Sleeping Bronty, updates the fairy tale with dinosaurs and chili

The story seems familiar, but Sleeping Bronty is the second in a series of the Once Before Time board books. Epic! Originals is an imprint of Andrews McMeel Publishing and are producing this very cute, left of center board books for young children. Board books are awesome for young readers because those pages can take a beating, either from hands that are practicing coordination or teeth that need something to chew on. Sleeping Bronty has the hardwired story of a sleeping princess, but throws lots of curve balls (and chili!) so that new audiences will enjoy its age-appropriate, slightly irreverent take.

Bronty is a dinosaur who was to grow up to be queen. Various fairies come and wish good things for her, but one mean fairy, Rhonda wishes something evil. As Bronty gets older she meets new people, including a young prince, who is also a very good chef. Soon she’s having her big party where she’s to become the queen, but someone has given her a mysterious rose bush.

The good fairies rush in, but it’s too late as her tail brushes the bush and puts her in a deep slumber. Rhonda claims the throne and the kingdom is in a state of chaos. It’s a good thing that the fairies go to the kingdom next door where the prince lives. Back at the Rhonda’s kingdom he sneaks into the kitchen where he makes a very spicy bowl of five-bean chili.

Will the smell of his chili be enough to wake his friend? This take on the classic fairy tale takes away any romance and replaces it with something that any kid will understand, the smell of great food and how much your friends might appreciate it.

The text in Sleeping Bronty is simple and jammed with sight words. All of the words in the book are two syllables and kids will love the fact that the story is just a little bit different. Adults will love the fact that it’s a board book with high quality thick pages. The book is also short enough to be read more than once, but it also has enough detail in the artwork for parents to read it one time.

If you’ve got a 2 year-old and you’re building their board book collection Sleeping Bronty could be a great place to start. It’s not traditional, but still covers the staple fairy tale elements that kids expect and need at that young age. Sleeping Bronty is from Christy Webster with illustrations by Gladys Jose.

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