Falling For Rapunzel

Falling for Rapunzel

Written by: Leah Wilcox

Illustrated by: Lydia Monks

Puffin, 2005

32 Pages

 

​In this story, Wilcox takes the beloved Rapunzel story and twists it into a brand new outlook. When a nearby prince hears Rapunzel’s cry from afar, he races to save her only to find she had been crying over her un-silky hair. The princes calls for her to throw down her long flowing locks, but she is so far up, she thinks he is in need of a pair of socks! What else will this crazy story lead to?

 

​The illustrations in the book make the story even more hilarious. Monks adds in a few extra things to giggle at, like the modern cities and airplanes in the back ground, and even a familiar story book character or two. The illustrations are very bright, fun, and cartoon like. Some of the images in the pictures are extremely textured, with realistic patterns mixed in with the fantasy-like drawings.

 

​I would use this story for a math game with a small group in a younger grade. I would have them count the number of forest animals they found throughout the story and then document them and compare answers between group members. This story would be a fun science experiment when learning about how far distance travels. I would have the class go outside and get a far distance away, as far as Rapunzel’s tower was up in the air. Once a good distance apart, I would have one student yell a sentence, and see if the other student understands what the first student had said. I would keep a document of the funny answers to share once we returned to the classroom. I would also to a language arts activity and have the students compare and contrast the well know Rapunzel story to this new quirky Rapunzel story!