Three Teeny Tiny Tales: The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Gingerbread Man, Thumbelina

Dosi Cotroneo is a freelance writer living in Manotick, Ontario.

These six timeless fairy tales, retold by Marilyn Helmer, are easy to
read and wonderful to look at. Each story in Three Tales of Enchantment
involves a female protagonist and a romance. Sleeping Beauty is a young
princess who had a spell cast over her by an evil witch; the spell,
which made her sleep for a hundred years, is broken by a handsome prince
whose kiss awakens her. The Little Mermaid is a young princess who lives
in the sea; she can only stay human if she collects a few drops of blood
from the human prince she has fallen in love with. As Beauty comes to
know the Beast in the castle, she grows to love him. Young girls may
enjoy these stories more than boys. Kasia Charko’s illustrations are
rich and traditional.

Each story in Three Teeny Tiny Tales involves little people and a
moral. When some Elves help out a shoemaker by making some shoes at
night for him, the shoemaker reciprocates by making them some warm
coats; after they receive the coats they quit. A freshly baked
gingerbread man escapes when he is taken out of the oven and taunts some
hungry pursuers as he runs away; in the end, he is caught by a clever
fox. Tiny Thumbelina helps a young bird to survive; the young bird later
rescues her from a bad situation and transports her into a good one.
Veselina Tomova’s illustrations—especially those in “The
Gingerbread Man” and “Thumbelina”—are an absolute riot.

Young boys and girls, and their parents, cannot help but enjoy these
well-produced books. Highly recommended.