Cinderella ¦ Jack and the Beanstalk

Two re-tellings of the traditional stories which, to my mind, lose a great deal in the translation. The text is fairly conventional, although reduced to absolute basics; everything that happens is included, but not why it happens, so the events seem quite arbitrary and lacking in depth.

The illustrations are set in modern dress and are so matter-of-fact that all the magic is missing: Cinderella wears jeans and the Fairy Godmother looks like a bag lady; all sense of the hugeness of the giant is lost. The ugly sisters are suitably horrid, however, and the bright colours make the books attractive to look at.

If you like your fairy stories down-to-earth and stolid, these versions are for you. They're best suited to nearly independent readers to try for themselves.