(If you are reading this and know me personally, consider this a request: Please. Read. This. Book.)

Whether reading from a cis or trans perspective, this book is possibly the most vital read I might ever recommend. This short but moving journey covers almost everything I could ever ask anyone to consider relating to my trans-ness.

Lester's book is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of trans discourse, the current climate of 'trans debate', or a more personal reflection of trans experiences.

The fact that it is so well sourced, well written, and well balanced just adds to its ability to impress me. Not to mention the amount of horrifying, wonderful, and shocking facts I had to read aloud to my wife, or the simply beautiful lines or practically poetry that Lester managed to weave into their work.

I read this in one 5 hour sitting. I honestly couldn't put it down, and I'm not usually one to mind stretching out a good read.

The world is a scary place, full of hatred, but also full of hope. Lester clearly knows this, and I'm so glad I got to share in their voice.

To be completely honest, I am little disappointed in this book.

I adore the concept, appreciate the thought that went into re-writing the stories, and love the way they adapted them and added new morals and representation that is desperately needed for the children and families who will read it together.
But I found the majority of the stories new plots, and the writing style itself, a little lacklustre.

Of course these are all well known tales, which is always hard to re-write in an interesting and gripping way. I truly enjoyed, however, finally seeing traditional tales filled with offhand representation of queer couples, disabled characters, gender neutral pronouns, and a spectrum of body shapes, colours and expressions, just as it should be. It was definitely a joy to read. I just feel it had so much /more/ potential to be brilliant!

I will highlight the stories I enjoyed the most:
> Pinocchio - for its beautiful moral story of what it means to be a boy, and it's complete tear down of toxic masculinity in the space of 6 pages!
> Rumplestiltskin - for its gentle and magical take on refugees/immigrants, and how you should never compromise on yourself and your heritage just to be liked.
> Quasimodo - for its gentle and uplifting introduction to community activism, and representation of people whose voices deserve to be heard.
> King Midas & The Pied Piper - for their strong and honest representations of fathers who are not afraid to show emotions and throw away societal gender norms.

I first watched Guillermo del Toro's film in Spanish class back when I was 14. Honestly, not sure what my teacher was thinking... but I am so glad that it entered my life. At the time, I was struggling with a /lot/ of things life was throwing at me, and Ofelia was a beautiful, but devastating, ray of hope.
Somehow, the stunning composition and cinematography of the film, the heart wrenching soundtrack, and the darkness of the plot line hit home for me; since then it has become a film I return to whenever I am at my worst. It brings me a sense of hope that neither patronises nor turns a blind eye to the horrors of the world.

This book holds exactly the same feeling.

I read most of the book whilst listening to the film's soundtrack, and was instantly transported into Guillermo's world.

The small added chapters of fairytale lore throughout gave me new love for the story, and a hunger for more! Suddenly I have so many questions that I seemed happy to ignore before!

I have taken a star away only for the fact that I found some of the writing style a little overly simple or basic. Some metaphors were unnecessary and detracted from the tension, and some description felt too fast moving. I found myself having to re-read lines on occasion to check I hadn't missed anything.

I would highly recommend, to both those who have, and have not seen the film. It carries itself well as a stand alone story, and I'm so glad it was gifted to me!

- part of my course literature summer reading -

I am a big fan of poetry so am very excited to see children's poetry taking a larger role in my second year of studies.

I enjoyed the book itself, and will definitely be using it in the years to come. It took me a while longer to read as I was annotating and coming up with ideas of how I would use the poems that I enjoyed most in the classroom.
However, I would say I only really annotated about a third of the poems, for a mixture of reasons:

I have a personal feeling that a handful of the poems were a little older. Not so much in the way that it would be harder for children to grasp or immerse themselves in (I'm all for sharing classics and spending the time to unravel and ask questions about them), but leaning more towards it being debatable if they quite have a place in the classroom anymore. For example, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies" and "From a Railway Carriage". I felt they may have been put in more as a nostalgia moment for Julia Donaldson rather than their suitability.

As for the rest, I know I am /very/ picky with my poetry! So it's probably just that I personally wasn't a fan, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use them if the right topic arose.

The ones that I did annotate however, I adored! There is so much possible to do with them, from tongue twisters, to chants, to full blown acting opportunities. I found poems that would work for small groups (3/4), that they could stage themselves very easily from the imagery provided. And others that could use the whole class (around 32 lines to give out in the poems) that can either be handed over completely, or controlled by the teacher in the position of a narrator/conductor.
There are poems with non speaking rolls, poems with single lines, and poems with full paragraphs to give out.
Poems for reception age right through to year 6s who want a challenge!
And plenty that will reach across the curriculum to prepare- I found examples that could easily bring in art, drama, music, history, geography, sports, maths, science...

Overall definitely a useful read and a good tool to take with me.

A generally nice book of poetry, but nothing special.
I enjoyed seeing a decent handful of representation from Welsh and Scottish poets, however I would say that, as I'm finding repeated in many children's poetry books, a large number from this collection are more classic older poems that I'm not convinced hold much place in a classroom anymore. And again, I don't mean at all that children shouldn't study old, classic, or difficult poems, but rather that a lot of what seem to be famous poems, or simple well known nursery rhymes, are outdated in their language or suggestions.

As I read through, since this was a library book, I made a list of the poems featured that I particularly enjoyed in case I want to use them or this book again in future:

How to cut a pomegranate- Imtiaz Dharker
Dragonfly - Libby Houston
The Dream of the Cabbage Caterpillars -Libby Houston
F for Fox - Carol Ann Duffy
A Crow and a Scarecrow- Carol Ann Duffy
The Owl and the Pussycat - Edward Lear
To a Mouse - Robert Burns
The Loch Ness Monster Song - Edwin Morgan
In the Bee-Factory - Libby Houston
The Sounds of Earth - Julie O'Callaghan
Thunder - Elizabeth Bishop
Snow and Snow - Ted Hughes
January Cold Desolate - Christina Rossetti
At Nine of the Night I Opened My Door - Charles Causley
The Song of Wandering Aengus - W. B. Yeats
Night Mail - W. H. Auden
Great-Grandmother's Lament - Jackie Kay
What are Heavy? - Christina Rossetti
Out in the Desert - Charles Causley
What is Pink? - Christina Rossetti
Bed in Summer - Robert Louis Stevenson

(As a personal side note... I hadn't realised I was /quite/ so picky as to only really enjoy 21 poems out of this book of 101...)

I've made it a mission of mine to read as many traditional tales re-written by modern authors as I can (suggestions appreciated!), as I'm honestly not a big fan of them...

I have yet to read much else of Phillip Pullman, but of course have heard a lot of good about his work.

Although Aladdin isn't one of my personal favourites, I did enjoy this retelling. It felt closer to the original story than most, with a good amount of modern pantomime and humour.

It had a good balance vocabulary wise: Some of the language may be a little challenging or outdated for children and involve some research/scaffolding/questioning, whilst others were clearly described in a more modern way to help children see the links to the real-world (history, geography etc).

Once again, Miller has left me perfectly content and my love of classics renewed.

Something about her writing style just settles on my heart and makes her stories feel so real for me. Every line of description flows like poetry, and the stories unfold exactly like those of the classic epics.

Circe is the perfect blend of Homer's epic tales and the common modern day drama driven fantasy stories.

Her characters, as always, have immense depth, with flaws, growth, and empathy.

I would highly recommend to anyone who values or is interested in the classics.