Ever After High: Once Upon a Time: A Story Collection

I admit that I’m mainly aware of the Ever After High series due to seeing the book and the dolls featured at my job around late 2013. I remember putting up one of the Ever After High dolls during the beginning weeks around the my job’s grand opening to the public. I was thinking that the summary of one of the dolls I saw does sound like a good cartoon to watch. Imagine my surprise when I did discover that there is both a cartoon and book series around the Ever After High Dolls. This book Ever After High once Upon A Time; A Story Collection by Shannon Hale is a fascinating and original read for both aspiring writers/scriptwriters and people who simply enjoy uplifting fantasy stories (including for children obviously). This book creatively tells various tales of offspring who are living a happy and enriching life but there is also understandable emotional conflict around wanting to avoid following in the family legacy if it is shadowy. For instance, the story of Apple White and The Ebony-Haired Legacy shows a girl who very much enjoys life while preparing to follow a destiny similar to her mother Snow White. Quirky pop culture references are shrewdly sprinkled and Snow White is mentioned as being a big music lover and an implied fan of One Reflection and their song You Don’t Know You’re Charming (I’m guessing a respectful tribute to One Direction’s You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful). Apple White enjoys listening to music on her Mirror Phone. Then there is the story of the Raven Queen and the Mirror Prison featuring Raven Queen, a direct descendant of the Evil Queen in the story of Snow White (due to Raven Queen being the Evil Queen’s daughter). Raven Queen loves her mother, but is understandably conflicted about following the dark destiny that her mother expects her to. Raven Queen is mentioned as being an implied fan of Tailor Quick because she is listening to a Tailor Quick album on her MirrorPod (I’m guessing polite homage to the Apple iphone and/or Apple ipod). Fortunately, the enjoyable cartoon series of Ever After High is currently available for free on Netflix and Youtube (although I’m currently unsure of how long it will be free). Watching the cartoon series gives an important creative glimpse into the characters and plot development of ever after high. For me, one of the reasons why I’m glad to have unexpectedly come across the series (as an aspiring writer/scriptwriter) is due to the brilliant and unique story development in an enchanting mystical world.

A great read! I just finished reading this book to my 6 yr old the other day and it was pure delight for both of us. She'll no doubt read the books again when she's old enough (maybe 11 or 12), and she can finally catch the fun nuances she misses now. This book is definitely for people who are already familiar with the Ever After world. It provides satisfying insights into a number of characters, and for some characters adding whole new dimensions to them. As if Shannon Hale had to do anything more to make me her fan, this supplementary book is just delicious! Being an anthology, it's more lighthearted than her "Story Book of Legends" 3-book set, and easier to digest for my 6 yr old (though my daughter loves the trilogy too). There are so many intriguing characters in the Ever After world, it was great fun to get to know more of them better. I knew I'd enjoy this book, and I still enjoyed it more than expected. The stories really serve to deepen ones sense of the characters, especially providing richness to the minor characters that we rarely hear about enough. As a bonus, it included the first 2 chapters of Ever After High: Next Top Villian by Suzanne Selfors. Selfors' writing style is different than Hale's of course, but I think it seems consistent enough that if you get hooked on the books by one author, you'll enjoy the books from the other, too. I must admit that for me, the books have ruined the TV show because it just pales in comparison to Hale's books. For my 6 yr old, the books heightened her love of the TV show. Regardless, we both are enjoying this Ever After world that Matel created, and I'm grateful they hired such top talent to bring it all together. See my review of the Story Book of Legends 3 book set for more detail on why I love, love, love Ever After High!

I loved it, but why are there 2 books in the pictures???

Very nice book for childern and adults the book is amazing

I am a new adult fan of Ever After High. I don't have any dolls yet, but I've seen some of the webisodes. I got this book, because it was recommended to me to read, even though I saw the webisodes about the different characters, this book tells stories of some of the characters of their home life before they go to Ever After High. I think the book was well written and the pages are decorated so beautifully. I think it is for about middle school aged kids but I didn't care. I loved the book.