Leaping Beauty audiobook

Listened to this as a book on tape for a long run and recommended it to a really homey looking burb housewife at the dog park with her two kids as a good family road trip listen. The author translates the same grisly undertones of classic fairy tales into the survival of the fittest setting of the animal world and the result is a frank and comical picture of anthropomorphized creatures. If hansel and gretel were a hamster and gerbil respectively they might actually consider eating each other if the hunger pangs are strong enough. If Brian Jacques were a mean girl, the resultant dysfunctional "redwall: the real world" would be this book. This is admittedly a children's book, but in the way that "up" is a children's movie: relevant for all ages. It may not be as mature as wicked, but who cares? It's fun as hell. And for the ones who didn't pick up on the fact that Norma Jean changed to beauty was a Marilyn reference, I say, "lady (or broad or dame), you're missing out."

I've read gregory maguire's adult books, but I was intrigued when I found out he also wrote childrens books, and decided to investigate. leaping beauty is priceless, filled with his variations on the standard fairy tale, and just hysterical in its whimsey. if you have children in your life, make sure this is in their personal library. it's a treasure.

I'm generally a Maguire fan. So I decided to pick this up to see if it would be good for my 9 year old son. He is fixed on the idea that he hates fantasy, and as such, has shut down my attempts to read him Narnia, Harry Potter, Redwall, and anything containing dragons of any kind. Naturally, I'm heartbroken and worried that he may lose his soul (I'm kidding about the soul part, but not about the heartbroken part—how can he hate so many books I love?!? I must be failing as a parent ... ).I don't know if he'll like it, but I'm hopeful. Maguire is funny, and the humor is based on puns and puzzles, and that's right up my son's alley. Hopefully enough so that he'll overlook the bits of magic that seep in here and there and focus on the charming talking animals and the slightly ironic distance held by the narrating voice throughout the book—he likes bits of slight ironic distance here and there, so there's hope!

Loved this book! I didn't realize when I was first began reading it, it's actually a children's book. It is so clever & funny. I laughed out loud more then once. I needed a fun entertaining story. Each chapter is a twist to the original fairy tales; only with animals. I highly recommend this book! :)

Maguire is pretty snarky and sarcastic in this book and it made me laugh out loud a few times. I'm wondering why we let our kids routinely listen to this at bedtime and naptime. It's silly and funny, but it was probably a little over their heads sometimes.

Is it high literature? Absolutely not. Is it highly entertaining? Yes. It’s fairy tale adaptation and I enjoyed turning the genre upside down in time, place, and content. Yes, there is a definite sarcastic edge—that’s what I liked about it.

Fun and funny stories, just a little to the side of the traditional versions!

I have always loved fairytales and I don't think I have ever read retellings quite like this

This is utterly charming and delightful. It would make a fantastic readaloud for adults and kids. I was surprised!!

Cute reworking of old tales

Fun.

Leaping Beauty: 4Goldiefox and the Three Chickens: 5Hamster and Gerbil: 4So What and the Seven Giraffes: 3.5Little Red Robin Hood: 2The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Walrus: 4Cinder-Elephant: 4Rumplesnakeskin: 3

Leaping BeautyOkay, so, I made the MISTAKE of looking at some of the other Goodreads reviews for this book before opening it up. HUGE fucking mistake. Huge. I started reading this story with trepidation. Many had said Maguire was MUCH more suited for his adult fantasy than his children's fantasy. PAH! I say to THAT noise. This first tale was friggen GREAT!I read the first half and thought "this is alright for what it is: a kids story." As I read on, I noticed something. The story was MORE about the "villain" than it was about the "protagonist" who's name appears in the title. This was almost like reading a short, kids version of "Wicked," and it was great! By the end, Old Dame Hornet is even Leaping Beauty's biggest fan! I must mention how I loved that the fairies were all the bugs. That was wonderful. I also kinda wonder why these bugs weren't the froggies' lunch, haha. I loved he lightly mixed elements from "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Frog Prince." Of course the main bulk of the tale was "Sleeping Beauty," but in the end the frog kisses the villain, and she is transformed with joy. At least that's how I saw it. So yeah, big mistake reading those reviews. So far--this is AWESOME!Goldiefox and the Three ChickensI cannot express how much I loved this friggin story, and how much I love what Maguire is DOING with these stories. Everybody makes mistakes. Some of them came be BIG mistakes. But everybody also deserves forgiveness, and a chance to make up for their shortcomings. I believe this to be completely and 100% true. Yes. Yes yesyesyes. Soooo much YES! I kinda adore how these fairytales are now animal fables. I love the narrative and the dialogue. It's definitely meant to reach kids, but I think it's got a lot in it for adults too. The humor is wonderful. All the twists and puns and just ... everything. Really, I can't fully express myself that's how excited these stories make me. I already know I need to keep this book ... but I'm definitely going to have to purchase another for my nibblings to read. Hamster and GerbilWhelp, I guess I take THAT back! TWO villains found their demise in this story. Of course, they were BOTH rather dark creatures ... and deserved it for what they had done. Porky found her end in her own oven. Skunk was rolled away forever. It's just too bad about Mama Beaver... So What and the Seven Giraffes/Little Red Robin Hood/The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Walrus/Cinder-Elephant/RumplesnakeskinAfter a hiatus of about a week (life got in the way of my reading schedule), I decided to just blast through reading the rest of these, and just note some impressions at the end here. I love the way Maguire twisted these tales. A lot of times, turns came about just for the sake of a pun, and I loved that. Rumplesnakeskin was definitely one of my favorites. Marylin Monroe references. Beauty and the Beast meets Rumpelstiltskin ... which is interesting, since that so happens on ABC's "Once Upon a Time." This is definitely a book I want my nibblings to read/have read to them. The next time I am with them for the night, I will bring this with me and read one or two tales to them. It'll be fun. I am glad I took the time to finish reading this. I almost didn't. Other books are calling to me.

A wonderfully hilarious retelling of classic fairy tales that will have you laughing, even as an adult!

The premise is that Maguire (he of Wicked fame) took common fairy tales and retold them with twists, and animals at the main characters. For example, Goldilocks becomes “Goldiefox and the three chickens.” Hansel and Gretel becomes “Hamster and Gerbil.” I love it for that premise alone. Oh, but it gets better.In the story, “Leaping Beauty,” instead of the princess being destined to prick her finger on a spinning wheel, the frog princess is destined to “bite down on a stray explosive from some stupid human engineering project, and you shall blow yourself to smithereens!”“Hamster and Gerbil” opens with the following paragraph:“Once there was a happy family who lived in a beaver dam. Not surprisingly, they were beavers. That is, the father and the mother were beavers. The children were adopted. There was a boy named Hamster and a girl named Gerbil. Not surprisingly, they were a hamster and a gerbil. Hamster was the hamster, and Gerbil was the gerbil.”Finally, “The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Walrus”:“Once there were three little penguins who lived in an igloo with their mother. The oldest penguin liked to eat fish. The middle penguin liked to eat fish. The youngest penguin liked to get dressed up in a ballet costume and put on a show. This was not usual for penguins, and it worried old Mama Penguin a lot.”If these things do not convince you of the joy that is this book, I am not sure what will.Rating: 5 out of 5 bedazzles