Grump The (Fairly True Tale of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves)
By: Liesl Shurtliff
Grade: A
I could not resist the Snow White tale as told from the POV of my favorite dwarf. Grumpy. Real name: Borlan. A dwarf who doesn’t actually like being unground all that much and has a deep fascination with the surface.
One day he gets his chance to break free and runs right into a certain Queen. The rest is finally, the true story.
There was a point in this middle-grade (or younger) book in which I thought he compared to Jaime Lannister cause he keeps getting involved in all these oaths! There’s magic. Trolls. Poisonous fruit. A pet bat.
We naturally meet the other dwarves and his friendship with Gilpin was quiet sweet. Funny to see Sneezy take shape as well. There’s some nice stuff about fitting in and being part of a team but also appreciating people for their uniqueness. Also wordplay. Perhaps the Queen and Borlan should have been more open about what constituted “the fairest” in this case.
I definitely liked that Snow White was presented as kind of a brat. Actually he literally calls her that. In so many retellings she’s this perfect Princess whom everyone just naturally loves (save the Queen.) Here she has to earn it. She is a child whose been sheltered until a pretty traumatic event.
While Borlan is pretty much the main part of the story it felt naturally like watching two people grow up and a real friendship form. I also love how the author handled the whole true loves kiss thing.
Maybe the Prince really didn’t want to kiss her? 🙂
Anyway if I’m nitpicking this it is for younger audiences and was a bit like watching a made for streaming movie play out. But it was still a good read and a lot of fun. The author has other books in the series including, Jack (and the Beanstalk,) Rump (Rumplestiltskin,) and Red (Red Riding Hood of course.) I might actually give them a go.
Recommend: Yes definitely a good one for young kids. But adults who love retellings might like this one as well. I did!