Once upon a time there was ... a princess who loved all her beautiful ponies, a cool muscle dude who rode an awesome motorcycle. But a giant came and started stealing them! The dude came to fight the ugly, smelly giant with his mighty sword. She turned gold into thread while she cried for Buttercup, her favorite pony. And he took the princess's gold thread for payment The end! nbsp; Wait a minute! That's not how it ends! nbsp; Oh no? nbsp; Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who had to tell a fairy tale to the class, but they couldn't agree on the story. Will everyone live happily ever after? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr. 3-5. A girl and a boy create a fairy tale in this lively picture book. The girl starts first, with a story about a princess and her eight ponies, while the boy interjects comments: Please . . . don't call the pony Buttercup. When the boy has had enough, he steps in with a sword-wielding, motorcycle-riding hero who battles a giant, while the princess is assigned the boring job of making thread. Fed up with these developments, the girl delivers the final plot twist, turning her princess into a warrior who sends the giant scurrying back to his cave. The fun in this picture book comes in the contrasting styles of the illustrations, which include contributions from Carol Heyer and Scott Goto. The girl's story features bright colors, flowers, and long golden locks, while the boy's story is done in the dark, taut-muscled style of comic books. Throughout, O'Malley depicts the girl and the boy\b reacting to the twists of the plot. A funny take on the age-old battle of the sexes, with an ending suited for the new millennium. --Todd Morning Copyright 2005 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.