Today, 18 picture books later(!), I am thrilled to host Josh for a fantastic GUEST POST (not to be missed!) on how he writes twisted tales along with the COVER REVEAL of the next book in the It’s NOT… a Fairy Tale series: It’s NOT The Three Little Pigs.

If you don’t already know all of these titles, make sure you check them out soon! I love a good twisted tale – I even did a themed recommendation list for the genre earlier this school year! Josh has been a huge supporter of #ClassroomBookADay from the very beginning, and his books have often been recommended.

In the It’s NOT… a Fairy Tale series Josh adds the perspective of characters who question the narrator trying to hold them to the constraints of the classic tales. Paired with Edwardian Taylor’s exuberant, cartoonish illustrations, they are a joy to read and share. I have the best memories of Julys past sitting in the lobby of a hotel with fellow Nerdy friends doing some extremely entertaining readers theater readings of the upcoming book from Josh’s laptop so we could all get a sneak peek. And there was never a lack of laughter or joy. Sharing these books with kids elicits much of the same amusement.

Coming 10.25.22… It’s NOT The Three Little Pigs!

In this fairy tale mashup, a fourth little pig attempts to usurp storytelling duties from the narrator, causing the beloved tale to veer off course into chaos.

Welcome to the blog, Josh!

It’s good to “see” you again. I’m eager to hear your insights into how you take classic tales & twist them for the entertainment of all. And I know one of my 3rd grade teachers, who is doing a unit on twisting classic tales right now, will be especially thrilled to have this to share with our students. Thank you for visiting & letting me reveal the super fun cover of It’s NOT The Three Little Pigs! I particularly love the hot air balloon.

Hey, Jillian! Thanks so much for letting me visit and share some big news – the cover of the 4th (!!) book in the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series that Edwardian Taylor and I have been working on.

I thought I’d also share a little about how (and why) I write fractured fairy tales. (by “I thought” I mean that Jillian suggested this might be useful to educators and students who teach and write fractured fairy tales … and I agreed because Jillian knows her stuff)

Start by asking “What if …?”

One of my favorite prompts that fits almost any situation is asking the “What if?” question – and then writing a story about what follows.

• What if … the letter R disappeared from existence?
• What if … my pen pal was a dragon?
• What if … there was only one drop of syrup left in the bottle?

This also works incredibly well for fracturing fairy tales.

• What if … Little Red Riding Hood was a pencil?
• What if … The Three Little Pigs were ninjas?
• What if … Cinderella lived in space?

Now hold that thought.

Bad Choice Make Good Stories

I learned this five word lesson from author Erin Dionne (who even wrote a craft book with this title).

When characters make bad choices and that leads to conflict and tension (and usually more bad choices). Without conflict and tension, a story is not really a story – it’s just a bunch of stuff that happens. And often kind of boring.

But I’d always noticed that characters in fairy tales often make really bad choices. Choices so bad that they’re almost unbelievable and unrealistic – in a ‘doesn’t make sense a character would ever do that’ kind of way. For example:

If a giant beanstalk grew in your backyard overnight, what would be the first thing you’d do?

1. Climb the beanstalk all the way to the clouds, break into a giant’s home, and steal gold from the giant or
2. Call a gardener.

I’d probably go with b.

If you lived in the woods your entire life, don’t you think you’d know that if you dropped breadcrumbs on the ground, animals would probably eat them? I mean, really?!

And maybe worst of all, if you walked into your grandmother’s house and in your grandmother’s bed was a furry, four-legged, talking wolf, wouldn’t you know it wasn’t your grandmother? Obviously you would.

Put it all together

So if we need bad choices to make a good story, but not these bad choices, what can we do? Ask “What if …?”

What if … the characters in the fairy tale were smart and didn’t want to make the traditional bad choices?

What if … the bad choices in OUR story are made by the narrator instead of the smart fairy tale characters?

For example:

What if … the bad choice is the narrator encouraging Jack to steal from a giant, but Jack doesn’t want to?

What if … the bad choice is the narrator trying to get Hansel and Gretel to drop breadcrumbs in the woods, but they won’t because “who drops breadcrumbs on the ground during a famine?”?

What if … the bad choice is the narrator trying to convince Little Red that a wolf is actually her grandmother?

In short, I’ve essentially flipped the format of the story and made the unseen narrator the main character and the one who makes mistakes and (possibly) learns a lesson.

I also added lots of other twists like making the giant a vegan named Fred, introducing a unicorn friend to Gretel and Hansel, having Captain Hook fill in for an ill wolf in Little Red’s story, and more.

And now for the big news!

So what’s the deal with It’s Not the Three Little Pigs? What bad choices will the narrator make in this fractured fairy tale? (and what other silly twists are added?)

Here’s what the publisher says:

Meet the three (ahem—four!) little pigs as they convince the narrator to tell a slightly different version of their fairy tale:

First there’s Alan, the one pig in the bunch who is actually a builder. He’s got a BIG problem with building a home out of flimsy straw. Next there’s Alfred, who wants to be an actor and wouldn’t dream of getting his hands dirty. Then we have Alvin, whose dream is to be . . . a pumpkin. Last but not least is Alison, the fourth pig who is ready to bring some flair to this story, if only she can get the narrator to agree to a few changes. . . . And what about that wolf?

Grab your jet-packs and get ready for this rollicking retelling of the popular tale.

Thanks so much for letting me stop by, Jillian!

It’s Not the Three Little Pigs, written by Josh Funk, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor, and published by Two Lions, is available for pre-order NOW and will be available on October 25th, 2022.

Josh Funk writes silly stories such as the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series (including The Case of the Stinky Stench, Mission Defrostable, Short & Sweet, and the forthcoming The Great Caper Caper), the How to Code with Pearl and Pascal series (including How to Code a Sandcastle and How to Code a Rollercoaster), the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series (including ​It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, It’s Not Hansel and Gretel, It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood, and the forthcoming It’s Not the Three Little Pigs in the fall of 2022), the A Story of Patience & Fortitude series in conjunction with the New York Public Library (including Lost in the Library and Where Is Our Library?), Dear Dragon, Albie Newton, Pirasaurs!, A Night at the Bookstore: A Barnsie & Noble Adventure, and coming soon: My Pet Feet in the summer of 2022 and Dear Unicorn in the fall of 2023!

Since the fall of 2015, Josh has visited (or virtually visited) over 500 schools, classrooms, and libraries and he is a board member of The Writers’ Loft in Hudson, MA.

Josh grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes manuscripts.

Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. Josh enjoys _______ during ________ and has always loved __________. He has played ____________ since age __ and his biggest fear in life is being eaten by a __________.

For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at www.joshfunkbooks.com and on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @joshfunkbooks.

Madeline Finn does NOT like to read. But she DOES want a gold star from her teacher. But, stars are for good readers. Stars are for understanding words, and for saying them out loud.
Fortunately, Madeline Finn meets Bonnie, a library dog. Reading out loud to Bonnie isn’t so bad; when Madeline Finn gets stuck, Bonnie doesn’t mind. As it turns out, it’s fun to read when you’re not afraid of making mistakes. Bonnie teaches Madeline Finn that it’s okay to go slow. And to keep trying.
With endearing illustrations, Lisa Papp brings an inspiring and comforting book to all new readers who just need a little confidence to overcome their fears.

Well, there is going to be another Madeline Finn dog book!
And Peachtree Press is allowing me to reveal the cover to you all!! 

The second book, Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog (coming March 2019) takes Madeline Finn, Bonnie, and Bonnie’s puppy Star to the animal shelter, where they learn that reading aloud to the animals benefits everyone.

Those faces! LOVE!!

And here’s my 11 year old rescue dog, Dooley, who is often sitting next to me when I’m reading…and enjoys sniffing books and being read to.

Original Cover

The thrill ride that began in Cold Fury kicks into high gear in Flicker & Burn, as the threats to Sara Jane Rispoli come at her from all directions. She continues the desperate search for her missing family, but this time she’s on the run from creepy beings with red, pulsing eyes and ghostly white skin chasing her through the streets of Chicago in black ice cream trucks – they can only be described as Ice Cream Creatures. They're skeletal and ferocious, hell-bent on catching or killing her, but also a weird link to her family, a clue to where they might be and who has them.

While Sara Jane battles these new pursuers, she learns painful lessons about the phenomenon that possesses her, cold fury. At the same time, she’s uncovering buried secrets about the misdeeds of her family – old murders and blood vendettas – that might be connected to the disappearance of her mom, dad, and brother. The mysteries, violence, and constant state of chasing or being chased could be the undoing of her relationship with handsome Max Kissberg. Despite the love growing between them, Sara Jane can’t tell him the truth about her life, and fears for his safety.

Not only do the Ice Cream Creatures display the grisly amputated finger of her mom to prove their viciousness, and not only does Lucky, the Outfit Boss of Bosses, whistle in Sara Jane for a sit-down with deadly consequences, but her gorgeous cousin, Heather Richards, enters the scene, as well. All that matters to Sara Jane is saving her family and keeping everyone she loves alive and safe. But the forces she encounters, both external and the ones crackling inside of her, fight her every step of the way.

For a Mara lover like myself, today held an exciting surprise…the cover reveal of the sequel, THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER. Love these gorgeous covers! Now, this is exciting for many reasons, but most of which is that it means we’re getting closer to actually being able to read the book! Well, as close as October 23rd (six months from now!) can seem anyway.

But in addition, we’re getting some info! I was lucky enough to meet Michelle a couple of times when she was in Chicago for events, and she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and also very good at keeping secrets. Every time I would ask (in as many subtly different ways as I could) about what comes next, her response was, “All I can say is that there will be a Mara 2.” And that’s it! So for me, any information is good information to keep the anticipation and excitement going to Mara Dyer.

And here’s a clue what we’ll get with The Evolution of Mara Dyer:

Two days after Mara
walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of
Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her
parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a
hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone
from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that
someone wants her to pay. But she’s about to discover that the price is
more than she can bear.

Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and
passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly
turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

 I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER!

Today, Kiersten White, on her awesomely entertaining blog (which you should be reading!) revealed the continuing beauty of the covers for her trilogy with the cover of the second book, SUPERNATURALLY.  Isn’t it pretty?  It’s also one of My Most Anticipated Books of 2011.

I can’t wait to read it…too bad we’ll have to wait until September to find out what happens to Evie and Lend!

Imagine how excited I was then to hear that Ally Carter was writing a sequel. UNCOMMON CRIMINALS (Heist Society #2) will be released on June 21st and I know I’ll be celebrating this book’s birthday by buying and reading it!  So, with the 15 inches of snow piling up outside, I was pleasantly surprised last night to see Ally’s twitter link to her blog post showing this:

The cover reveal for the new book. I love how it fits in with the first one, but freshens it up also. I like the subtle clues to what the book might be about (jewel heist?). It’s obvious they’re part of the same series, and intriguing enough to make you want to read the book. Although, because heist books can appeal to boys also, I do wish the cover wasn’t so “girly” looking, but as I told my students when book-talking Heist Society, you can always figure out ways around that.

Summary of UNCOMMON CRIMINALS (from Goodreads):
Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.