There are many, many versions of the Rapunzel story out on the market. But for this list we have gathered the most popular versions using the 'grades' at GoodReads, LibraryThing and Amazon.com to determine who earned a place.
Note that two of these stories are for Teens (MG) and Young Adults.
Note that two of these stories are for Teens (MG) and Young Adults.
Falling For Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox, Lydia Monks (Illustrator)
Our notes: Fractured Fairytale approach to the classic tale.
Description: The prince is falling for Rapunzel, but since she can't quite hear what he asks for, everything but her hair gets tossed out her window. Instead of her curly locks, she throws her dirty socks. Instead of silky tresses, out go lacy dresses. And you can predict the guaranteed-to-crack-kids-up clothing she sends down when the prince simply says hair. . . .
Hilarious text, clever page-turns, and vibrant, eclectic art make this a non-traditional Rapunzel kids will want to read about again and again.
Hilarious text, clever page-turns, and vibrant, eclectic art make this a non-traditional Rapunzel kids will want to read about again and again.
5/2012 @GOODREADS 4.38 avg rating — 608 ratings
Reading Information:
Word Count: 342
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 2.7 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 75629
- Publisher: Puffin
- ISBN-10: 0439750466
- sample pages available
Rapunzelby Alix Berenzy
Our review
Description: Alix Berenzy's Rapunzel is based on sources that predate Grimm. The book portrays a strong heroine who survives many hardships before finding her fairytale ending.
Rich, light-drenched paintings eloquently capture both the spirit and the landscape in which the story of Repunzel began.
Rich, light-drenched paintings eloquently capture both the spirit and the landscape in which the story of Repunzel began.
5/2012 @GOODREADS 3.89 avg rating — 44 ratings
Reading Information:
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 3.8
- Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
- ISBN-10: 0805057935
- amazon
Rapunzelby Paul O. Zelinsky
**starred review** Horn Book
**Caldecott Medal**
Description: In our Best Book citation, Publisher's Weekly said, "A breathtaking interpretation gives the fairy tale new art-historical roots, with illustrations that daringly-and effectively-mimic the masters of Italian Renaissance painting."
5/2012 @GOODREADS 4.11 avg rating — 3,881 ratings
Reading Information:
Word Count: 1,339
Page Count: 48
Accelerated Reading Level: 4.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 29284
Lexile: AD700L
- Publisher: Puffin
- ISBN-10: 0142301930
- sample pages available
Rapunzel, the One With all the Hair (Twice Upon a Time #1)
by Wendy Mass
Description: Rapunzel is having the ultimate bad day. She's been stolen from home by an evil witch, locked in an incredibly high tower, and doesn't even have a decent brush for her hair.
Prince Benjamin is in a pretty uncomfortable situation himself. His father wants him to be more kingly, his mother wants him to never leave her sight, and his cousin wants to get him into as much trouble as possible. Plus, there's the little matter of prearranged marriages. . . .
Both Rapunzel and Prince Benjamin are trapped . . . but in very different ways. It's only when their paths cross that things change.
5/2012 @GOODREADSReading Information:
Word Count: 42,891
Page Count: 208
Accelerated Reading Level: 5.1 / points: 6.0
AR quiz: 105865
Lexile: 810L
- Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
- ISBN-10: 0439796563
- sample pages available
Golden: A Retelling of "Rapunzel"
5/2012 @GOODREADS 3.71 avg rating — ratingsby Cameron Dokey and Mahlon F. Craft (designer)
Description: Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future.
After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever.
Reading Information:
Word Count: 42,504
Page Count: 192
Accelerated Reading Level: 5.5 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 104998
Lexile: 760L
- Reading Audience: Young Adult
- Publisher: Simon Pulse (2007)
- ISBN-10: 1416939261
- sample pages available
compiled by Pam T
