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PICTURE BOOKS
Rockliff, Mara

All at Once Upon a Time

48 pp. | Abrams | September, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9781419768170 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9798887070315 $17.09
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gladys Jose. This clever mash-up of traditional folk and fairy tales comes together to make a whole new twisted plot to revel in: "Once upon a time (now, tell me if you've heard this one before), locked up in a tower, lived a princess with the longest..." The key to appreciating this comedy is in that parenthetical phrase. It's not Rapunzel locked in the tower but rather a dishonest princess with an extremely long nose that grows longer when she fibs. The prince must climb a beanstalk to save her, but somehow that leads to a table in a castle in the clouds with three different-sized bowls of what appears to be porridge of varying temperatures. A giant is not far behind. There are wells, frogs, gingerbread houses, wolves, baskets, and many other favorite tropes, which come together wildly and with funny and unexpected details. One bowl contains not porridge but rather tapioca pudding; the princess in the ball gown loses not her shoe but her temper. Bright cartoon art makes exaggerated use of perspective and expressively rendered characters to heighten the dramatic plot twists and the humor. For readers with enough background knowledge to catch the jokes, this fast-paced adventure offers an opportunity to keep the story going even after the book has closed.
Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

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