Disney Anytime Stories Collection

 Written by Lisa Ann Marsoli

This volume is from 1996.  It's about as bad as you can imagine it being, which means that for some children I guess it's passably okay.  It has pictures in it, which is all they're really after in a Disney book.

The art here is spot on.  No weird modernization of older classics.  They tried to keep it very accurate, so that's nice.  The writing probably suffers from too many editors.

 The stories only make sense if you've seen the movies.  There is little or no introduction of new characters and little backstory.  It's basically a crazy compilation of Disney Fanfiction written for superfans.  My daughter has never seen any of these shows, so nothing in this book makes any sense to her.  The fact that the vocabulary is way beyond that of a 5 year old (my husband balked at the use of the word "pachyderm") only makes things more confusing.  Normally I'm all for varied vocabulary, but if I have to spend twice as long coming up with an explanation for the events and characters in the book than I would spend just reading what's on the page, it's not a very good book for kids.

It bothered me, too, that some of the events in these stories conflict with elements of their own universes.  I'm really not a Disney fan, and I was pretty annoyed, so I'm pretty sure a real hardcore superfan would burn up.  Or maybe a REAL superfan would be able to justify all the deviation.

Anyway, the book cost 25¢.  I'll probably tear out all of the full page glossies and do a craft with them or something.

Friday Post - Ravensburger Puzzle no. 089888

 

Illustrated by Steffie Becker

Two puzzles in one!  and for $3!  (I'm always thrifting, never buying new.)

They're pink and purple, which stinks.  And it's all princesses and maybe a prince or two (kind of vague, though).  But it's easy to put together, and due to the influence of her cousins, my daughter *loves* pink and purple, so this one's a winner..

But she also randomly tells me about how much she loves yellow, so she hasn't been completely hypnotized by the Disney machine yet.


One puzzle has a plain backing, the other polka dots, so you can separate the pieces before you begin.

Interstellar Cinderellar

 By Deborah Underwood
Illustrated by Meg Hunt

This one isn't bad, except that it's in verse, which is annoying, because it's definitely meant for older kids.  Plus the verses don't cover the details of the story; they'll have a vague explanation of what's going on and fill in the blanks with they picture.  So I end up cutting in with explanations because it's even a little confusing for me at times.

I'm pretty sure they stole the pet mouse and the stepsister's name from the Disney movie.  Which are little examples of a bit of laziness here and there.

But I'm happy that everyone is ugly in this book (but charmingly drawn).  I'm happy that Cinderella is a mechanical nerd.  I'm happy that she actually hangs out with the prince and develops a relationship with him, and STILL decides not to marry him in the end.

It's not perfect, but it's good enough.  Plus, my daughter likes it as much or more as her Disney Cinderella book.

Everything is better when it takes place in space.