Previously - by Allan Ahlberg (Paperback)

About the Book

The adventures of various nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters are retold in backward sequence with each tale interrelated to the other. Includes Goldilocks, Jack and the beanstalk, Jack and Jill, the frog prince, Cinderella, and the gingerbread man.

Book Synopsis

"Read this book aloud so that youngsters can chime in. . . . Children will delight in this energetic, amusing, and very approachable tale." --School Library Journal

Do you know what Jack and Jill were arguing about before they went up the hill? And what happened before that? Every story, every person, and every thing started somewhere. Author Allan Ahlberg and illustrator Bruce Ingman, the whimsical team behind The Runaway Dinner and The Pencil, reverse direction in this clever pastiche of fairy tales in which everyone lives happily ever . . . before.

Review Quotes

A witty, stylish riff on favorite fairy tales.
--FamilyFun

Children will delight in this energetic, amusing, and very approachable tale.
--School Library Journal

About the Author

Allan Ahlberg (1938-2025) is the acclaimed author of many books for children, including Under the Table, Previously, and The Pencil, all illustrated by Bruce Ingman. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called The Pencil "clever and suspenseful . . . a surefire delight." His best-known series, The Jolly Postman and its sequels, has sold millions of copies worldwide.

Bruce Ingman is an award-winning children's book illustrator who illustrated The Runaway Dinner by Allan Ahlberg and Boing! by Sean Taylor. He lives in London.