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These are not your mother's fairy tales...

Did you ever wonder how the dwarves felt after Snow White ditched them for the prince? Do you sometimes wish Cinderella hadn't been so helpless and petite? Are you ready to hear the Giant's point of view on Jack and his beanstalk? Then this is the book for you.

Thirteen award-winning fantasy and science fiction writers offer up their versions of these classic fairy tales as well as other favorites, including The Ugly Duckling, Ali Baba, Hansel and Gretel, and more. Some of the stories are funny, some are strange, and others are dark and disturbing -- but each offers something as unexpected as a wolf at the door.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2000) - essay by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• The Months of Manhattan - (2000) - short story by Delia Sherman
• Cinder Elephant - (2000) - short story by Jane Yolen
• Instructions - (2000) - poem by Neil Gaiman
• Mrs. Big: "Jack and the Beanstalk" Retold - (2000) - short story by Michael Cadnum
• Falada: The Goose Girl's Horse - (2000) - short story by Nancy Farmer
• A Wolf at the Door - (2000) - short story by Tanith Lee
• Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens - (1999) - short story by Janeen Webb
• Swans - (2000) - short story by Kelly Link
• The Kingdom of Melting Glances - (2000) - short story by Katherine Vaz
• Hansel's Eyes - (2000) - short story by Garth Nix
• Becoming Charise - (2000) - short story by Kathe Koja
• The Seven Stage a Comeback - (2000) - poem by Gregory Maguire
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses - (2000) - short story by Patricia A. McKillip

Just as fairy-tale magic can transform a loved one into a swan, the contributors to this book have transformed traditional fairy tales and legends into stories that are completely original, yet still tantalizingly familiar.

In this book you will find:

• a Rapunzel whose most confining prison is her loneliness
• a contemporary rendering of the Green Man myth
• two different versions of Red Riding Hood
• a tale that grew out of a Celtic folk song
• Sleeping Beauty's experience of her enchantment
• two works inspired by the Arabian Nights
• and more

In the follow-up to A Wolf at the Door, thirteen renowned authors come together with a selection of new and surprising adaptations of the fairy tales we think we know so well. These fresh takes on classic tales will show you sides of each.

Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales - evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's new anthology for younger readers, you'll hear from the Giant's wife ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), Rumplestiltskin, the oldest of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many more. A stellar lineup of authors, including Garth Nix, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman and Nancy Farmer, makes sure that these old stories do new tricks!

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2009) - essay by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• Wizard's Apprentice - (2009) - shortstory by Delia Sherman
• An Unwelcome Guest - (2009) - shortfiction by Garth Nix
• Faery Tales - (2009) - poem by Wendy Froud
• Rags and Riches - (2009) - shortfiction by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Up the Down Beanstalk: A Wife Remembers - (2009) - shortfiction by Peter S. Beagle
• The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces - (2009) - shortfiction by Ellen Kushner
• Puss in Boots, the Sequel - (2009) - poem by Joseph Stanton
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf - (2009) - shortstory by Holly Black
• Troll - (2009) - shortfiction by Jane Yolen
• Castle Othello - (2009) - shortfiction by Nancy Farmer
• 'Skin - (2009) - shortfiction by Michael Cadnum
• A Delicate Architecture - (2009) - shortstory by Catherynne M. Valente
• Molly - (2009) - shortfiction by Midori Snyder
• Observing the Formalities - (2009) - poem by Neil Gaiman
• The Cinderella Game - (2009) - shortstory by Kelly Link
• Further Reading