One-Eye! Two Eyes! Three-Eyes! A Very Grimm Fairy Tale

One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!
A Very Grimm Fairy Tale
told by Aaron Shepard
illustrated by Gary Clement

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Genre: Fairy Tale

Aaron Shepard's retelling if the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three Eyes!, is a fun to read story about a girl named Two-Eyes and her nasty sisters, One-Eye and Three-Eyes. The three sisters live live alone in a cottage in the woods. Two-Eyes has a miserable life living with her sisters, who constantly make fun of her for only having two eyes. Two-Eyes couldn't help but feel despair and loneliness. However, through the help of a mysterious old woman whom Two-Eyes meets in a meadow, a goat, some magical verses and a handsome knight, Two-Eyes learns to accept herself and finds she is not alone as she once believed she was.

One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes! explores the thematic extremes which are frequently present in the fairy tale genre: want and reward, powerlessness and power, and reversal of fortunes. This tale is a great choice for the discussion of fairy tales in the elementary classroom. It makes a nice alternative to the story of Cinderella and a comparison with the Grimm brothers’ version of the same tale would bring up telling differences. The illustrations are comical and quirky which add to the pleasure of reading this tale aloud to students. Shepard does a great job updating this classic fairy tale and makes it relevant for today's students.