This book retells the stories of Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, and Jack and the Beanstalk in short stories that are short enough for young children to enjoy.

A Handful of Beans is a delightful collection of six classic fairy tales adapted: Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk

Each fairy tale has a quirky twist and just a little bit different than when I first learned the stories. But I was smiling as I was reading each tale and said the added rhymes out loud to myself. Each tale ends with a question, much like "what's the moral of the story?" It left me wondering and thinking.

This book has a lot more text than pictures. It's more suitable for older students who are familiar with the stories. There's also more vivid violence in this adaptation than you would find in most younger students' versions of these tales. (Rumpelstiltskin tears himself in two, the Beast talks of murder, Gretel pushing the witch in the oven is illustrated and also elaborated in gruesome words, Wolf is filled with rocks and dies)

The illustrations are simple that accompany the tales but with enough detail to make them fun. The illustrations are done by the author's late husband, William Steig. He is the Caldecott Award winner of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.(1977) Interesting fact: he wrote the original book Shrek, which led to the Dreamworks film. What talent!

A Handful of Beans will be a great addition to my library collection. I can't wait to read it aloud with my older students! ( )

The first few stories are told with such grace & beauty that Wm's illustrations seem totally inappropriate.?á I always see his pix as playful and just a little subversive, with, perhaps, a nod or wink to more adult wit.?á The last couple of stories do have more fun in them, and the art fits better.?á But nowhere are we told such things as Why does the Frog Prince want to marry that nasty snobby Princess? or Why did the wicked fairy turn the Prince into a Beast? or Why does Jack have more right to the gold, hen, and harp than does the Giant?

A deep fan of fairy tales might enjoy visiting these versions of the stories, especially the language of the re-tellings, if they can get this book from their libraries.?á But I cannot recommend it for purchase by anybody.

I do, however, like the following line well enough to want to start using it in conversation with my family:
And what more could you wish??á The moon on a dish?"" ( )

Summary: This is a book with 6 different classic fairy tales that are retold by this author. They are classic and witty and altogether a lot of fun to read. The stories included are Rumplestiltskin - which is about a woman who figures out a little man's name in order to save her child, Beauty and the Beast - a girl falls in love with a beast, Hansel and Gretel where a little boy and girl follow bread crumbs home, Little Red Riding Hood is the story of a girl who is fooled by a wolf, The Frog Prince is the story of a prince who is turned into a frog and needs a kiss from a princess, Then there is Jack and the Bean Stalk which is about a boy who buys beans instead of a cow and finds riches from these magical beans.

Genre: This is a handful of fairy tales because these are stories that have been told and retold throughout the ages. These stories have been passed down and finally someone wrote them down in order to preserve the true story! They usually have some sort of moral at the end also!! So with these fairy tales there are morals of not promising something you can't keep, and going with your gut instinct, as well as trusting your instincts.

Theme: There were multiple themes throughout these stories. one theme was greed, another was lust for power, in rumplestiltskin. In Beauty and the Beast, there was the theme of beauty, anger, and triumph of good over evil.

Media: Guess: paint and pen

This book has recieved the Horn Book Fanfare in 1999 and the New York Times Best Illustrated book in 1998.