Lila Prap's 1001 Stories offers a fresh take on classic children's stories - The Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast, The Three Little Pigs, and several more - by turning them into a jumbled up Choose Your Own Adventure-style story. Every page offers a choice for the reader; although these decision points aren't designated as such, one follows the standard track of the story, while the other branches off in a different direction, essentially jumping onto a different narrative. The element that makes this all work is that every story is populated by the same boy or girl character (each owns half the stories). The branching can yield some funny results and the stories are very satisfying to young readers.

There's an interesting dimension to this decision-tree storytelling when a young child is in the driver's seat. Our four-year-old daughter Z likes that if she "builds" a story with an outcome or development she doesn't like, the next time we read it, she can make the other choice and follow a different path. She then engineers repeated readings along those pathways she likes, until she is tempted to follow a different branch. Be warned - these stories can get pretty long! We usually end up designating a stopping point ("three more pages") rather than always trying to finish a story at bedtime.

The illustrations for this book are also a major draw. We love how many of the pages feature images that demonstrate parallel relationships - similarities that run through different stories. I've included an image above as an example - these types of spreads run throughout the book. Prap's illustration style is also fun and fresh, feeling at once familiar (with echoes of Tomi de Paola and others) and all her own, thanks to a rough-edged quality, thick lines and bright colors.

1001 Stories is available on Amazon.com for about $13. Highly recommended! - Jeremiah