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The Singing Bones
The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales | Shaun Tan
In this beautifully presented volume, the essence of seventy-five fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is wonderfully evoked by Shaun Tan's extraordinary sculptures.Nameless princes, wicked stepsisters, greedy kings, honourable peasants and ruthless witches, tales of love, betrayal, adventure and magical transformation: all inspiration for this stunning gallery of sculptural works. Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman and leading fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes, The Singing Bones breathes new life into some of the world's most beloved fairy tales.'These little figures of clay, with their simplified features, their single attributes, are perfect realisations of the strangeness of the characters they represent.' - Philip Pullman
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BookmarkTavern
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Pickpick

Shaun Tan is a sculptor living in Australia. This is a collection of photographs of his sculptures, each representing a fairy tale from the Grimm Brothers‘ collection.

Each sculpture is paired with a short bit from the fairy tale, and the sculptures are as grotesque (not in a bad way!) and as enchanting as the fairy tales they represent! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

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DebinHawaii
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#MagicalMay #Brothers

For today‘s prompt I thought of the Grimm Brothers and their fairy tales and their story of The Twelve Brothers which made me think of the sculpture in this very cool book that someday, I need to own.😍

Eggs Great choice and art! 4y
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Linsy
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Pickpick

Had to read this one again for the bone prompt! Shaun Tan‘s sculptures are so perfectly horrific alongside snippets from Grimms‘ Fairy Tales. I can‘t get enough! ☠️

#scaryscavengerhunt #withboneinthetitle
#nontheme #teamslaughter #scarathlon
#chillingphotochallenge #bones

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Linsy
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“She put her key into the lock, and the door sprang open.
But what did she see when she entered?” 🗝

#chillingphotochallenge #horror
#teamslaughter #scarathlon

kyraleseberg Love Shaun Tan!! 4y
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Thndrstd
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Pickpick

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm inspire a series of sculptures by the talented artist-author. It's an art book and his take on familiar tales are beautiful.

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booklover3258
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Pickpick

This book was awesome! Sculptures made from fairy tales with excerpts in it from Grimm's. Of course this is my favorite sculpture!

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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #witch

"Oh, Mother Trudy, I was so petrified. I looked through the window and didn't see you, but I saw the devil with a fiery head."
"Oho!" said Mother Trudy. "Then you've seen the witch in her proper dress. I've been wanting you here and waiting for a long time. Now you shall provide me with light!"

Tan's take on 2 Grimms' witches-on the left, very familiar from Hansel and Gretel & on the right & less familiar to me, Mother Trudy.

Linsy I don‘t know Mother Trudy. I have some reading to do! 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #dream

"I will tell you a dream I have had," she answered. "I was walking alone in a wood and I came to a solitary house where not a soul was to be seen. A cage was hanging on the wall of one of the rooms, and in it was a bird which cried"

'Turn back, turn back, though bonnie bride,
Nor in this house of death abide.'

It reappeared the same words twice. This was only a dream, my love!"

Tan's take on Grimms' The Robber Bridegroom.

Linsy Great quote! 🖤💀🖤 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #maiden

"At midnight, as the king, the gardener, and the priest watched, the maiden came out of the bushes, walked over to the tree, and ate one of the pears with her mouth, while an angel in white stood next to her. ..."

The Maiden Without Hands isn't a Grimms' fairy tale that I'm familiar with but Shaun Tan's depiction called out to me. (Yes, I may indeed show every picture in my library book for this fairy tale photo challenge!)?

Linsy I don‘t think we mind! It‘s such a great book! ♥️ 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #prince ?

"I'm going to tell you what to do," said the fox to the prince. "If you go straight ahead, you'll eventually come to a castle. ..."

In the Grimms' Fairy Tale The Golden Bird, the youngest prince is kind to the fox unlike his older brothers and so the fox shares the secrets to obtaining the golden bird. Lesson? Always be kind to animals. ?❤️

Shaun Tan's depiction with the Fritz Kredel illustration of the same scene.

Oryx Love Shaun Tan, but hadn't seen this one before. Looks really good. 6y
GatheringBooks shaun tan is absolutely awesome. i have done a review of this book here (https://gatheringbooks.org/2016/01/11/saturday-reads-6/ ) and juxtaposed it with maurice sendak‘s illustrated version of (edited) 6y
Linsy ♥️♥️♥️ 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #brother

"Oh, we know you found the Water of Life," said the two wicked older brothers, "but we're the ones who've received the reward for all your trouble. You should have been smarter and kept your eyes open. We took the water from you when you fell asleep..."

There's 3 brothers in The Water of Life, 2 are bad & 1 is good. I like the contrast of Fritz Kredel's illustration in my Grimms' Fairy Tales with Shaun Tan's interpretation.

Linsy Me too! Great choice. 👍 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks #father

"Once upon a time there was a king who had twelve daughters, each one more beautiful than the next. They slept together in a large room where their beds stood side by side, and in the evening, when they went to sleep, the king shut and locked the door. However, when he opened it in the morning, he would see that their shoes were worn from dancing, and nobody could discover how this kept happening."

A cool library book.

DebinHawaii We don't get to see all of the twelve dancing princesses in Shaun Tan's depiction of The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes" but still cool. Uh-oh, I can tell I'm going to want to buy this one... ??‍♀️? 6y
Linsy Love his work! 💃 6y
HotTeaGoodBooks I used to read that story to my daughter all the time when she was little. 6y
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DebinHawaii
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#CoolBooks

I picked the Grimm's fairy tale, The Twelve Brothers for the #coffin prompt as there are 12 in it, for each of 12 brothers the King will have killed if their 13th child is a girl. I missed yesterday's prompt & there is also an enchantment or #curse in it as the 12 are changed into ravens. Looking for an image showing the coffins, I fell down the rabbit hole of the tagged book-such cool sculptures representing 75 Grimm's fairy tales.

JazzFeathers 😍😍😍😍 6y
JazzFeathers @DebinHawaii Thanks for the link. I'm fascinated with fairy tale analysis 6y
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DebinHawaii @JazzFeathers Me too! I need to check out the other ones on this site. 🤓 6y
Linsy This is such a great book! I fell in love with this Shaun Tan when I checked it out of the library and was so sad when I had to return it! 6y
DebinHawaii @Linsy I just put it on hold at my library! 💜 6y
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GatheringBooks
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Pickpick

#ManicMonday
🖼 Cover art is tagged book- an awesome read.
🖼 Juan Luna, quite the famous Filipino artist who was featured for exhibition here in SG.
🖼 My fave painting is this one by Juan Luna, La Mestiza.
🖼 National Gallery here in Singapore - the space is exquisite and it has the world‘s largest collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian art (over 8000 works). I am privileged to serve as a member of their Museum Education Advisory Panel.

RohitSawant Great answers! I missed out on seeing the National Gallery when I visited family in SG two years ago. 🙁 I did drop by the Singapore Art Museum, however, which was a great experience! I'd timed my trip so I could catch the screening of a play (David Hare's Skylight) at the Esplanade! 6y
JoScho Great answers! Thanks for playing ❤️ 6y
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emtobiasz
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Pickpick

A beautiful collection of sculpture based on the Grimm fairy tales. Now I want to go back and reread some of these, especially the more obscure ones.

BookBabe Neat. Love the mug! 😸 6y
StaceyKondla I ❤️ Shaun Tan so much!!! 6y
Texreader Oh that mug!!! 6y
emtobiasz @BookBabe @Texreader thanks! I'm actually cat-sitting for a friend-- using her mugs and drinking her tea while I sit and read with the cat 😸 6y
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Rekki
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This adorable painted rock was found at my library. After snapping this photo I made sure to re-hide it somewhere for others to find. It brightened our day!

#library #fall #October #Halloween #skull #librarian #pumpkin #paintedrocks #rock #prmd #spooky #festive #paintedrock #Maryland #bcpl

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JillR
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MidnightBookGirl
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Thanks to @JulesG, I realized that my one year #Litsyversary is here too! The book tagged was my first post ever. I don't know the exact date, but I know it was in September and that I was recommending it for Dewey's 24 hour #Readathon.

MidnightBookGirl I nailed it! I searched my inbox and 9/26/16 was the day I joined! 7y
Cinfhen Happy Litsyversary 🎉🎉🎉 7y
Jas16 Happy Litsyversary!!🍾🙌🏽❤️ 7y
Birdsong28 Happt Litsyversary 🎉🎊📖📚 7y
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UrsulaMonarch
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Mehso-so

Really neat book - the pairing of sculptures and modified fairy tales is interesting. But I prefer Tan's illustrations.

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Redheadrambles
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ever since picking up The Little Red Tree I have loved the illustrative style of Shaun Tan. So when this book appeared with Tan's distinctive take on illustrating the Grimm fairy tales there was no way I was leaving it in the bookshop.
Tan explains his work was "inspired by Inuit stone carving and pre-Columbian clay figurines. These exhibit a wonderful blend of whimsy and seriousness ... "
And I agree it's a beautiful collection.

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Redheadrambles
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This book is so great. I think even better than the Grimm fairy tales it's illustrating.

MeikeReads @Redheadrambles THANKS!!! This looks so cool!!! 6y
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I-read-and-eat
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Finaly got Shaun Tan's amazing book, The Singing Bones, and I am so excited! His artwork is amazing. I think I first saw this book in a post by @elkeo and have wanted it eversince. Going to flip through while reading the fairy tales the statues are based upon. ❤♥

elkeOriginal What a cool idea to read them in tandem! 7y
Moray_Reads And the covers go together beautifully 7y
diovival Agree. This is a great idea! 7y
I-read-and-eat @elkeo @Moray_Reads @diovival They really do seem to be made for eachother 7y
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Read66
Pickpick

Shaun Tan's glorious sculptures for 75 Grimm's fairy tales makes this a beautiful piece of art.

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JoeRugola
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Pickpick

Not quite as emotionally powerful as THE ARRIVAL or THE RED TREE, but a beautiful read nonetheless. Tan's sculptures and photos tend to play up the primal nature of the Grimm stories.

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ericarobynreads
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Pickpick

If you are a fan of sculpture work and Grimm fairy tales, then you have to check out this book!

Check out my full review here: http://ericarobynreads.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-review-singing-bones-by-shaun-t...

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Minskolar
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"People need stories. It's one of the things that make us who we are. We crave stories, because they make us more than ourselves, they give us an escape and they give us knowledge. They entertain us and they change us, as they have changed and entertained us for thousands of years."

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capriciousreader
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Pickpick

❤❤❤❤❤

Unique. Gorgeous. A must for fairy tale and folk tale fans.

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mcipher
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I love Shaun Tan. I can't wait to dig into this one!

Lmstraubie That looks a bit creepy 💀 7y
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intothehallofbooks
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Pickpick

A photo collection of sculptures based on Grimms' fairytales. What an artist! There is no way a flat picture can do this book justice. There is something about this art that just sings and this work feels like it is breathing.

Each sculpture is paired with a short paragraph about its corresponding Grimms' tale. For a slightly more in depth summary of each tale, there is an index in the back.

This would make a great coffee table book or gift 💯✔

DrexEdit Very cool! 😎 7y
mcipher Love Shaun Tan!! ❤️ 7y
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Nat_Reads
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Pickpick

Such whimsy! Grimm gets a makeover with these delicate and weird sculptures.

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DragonSadhana
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Pickpick

My dog is done with me ignoring her while I read this book and was grunting at me during this pic. This is neither a novel nor a graphic novel, but a lovely and haunting collection of Shaun Tan's clay creations alongside a snippet of the fairytale that inspired each piece.

#artbooks #fairytales #dogsoflitsy

MMenefee 🐶❤️!! 7y
kylienoele 😍🐶😍🐶 7y
RealLifeReading Oh my, what a cute photo! 7y
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RobinGustafson
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Looking forward to the beauty of Shaun Tan's imagination and to his take on the Brothers Grimm

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EmilyChristine
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Pickpick

Worth the quick read. 75 short blurbs about a Grimm tale with an image of Shaun Tan's artwork on the opposite page.

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EmilyChristine
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EmilyChristine
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FYI The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins tells the story slightly differently. (Which I like bc I liked the older brother so yay for not killing your baby bro!)

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EmilyChristine
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So the last book I read was based on The Singing Bones story (coincidence?) and I had checked this out awhile ago. Mainly checked it out because Neil Gaiman wrote the foreward.

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Fancypants
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Pickpick

I thought the art in the book was amazing and interning. I wish there had been some more information about some of the stories but if you've read a lot of Grimm tales and know them definitely pick up the book.

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TheLondonBookworm
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Last minute Christmas shopping and I just so happened by a bookshop..... totally a coincidence 😁😁 but I found this!!! I LOVE Shaun Tan- The Arrival was gorgeous and his illustrations inspired by Fairy Tales promise to be just as beautiful ☺☺🖤🖤

LauraBrook Omg, this looks amazing! Love love love Shaun Tan! 7y
Nutmegnc That book is a wonder!!! 7y
TheLondonBookworm @LauraBrook me too!!! Can't wait 😁 7y
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MrBook Interesting... 7y
TheLondonBookworm @Nutmegnc eeep so excited! Although I have such a big tbr now I dunno when I'll get around to it! 7y
Nutmegnc @TheLondonBookworm Put it on the top of the stack! It's worth it!!! 7y
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Redwritinghood
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Pickpick

This book contains pictures of simple sculptures, dramatically lit, to capture some of the Grimm stories. Despite their simplicity, the sculptures convey a lot of the emotion of the stories. This is more of an art book than anything. Each sculpture is on a spread that also includes parts of the stories they represent. A good book to browse through and enjoy

Zelma Wow, that looks beautiful! 7y
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Redwritinghood
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Night time reading!

Redheadrambles Oh yes I have this too 7y
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elkeOriginal
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Hello, gorgeous. I think today's #bookmail might just distract me from my previously scheduled plans...
Plus, I can never pass up a #fairytaleretelling and this looks like an amazing twist on a Grimm collection!

Sue a) that cover is gorgeous, b) I love your praying mantis! 7y
elkeOriginal @Sue Thanks! I love my mantis made of silverware - he's a souvenir from a trip to New Zealand 😊 7y
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wanderaven
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Pickpick

One of the best books I've read this year. I've always loved Tan but the physical art in this collection is beyond anything I might have expected. Absolutely incredible. If you or anyone you know likes fairy tales/the brothers grimm, this would be an excellent gift. You can see my full review, with photos over at wanderaven.

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LindsayReads
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Happy Día de los Muertos, Littens!

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LindsayReads
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Pickpick

Disclaimer: I'm biased--I love Shaun Tan; I will probably always love Shaun Tan. ? Beautiful, quirky book, which is exactly what you should expect from him. However, he takes to the three-dimensional here--which is a departure from his other books--yet it's every bit macabre for this unique take on the essence of Grimms' fairy tales. I loved this photograph taken for "Mother Holle." Happy Halloween! ?

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Linsy
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The characters in Tan's reimagining of Grimms' fairy tales are so beautifully sculpted and out-of-this-world amazing. I had to share another. #scaretober #notofthisworld #octphotochallenge #allhallowsread

Kalalalatja Beautiful! Is it just pictures or text also? 😊 7y
I-read-and-eat This looks so lovely! 7y
Linsy @Kalalalatja For each fairy tale, there is a snippet of the text on the left and his sculpture for it on the right. It makes the most beautiful coffee table book. 7y
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Linsy
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This book may not be scary, but the subject matter and art are definitely #allhallowsread appropriate.

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Linsy
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Pickpick

This book is so gorgeous!! It's been making me happy all day. Shaun Tan's beautifully macabre sculptures pair perfectly with the Grimms' tales. #readingsnacks #booktober #allhallowsread #scaretober #fairytales

BookBoggart I'm so curious what it looks like inside now! 7y
I-read-and-eat This made me very curious. And what a great picture! 👻 7y
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Abby-J
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#BookMail to and to my folklore collection. Thanks @lindsayreads for the recommendation.

LindsayReads It's so preeeeetty! 7y
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LindsayReads
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How could I possibly forget?! Another anticipated read on this gloriously gloomy day! I'm all a-tremble just standing in front of it.

Abby-J Is it based on the German folktale? 7y
LindsayReads @Abby-J I resisted the temptation to read it on the spot, but to my knowledge, yes. It's a collection of Grimm fairy tales. 👿👸🏰 7y
Abby-J @lindsayreads Well, I just bought that. 7y
LindsayReads Buying any Shaun Tan is always a wise decision, @Abby-J . 7y
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callunakeep
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BOOK MAIL!! 🎉🎊👏🏻🤓

MrBook The best mail 😎👌🏻 7y
29 likes1 comment