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ellen Kushner, Kelly Link, Garth Nix, Delia Sherman, Midori Snyder, Joseph Stanton, Catherynne Valente and Jane Yolen.
Trolls Eye View has placed on the American Library Association's 2010 Notable Children's Book List, has won the 2010 Chronic Rift Roundtable Award, and was a Critic's Pick book on Salon.com.
Ellen and I were interviewed about the book by a young reader here.
"This anthology of fractured and reconfigured fairy tales for young readers offers an excellent introduction to the unreliability of perspective, one that plenty of adults will find provocative, too. How do the old stories look when retold from the point of view of the wicked witch, the evil wizard, the troll under the bridge? A dazzling array of contributors present the other side of the story." -- Salon.com
