Review - The Three Little Narwhals

The Three Little Narwhals (Twisted Fairy Tales)
by Stewart Ross
illustrated by Chris Jevons
Date: 2020
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

In this whale of a tale, the Big Bad Shark is looking for a tasty snack... when he comes across three delicious-looking narwhals! The loveable, pointy-horned creatures-show-off Spike, arty Spiral, and shy Stubby-discover a sunken pirate ship, and are using the parts to build their own homes. Now they are out of their depth, locked in a battle of wits with the munching, crunching villain.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is the third book I've read from this series (the other two being The Ninjabread Man and Little Rude Riding Hood). It sort of falls in between the other two.

The Three Little Narwhals is a retelling of "The Three Little Pigs", but instead of pigs it's narwhals, and instead of a wolf it's a shark. When the three narwhal siblings witness a pirate ship sink, they salvage the wreck for parts to build their own houses. Spike builds a tent-like home out of ropes and sails. Spiral builds a wooden house. And Stubby, left with nothing but the metal parts of the ship, builds a most unusual house indeed. The shark eventually causes his own downfall, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Aside from setting this under the sea, there isn't that much that's "twisted" about the story. It follows the overall plot of "The Three Little Pigs" pretty closely. In the end, it's not so much the cleverness of the narwhals that defeats the villain, but the villain's own actions.

The writing is, surprisingly, not as bad as in the other two books (despite the fact that it has the same author as The Ninjabread Man). But the story is weaker. The illustrations are okay, but I don't like them quite as much as in the other two books.

I guess this series just isn't for me, no matter how much I was initially attracted by the overall premise.

Thank you to NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5