The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

In the songs by the bards, Prince Charming charmed Cinderella, kissed Snow White, awakened Sleeping Beauty, and rescued Rapunzel. In reality, four very different and individual princes accomplished these fairy tale feats: Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan, Prince Liam, and Prince Gustav. Feeling cheated by the vague press, the princes leave their kingdoms in pursuit of heroic deeds and better recognition. But right under their noses, the evil witch, Zaubera, is capturing all the kingdoms’ bards to lure royalty away from their kingdoms and into her clutches.

Healy’s interpretation of Grimm’s fairy tales is incredibly humorous and imaginative. The book does answer some realistic questions for readers about the Grimm stories: Would Snow White be socially awkward if she did talk only to animals and dwarfs? Would the prince who “rescued” Rapunzel feel jilted because he really did not rescue her? What kind of prince would let other people discover his Cinderella? This would be a great read-aloud book for children and even adults. Readers can look forward to more books to come as this the first book in Healy’s debut series.

(Full review found on The Children's Book and Play Review: https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/CBPR/article/view/20037/18809)