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Overview
In this inventive take on the traditional Cinderella tale, Fanny Agnes is a sturdy farm girl with a big dream. Someday, she believes, she will marry a prince. When the town mayor announces he is throwing a grand ball, Fanny is convinced her time has come. She puts on her best calico dress and goes out to the garden so that she'll be ready when her fairy godmother arrives. As the seconds tick by, Fanny waits and waits. Finally, she hears a voice. It isn't her fairy godmother-but it is someone who will change her life forever.
Fanny Agnes is a sturdy farm girl who dreams of marrying a prince, but when her fairy godmother doesn't show up, she decides on a local farmer instead.
Synopsis
In this inventive take on the traditional Cinderella tale, Fanny Agnes is a sturdy farm girl with a big dream. Someday, she believes, she will marry a prince. When the town mayor announces he is throwing a grand ball, Fanny is convinced her time has come. She puts on her best calico dress and goes out to the garden so that she'll be ready when her fairy godmother arrives. As the seconds tick by, Fanny waits and waits. Finally, she hears a voice. It isn't her fairy godmother-but it is someone who will change her life forever.
Illustrated by Mark Buehner.
Publishers Weekly
PW called this tale about a strapping Wyoming farm gal whose fairy godmother arrives too late an "amusing tweaking of the Cinderella story. Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
PW called this tale about a strapping Wyoming farm gal whose fairy godmother arrives too late an "amusing tweaking of the Cinderella story. Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature -
Hard working Fanny Agnes dreams of marrying a prince someday. When she hears that the mayor is hosting a ball, she knows that this is her big chance. Surely her fairy godmother will come and transform her. But no, that night it is Heber Jensen who appears on the scene and offers her a chance to be his lifelong partner. Fanny marries Heber, works the farm, and raises their children. It is a witty twist on a familiar story and is beautifully illustrated. Fannie did not give up her dream; she did indeed marry a prince of a fellow.Children's Literature -
Kids will get a big kick out of the names and the faces of these animals, and the opportunity to learn about the lives of a wide range of endangered species. The full-page colored photographs allow readers to view the animals up close in their natural habitat. The text explains why a particular animal is facing extinction and what we can do to help preserve its life. Adults should be prepared for some tongue twisting animals names; included in this collection are the jabiru, okapi, komodo dragon, babirusa, pudu, and the red uakari.School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-A warmhearted story with striking illustrations to match. Fanny Agnes is a "sturdy girl" who foresees a prince-or at least the mayor's son-as the man of her dreams. She's even depending on her fairy godmother to provide one for her. But she marries Heber Jensen, a farmer, and they share a life filled with ups and downs, babies, laughter, and love. Finally, when the fairy godmother arrives (several years late), Fanny Agnes has discovered that she doesn't need her anymore-she's found her prince. The characters' expressive, round, cartoonlike faces give form to their personalities. Buehner's farm scenes, so dramatically angled and brilliantly hued in Jerdine Nolen's Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm (Lothrop, 1994), are softer here, with a more muted palette. Especially effective are overhead sky views, such as the scene of the fairy godmother flying over the watermelon patch toward a content Fanny. Fanny's strength is not the epic kind found in a tall-tale heroine like Anne Isaacs's Swamp Angel (Dutton, 1994); hers is strength of character to recognize the dreams that make life worthwhile.-Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NYStephanie Zvirin
A truly wonderful mix of storytelling and art from a husband-wife team with a fine sense of humor. Having a familiar fairy tale at its heart, this homespun yarn tells the whimsical story of a small-town girl who has big dreams. Fanny Agnes is convinced that if Cinderella could go to the ball and meet a handsome prince "once upon a time, it could happen again. After all, what were fairy godmothers for?" But when farmer Heber Jensen shows up instead of a fairy godmother, Fanny takes it in stride. After an hour of serious thought ("even with all that moonlight" ), she gives up her dreams and accepts his marriage proposal. It's a total surprise when, years later, the fairy godmother, all glittery in pink and blue and yellow, finally shows up to take Fanny away. The story may be too subtle for the usual picture-book audience, which must be able to appreciate the wit as well as the parody. But Fanny Agnes is a delight: a feminist with a wry sense of humor, she balances her dreams with common sense and a loving heart. What's more, there's plenty for youngsters to enjoy in the robust, bucolic pictures, which seem almost to jump off the page. Rich, glowing colors and a plethora of detail--from pictures on walls to animal shapes in the clouds and a spunky black cat to search out on each spread--give the story enough charm and energy to make it a favorite.Kirkus Reviews
An ungainly farm girl named Fanny Agnes has a bit of the Cinderella in her and on the night of the mayor's ball goes out to the garden to wait for her fairy godmother. Instead, Heber Jensen comes a-courtin' and although Fanny dithers and declares she won't do windows, she shucks her princely dreams to throw in her lot with humble Heber. It's a hard life, but she gets treated like a princess in ways she never imagined.This clever tale from the Buehners (It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel, 1995, etc.) has smart twists and takes and is shot through with such tenderness that the telling nearly shimmers off the page. The text yields corny humor and rural circumstance; the artwork is just plain wonderful. With the same oblique, absurdist edge he brought to Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm (1994), Mark Buehner creates an oddly palpable world for Fanny, Heber, and their kids: Readers get to know their home and the land surrounding it, feel the passage of time, share in their modest pleasures and dramas, and come to love these folk. A delightful wedding of winsome story and ingenious illustrations; there is no more to be asked of a book.