Cover Image: Twisted Fairy Tales: Cinder-Elephant

Twisted Fairy Tales: Cinder-Elephant

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It's a cute story. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Was this review helpful?

This is a charming take on a classic fairy tale, part Cinderella/part Shrek. The first part mostly follows the traditional tale except Cinderella isn’t all beauty and grace and perfection… she is fun and happy. Due to a misunderstanding with her fairy godmother, she ends up an extremely happy elephant at the royal ball. Can she find her version of happily ever after even if she isn’t the traditional-type princess? A sweet little book about loving yourself even if you aren’t everybody’s type of princess.

I received an ARC, but my opinions are all mine.

Was this review helpful?

That was a fun and silly book, I loved the twist at the end! Fantastic job, re-telling this classic fairy tale.

Highly recommend this book.

Was this review helpful?

This book is Cinderella meets Shrek.

The changes to the original story were cute, such as the fairy godmother being bumbling and mishearing all of Cinderella’s requests.

It was nice to see a POC royal family.

It did feel like Cinderella turning into an elephant made the flipper fitting awkward since, being an elephant, she’d be easy to tell apart from humans and not everyone would need to try the slipper on.

I liked that her being an elephant meant she was physically able to ride above her family in the end.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

Was this review helpful?

You know Cinderella. You know the reboots, the retellings, and the stories turned upside down, but you don’t know the story quite like this. Cinderella wants more than anything to attend the prince’s ball, and her fairy godmother Fenella wants to make her dreams come true. Unfortunately, Fenella has a bit of an issue with her wand and all of Cinderella’s requests come out just a little off. Can she woo the prince with glass flippers, oh and as an Elephant? Hilarity will ensue either way.

This book was adorable and so much fun. I’ve probably seen/read a hundred adaptations of this tale, and I think this one is among the most creative. I laughed out loud several times, and the misinterpretations of Fenella’s wand are clever, indeed. The perfect story to get kids interactive with the story, asking them what’s wrong with the picture, and or what Cinderella asked for vs. what she receives. Sounds like a good time to me.

This one is out on Tuesday, and it looks like part of a series, so keep an eye out for these twisted fairy tales.

Was this review helpful?

This is a fun twisted fairytale for young children. It follows the Cinderella story reasonably closely until the fairy godmother turns up. She has ears full of fairy dust and keeps mishearing what Cinderella is asking for. Instead of being elegant with glass slippers, she's turned into an elephant with glass flippers. Luckily the prince has a good sense of humour and is enchanted by the clumsy dancing elephant who makes him laugh.

The illustrations are beautiful and funny. A heartwarming twist on the familiar tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

What a fresh take on a classic tale. I LOVED that the fairy godmother mishearing the requests is how she ends up an elephant. My only issue was perhaps it could have been slightly shorter and with more illustrations. I would loved to have seen more of the funny moments

Was this review helpful?

This was a very fun version of Cinderella. The ending was surprising, but I enjoyed the fact that Cinderella and the Prince made their own ending.

Was this review helpful?

This is seriously adorable!!! I was babysitting and the kids wanted a fun bed time story so I requested this book and I am so glad I did! They loved the twist on the fairytale and laughed the whole time, and I was equally as entertained!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC!

Was this review helpful?

This title retells the story of Cinderella in a most funny and entertaining manner. In the beginning of the book, the story follows somewhat traditional lines but all of this changes when Cinderella meets her hard of hearing fairy godmother. Fairy godmother does what she thinks that she is being asked but…not exactly!

This book has engaging illustrations and main characters who become empowered. It is a delightful read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

A short, silly retelling of Cinderella that my mini bookworms found super funny!

Cinder-elephant begins as the version of Cinderella that we all know and love. The only difference is that Cinderella is really bad at singing and dancing but, because she finds joy and laughter in them, her father encourages her... even when she smashes things!

However, when we get to the pivotal fairy godmother scene this whole fairytale is spun on its head. The fairy godmother has a hard time hearing Cinderella's requests and the consequences are hilarious.

As well as creating a great number of giggles, this short tale also teaches our children to stay true to themselves. It really is a lovely little book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I love all things twisted takes and fairy tales re-imagined. This bite sized story will have children giggling and guffawing!
This tale begins with Cinderella singing and dancing, though she knocks things over and sounds like a cat in the bath, but she makes her father laugh and that is all that matters.

After marrying someone new, he passes away and the new sisters and step mother quickly turn on Cinderella and put her to work.
An invitation arrives, as in the original tale and Cinderella is desperate to attend.
When her fairy godmother arrives, she has her ears full of fairy dust and gets everything all wrong! What ensues can only be called hilarious mayhem! A roach instead of a coach, diver instead of a driver....and you can imagine the rest!

A brilliant twist on the tale of Cinderella, with a strange and twisted end! Perfect for younger readers!

Was this review helpful?

This book started off so normal I was confused, but it ended so perfectly! If only it was published a bit sooner and I would have used it for my Summer Reading program this year! Hilarious read for everyone!

Was this review helpful?

While it does take a little while to understand why the book is called Cinder-Elephant (both my 7 year old and I asked about halfway through "Why is this called Cinder ELEPHANT?"), the book itself is well written parody of the fairy tale favorite, Cinderella. Short enough for beginning readers to read all the way through on their own, it's also a good read-aloud, too! I think I would have enjoyed a few more illustrations, though.

Was this review helpful?

In a charming reworking of the classic tale, Cinderella is aided in her efforts to go to the ball by a hard-of-hearing fairy godmother who gets everything wrong!

Without going into spoilers and giving away the story, this is an amusing twist on a much-loved fairy story which will have readers young and young-at-heart laughing out loud at the absurdities. Delightfully illustrated and a fun read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Review to come May 26th to blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

A new twist on the Cinderella fairy tale? Sign me up! It features elephants? Yes! I was so curious how this would work out!

For the first part of the story it is pretty much the same Cinderella story we all know and love (or at least I love the Cinderella story, haha). A father and his daughter have a great time, dad remarries, dies, and then trouble starts. OK, sure, I haven't read a story in which Cinderella is uber-clumsy. I mean, this girl is so enthusiastic she breaks a lot of things around her. So that was new. But the real fun didn't start until the godmother appeared and started creating things... that may not be entirely what you want. I mean a roach instead of a coach, a diver instead of a driver, and more. I had such a laugh at this hard-of-hearing (or she just only hears the rhymes of what Cinderella says, that could also be a thing). You can imagine chaos happens and I was just delighted and laughing so hard. 

While I had wished Cinderella had opened her mouth, because things really went wonky, I am also kind of happy she didn't. Heavens knows what would have happened, I mean she is already an elephant, who knows what the fairy godmother may have done if she heard something else again? 

I am proud of Cinderella, that she was determined to just enjoy the ball. Who cares that she is an elephant wearing glass flippers. She is here to party. It is not everyday you get to go to a party, and I definitely could 100% agree with Cindy here. I would have done the same. So I am an elephant. I get to go to the ball, YAS!

The ball was just as fun as the whole godmother part was, I loved the prince and I loved all the silliness that happened. It is certainly a whole different ball than one may expect. But it is one I would love to be part of!

The ending! OMG, that was just something totally unexpected but something that had me laughing and squeeing! That was just the perfect ending, and it reminded me of Shrek in a way. I am so happy the author went with this ending, I was already wondering about the flipper and how that would work!

The art just made everything even more funny, silly, and great! I really love the style!

As you can see, this book was a definite hit for me. Silly, weird, and magical with tons of laughs. Highly recommended! This is by far one of my favourite Cinderella retellings for kids.

Was this review helpful?

What a silly, charming retelling of Cinderella! Smart, funny, and not too patriarchal, this book is the perfect take on the classic fairy tale. Though the writing feels a little stilted at times, the humor and the vivid illustrations more than make up for it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

Another colourful, funny retelling of a fairy tale from Samantha Newman.
My son has thoroughly enjoyed both twisted fairy tales, he finds them silly and laughs out loud.
Cinder-Elephant is a great addition to a child’s library, I’ve been telling lots of my mum friends about them.
Really hope there will be more twisted fairy tales to follow.

Was this review helpful?

Book: Twisted Fairy Tales: Cinder-Elephant
Author: Samantha Newman
Illustrator: James Hearne
🐘
🌼 Omg, I have read quite a number of retelling of Cinderella but this was something else. I had a good laugh reading it. This was the most hilarious and absurd retelling that I think everyone must read.
🌼 The basic plot remains the same as that of the original but here Cinderella is clumsy and the fairy godmother's ears are clogged so she makes quite silly mistakes. The duo makes some hilariously silly mistakes.
🌼 To be honest, in the actual story the prince loved the midnight Cinderella and couldn't recognise her without her clothes and makeup but here the prince didn't fall for her beauty instead he loved her for her fun loving and carefree attitude, which was the best thing to change.
🌼 At last, the illustrations! I loved the illustrations. So quirky and colourful.
In total, I really liked the book and would recommend everyone to read it since it's really short.

Was this review helpful?

What a cute little twist on the classic Cinderella tale! Only this time it's a series of spells gone awry that instead send Cinderella to the ball as an elephant! The drawings in this are very cute and it's good fun :)

Was this review helpful?