Sleeping Bunny

Keller, Emily Snowell. Sleeping Bunny. New York: Random House, 2003.

Click here to learn more about Sleeping Bunny.

This is a retelling of the Grimms’ version, the obvious difference being that the main character is a bunny. I might have even disliked the book because the story itself is not that creative, were it not for the fact that I absolutely ADORE the illustrations. I encourage you to click on the link provided above and explore the sight so that you can see for yourself; I know I would have loved this book as a child and I think lots of children, especially girls, will love it too! I think it is cute how all of the good fairies are pigs, while Mildew, the wicked fairy, is a rat. The illustrations show her to be the one spinning in the tower the day the spell takes effect. Interestingly, this version has a slightly more realistic outcome: “Princess Bunny and her Prince grew to truly love each other and eventually decided to marry” (the key word being “eventually,” whereas in many versions the love and marriage are immediate). And of course, they live “hoppily ever after.”

Sleeping Ugly

Yolen, Jane. Sleeping Ugly. New York: The Putnam & Grosset Group, 1997.

Click here to visit the author's official site.

This is a great read-aloud book I’m sure kids will love. Princess Miserella is beautiful, but not nice, and Plain Jane is nice, but not beautiful. They are joined in this tale by a fairy with the ability to grant wishes, who puts all three of them to sleep in Plain Jane’s cottage for one hundred years. They are then discovered by Prince Jojo, who is familiar with fairy tales and princesses, and knows he is responsible for waking these sleeping women up. First he wakes up the fairy, and then Jane, at which point Jane announces, “I wish he loved me” and the fairy grants it. Jojo, looking at Miserella, is familiar with “that kind of princess […] Pretty on the outside. Ugly within.” And so does not kiss her, in fact, she is never awakened, and remains in Jojo and Jane’s happy home as a conversation piece! A good discussion would be the significance of the title. Children should come away understanding that Princess Miserella, though outwardly attractive, was the real “Sleeping Ugly” because she was not kind. I would hope they would not misunderstand and think that “Ugly” was meant for Jane or the old fairy!

Click here to read a feminist analysis of this book.

Sleeping Bobby

Osborne, Mary Pope and Will Osborne. Sleeping Bobby. New York : Atheneum, 2005.

Click here to read a brief autobiography of Mary Pope Osborne.

This is a fun book! It draws mostly on the Grimms version (as described in the Authors’ Note). I think it will appeal to kids not only because of the popularity of the authors, but also because of the darling pictures. There is a great deal of humor in this book, for example, when the twelfth Wise Woman says, “On his eighteenth birthday he will not die, but fall into a deep sleep that will last for a hundred years,” there is a pause before the king asks, “Is that the best you can do?” I found it interesting that the authors chose the eighteenth birthday for the date of the spell to take effect. On the other hand I can see how it makes sense in that girls have a special party for their 15th or 16th birthday in many cultures while boys do not; eighteen seems to mark the beginning of manhood for boys while womanhood begins earlier for girls. While there is some ambiguity in other versions about whether or not the wicked fairy/wise woman and the old woman spinning in the tower are the same person, there is no doubt that they are one and the same here. To add to the humor, the wicked lady says, “Good night, Bobby,” when the prince pricks his finger (I know my students would laugh at this scene). To take away the goriness, this version has the princesses who come to wake Bob “stopped by the sharp prickly thorns” (they do not actually try to make their way to the castle and die in the process in the way other tales have the princes do). The book also allows for a fun way to practice comparing and contrasting (the old tale with this version). I’m looking forward to incorporating this book into my teaching!

Click here to learn more about the illustrator.

The Sleeping Beauty

Hyman, Trina Schart. The Sleeping Beauty. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977.

Click here to learn more about the illustrator and view some of her work.


This is a retelling of the Grimms version, so I will focus more on the illustrations here as I have already discussed the Grimms tale. Trina Schart Hyman captures the many emotions in the characters’ faces as well as the doom and gloom of the tale (an example of this doom and gloom can be seen by clicking here). She effectively demonstrates the passing of time by showing various seasons. Hyman also chose to have fairies rather than “wise women,” and I wonder if she did this because of the artistic possibilities this afforded her. The fairies wear fascinating costumes and don wings of all colors and sizes, and the thirteenth fairy is truly frightening with her hooded black cape and sunken eyes. I do think younger children would be scared of some of the illustrations found in this book, but I think older children would be drawn to the many works of art found on these pages, particularly those children with an interest in art. I think this book would be a great way to share the Grimms version because of the high caliber of illustrations.

Sleeping Boy

Craddock, Sonia. Sleeping Boy. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1999.

Herr and Frau Rosen are thrilled about the birth of their baby boy, Knabe Rosen, so thrilled that they throw a huge party to celebrate. Everyone is invited, that is except for Major Krieg (“They don’t like him. He makes them feel uneasy”). Friends and family wish all the best for the baby and all is joyous, until Major Krieg arrives and says, “Listen to this sleeping boy: On your sixteenth birthday you will hear the drums drumming as the army marches by. Oh yes! Rat a tat tat! Rat a tat tat! Off to war you’ll go—and you will not come home.” Fortunately, Tante Taube has not yet made her wish for the boy, and she makes it so that on his sixteenth birthday, he will instead fall asleep at the sound of the drums, and not wake up until Berlin is at peace. Even though Herr and Frau Rosen had made it so no marching bands are allowed to come down their street, this ill-fated day does arrive. Until then, Knabe Rosen has led a very protected and sheltered life, and wants very badly to join in with the marching band when he hears the music far off in the distance. Instead, he falls asleep on his way down the stairs. As everyone in the Rosen home sleeps, poverty, war, bad times, and sadness occur around them. The house actually gets buried inside the Berlin Wall (like the briars of other tales). They all awaken when the Berlin Wall crumbles and they are happy once again.

This tale would be useful to show variety in a unit with other Sleeping Beauty tales, provided the students have some previous knowledge of the historical references. However, it doesn’t actually teach anything about German history. I think adults would maybe appreciate the book more than children, assuming they have previous knowledge of both the traditional tale as well as the period in history that is being alluded to. Otherwise the power of the allegory would clearly be lost.

Click here to read reviews of this book.