Book picks similar to
The Lost Happy Endings by Carol Ann Duffy


picture-books
children-s-books
fantasy
children-s

Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut


Margaret Atwood - 1995
    Proud, prissy, and pretty, and unhappily very spoiled, she lives in a pink palace with her pinheaded parents, her three plump pussycats, and her prize puppy dog, Pug. Her passion? Her very own person. Her aspiration? To marry a pinheaded prince with piles of pin money, who will praise and pamper her. From Margaret Atwood--the novelist, poet, short story writer and author of such contemporary bestsellers as The Handmaid's Tale and The Robber Bride--comes a modern fairy tale with a classic message. Illustrated with elegant humor by Maryann Kovalski, Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut revels in the smart-alecky humor of its impertinent heroine and an alliteration of p's that gives the story a tongue-twisting energy with surprises at every turn. Children, and adults who love reading to children, will love reading princess prunella in the same way that they love reading Dr. Suess for the sheer fun of the language. But there's something more, too, as a born storyteller creates, with the mere choice of a word, an indelibly lively portrait of a spoiled little girl who is about to get her much-deserved comeuppance. Selection of Book-of-the-Month Club.53,000 copies in print.

Big Friends


Linda Sarah - 2014
    Together they play outside in big cardboard boxes. Sometimes they're kings, soldiers, astronauts. Sometimes they're pirates sailing wild seas and skies. But always, always they're Big friends. Then one day a new boy arrives, and he wants to join them. Can two become three?

Beegu


Alexis Deacon - 2003
    Now she is lost and wandering. Waiting for a rescue signal from her mother, she fails to make friends with the strange creatures she encounters. Rabbits don't seem to understand her; windblown leaves won't stay still to listen. But at last, on a school playground, Beegu discovers a group of fantastic companions who are happy to let her join their games . . . until a grownup creature spoils the fun.Beegu's spirits are sinking lower than ever just as the mother ship arrives, in this simple, bittersweet picture book that shows us our world through the three eyes of an innocent outsider with the help of stylish art and a wry, understated text.

Little Red Reading Hood


Lucy Rowland - 2018
    When she meets a cunning wolf while on her way to the library, he convinces her to stray from the path and read for a little while. But hasn’t she read this in a story before? Perhaps it’s time she came up with a new ending . . . A contemporary and fun take on the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. Created by incredible new picture book partnership, Lucy Rowland and Ben Mantle, Little Red Reading Hood will inspire children, and adults, about the magic of books and reading."

Walt Disney Aladdin


Walt Disney Company - 1993
    A retelling of the adventures of Aladdin, who, with the aid of a genie from a magic lamp, fights an evil sorcerer and wins the hand of a beautiful princess.

Melisande


E. Nesbit - 1901
    Cursed by an evil fairy at her christening, Princess Melisande grows up bald but finds herself facing another set of problems when her wish for golden hair is fulfilled.

When Dad Showed Me the Universe


Ulf Stark - 1998
    

Ocean Meets Sky


Terry Fan - 2018
    Every time he looks out his window it’s a constant reminder of the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfish soar and birds and castles float.Finn’s grandfather is gone now but Finn knows the perfect way to honor him. He’ll build his own ship and sail out to find this magical place himself!And when he arrives, maybe, just maybe, he’ll find something he didn’t know he was looking for.

Shrek!


William Steig - 1990
    Shrek, a horrid little ogre, goes out into the world to find adventure and along the way encounters a witch, a knight in armor, a dragon, and, finally, a hideous princess, who's even uglier than he is!

King of the Sky


Nicola Davies - 2017
     A young Italian boy has moved to the Welsh hills with his family. He feels isolated and unhappy, a stranger in a strange land. It is only when he makes an unlikely friend, an old man who lets him fly one of his pigeons in a race, that he learns how he can belong. Nicola Davies s beautiful story an immigrant s tale with powerful resonance in our troubled times is illustrated by an artist who makes the world anew with every picture."

Winnie the Witch


Valerie Thomas - 1987
    He was black too. And that is how the trouble began. Everything in Winnie's house is black - the carpet, the chairs, the bed and the sheets, the pictures on the walls, and even the bathtub! And of course her cat, Wilbur, is black too - all except for his bright-green eyes. Whenever poor Wilbur closes his eyes and tries to take a catnap, Winnie stumbles right over him. Or accidentally sits on top of him. Until one day, when Winnie gets a brilliant idea. What if Wilbur were a different color?

The Mousehole Cat


Antonia Barber - 1990
    Based on the wonderfully atmospheric and dramatic Cornish tale of Old Tom, the fisherman, and his cat Mowzer, who braved the wrath of the Great Storm-Cat to save their village.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin


Robert Browning - 1842
    When the selfish townspeople of Hamelin refuse to pay the piper for spiriting away the hordes of rats that had plagued them, he exacts his revenge by luring away their greatest treasure, the children of the town.Excerpt from The Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin. I. Hamelin Town's in Brunswick, By famous Hanover city;The river Weser, deep and wide, Washes its wall on the southern side;A pleasanter spot you never spied;But, when begins my ditty, Almost five hundred years ago, To see the townsfolk suffer soFrom vermin, was a pity.

Ten in a Bed


Allan Ahlberg - 1989
    Occupying her bed, they all refuse to budge until Dinah tells them a bedtime story. Ahlberg is also author of Woof!.

The Serpent Slayer: And Other Stories of Strong Women


Katrin Hyman Tchana - 2000
    It includes Li Chi, the serpent slayer, and the old woman sly enough to outsmart the devil.