Once Upon A Fairytale

'Once upon golden morning... or may be a fairy's birthday, a cosy teatime, a rainy Tuesday or a broken armchair. So begins a story where you choose the plot and the characters and become the storyteller. Have you ever wished you could create your own fairy-tale? Well now you can, Once Upon a Fairy Tale will give you a different story every time you read it.

In a similar vein to John Birmingham's 'Would you rather…' and Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharrett's 'You Choose' books, the reader is in the driving seat and can choose between all sorts of exciting things, including who the main character is and where they live and how the adventure will play out. The twist with this book is that you do have to remember which things you have chosen and use them again later in the story. The illustrations are delightful, brightly coloured and attractively done.

My favourite bit is the map at the end, which lends itself to many more story telling activities and discussions, and anyway who doesn't like a map to pore over! Children love the opportunity to pick things themselves and create their own magic. This is exactly the sort of book a class would love having read to them and make their own choices.

Books like 'Would you rather…' are often firm favourites and requested again and again. This book seems no exception to that rule and needing to remember what has been chosen adds to the over all effect. This has the feel of a future classic to add to the genre of books where the reader chooses and a great idea for starting telling and writing stories as well.

40 Pages / Reviewed by Jacqueline, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+