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A Year of Fairy Tales retold by Sophie Anderson ill. Elisa Paganelli

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ACHUKA Book of the Day Wed 23 Sep 2026

Publisher: Usborne 
ISBN: 9781836044048

“Sophie Anderson has the magic touch for reworking fairy tales and this collection of twelve stories – one for each month of the year – brims with everything that makes her writing so strong:.. [A] handsome hardback with gorgeous colour illustrations by Elisa Paganelli throughout and it’s a book to treasure.” Bfk 5-star review

There is a mixture of straight and twisted versions (one tale for each month of the year) in this gift-worthy book.

Journey through the seasons and celebrations of a child’s year in this stunning collection of fairy tales from the bestselling, award-winning author of The House with Chicken Legs, Sophie Anderson.

Brimming with magic and extraordinary adventure, the stories are all inspired by fairy tales that have been passed down for generations. Some are twists on classics, such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, while others are original stories inspired by folklore, such as The Bear and the Dragon and The Sleeping Forest.

Packed with colourful illustrations by Elisa Paganelli, this gorgeous gift book brings Sophie’s lyrical storytelling to life.

Sophie writes:

I fell in love with fairy tales at a young age, thanks to my grandmother, Gerda Salewski. She was from Eastern Europe and like many people, lost everything during the second world war – her family, friends, home and country. After the war, while trying to build a new life, she met my grandfather, a Welshmen, and travelled to Wales to marry him. She filled her new home in Pontypridd with the foods, music and stories of her homeland. I especially loved the stories.

Some of my earliest and most treasured memories are of my grandmother telling me Slavic fairy tales, whilst playing a dramatic soundtrack to them on her piano…

Continue reading on Culturefly:
https://culturefly.co.uk/sophie-anderson-on-what-fairy-tales-mean-to-her/

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Girls by Annet Schaap tr. Laura Watkinson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 7 Nov 2023

Waterstones
Amazon
Bookshop

“Bold, sharp and written with deceptive simplicity, and heightened by Schaap’s ominous black-and-white illustrations, this is an absorbing, slyly sinister collection” GUARDIAN
“Drily funny, each of the stories turns the tale on its head to show that life is not a fairytale but rather we should ‘make [our] bed, pack [our] bag, and go’. Standing up for ourselves is the only way to live a life.” Just Imagine
“Beguiling collection of beautifully translated subversive fairy tales.” Daily Mail

A determined girl gives up on kissing a frog. A fearless heroine comes face-to-face with a not-so Big Bad Wolf. A monstrous princess, held captive on a deserted island, yearns to break free.

Within this book are seven famous fairy tales turned into enchanting, inspiring and sometimes hair-raising stories for today’s world, about girls with their own dreams and desires. These are no damsels in distress, but real young women of flesh and blood – who certainly don’t need rescuing.

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