Many of your retellings are the only retellings for different fairy tales that I'm familiar with. ~ A lot of the stories you've chosen to retell are the lesser known, or less popular fairy tales to retell. They can walk the hills or fish the streams or help repair the mud huts, and they can feel more grounded in this other place so that it becomes much less 'other.' I try to bring my settings alive - I even think of them as characters, if you will - so that readers can feel invited into someplace they've perhaps never even heard of. And even those children who have traveled often have seen other places only through the eyes of the tourist - which are, of course, heavily lidded. Given the geographic isolation of North America, it's easy for children whose families don't travel outside to feel like the rest of the world is somewhat abstract. The world is huge, yet, of course, global considerations are imperative today. Then I got more and more into it - and found it a major challenge to try to get from one (bizarre - as they usually are) point in a classic fairy tale to the next (usually equally bizarre) point in a coherent way.īut I write lots of things that are not fairy tale retellings. My first retelling was The Prince of the Pond - the frog prince story, and I told it because when my children were little, we used to tell fairy stories from different points of view. ~ What made you decide to write retellings? Have you or would you consider writing a non-retelling? Her tales show painstaking research and originality, as well as a desire to push herself and her reader into new territory, and we're very proud to host her here during FTF!

We have with us today fairy tale writer extraordinaire, Donna Jo Napoli! Misty and Ashley would both like to give her a tremendous thanks! for helping us kick off Fairy Tale Fortnight in style with a giveaway of 15 books! (I know - incredible, right?!)

Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli