An inspiring and practical exploration of how we can tap into the deep-rooted and powerful symbolism of fairytales to bring about positive change in every aspect of our lives.
In this practical and inspiring book, writer and professional storyteller Alison Davies shows how to use fairy tales to gain confidence, find romance and discover your path to self-fulfilment. From Sleeping Beauty, symbol of transformation, to the ‘rescuer’ Prince Charming, to the scary, shapeshifting wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, the characters in these fabulous stories are embedded deep in our imagination and conjure up feelings that we can all identify with on some level.
We can use fairy tales to understand what really makes us tick, to access our primal nature and rediscover the latent power within. They can help us to break bad habits, overcome obstacles and emerge from the chrysalis to make our mark in the world. Working with fairy tales can be as easy as aligning to a character in a tale and then putting a positive spin on it. Sometimes the simple act of ‘making it real’, by living out the story in your mind, can change the way you think and behave. Davies offers a whole host of tips and practical exercises for working with the symbols, characters and storylines in fairy tales. These include storyboarding your own fairy tale to boost your creativity, devising a quest to build energy and confidence, identifying your inner hero to help with problem solving and learning how to be your own fairy godmother in order to bring the changes you want into your life!
| Title: | Fairytales Can Change Your Life |
| Author: | Alison Davies |
| Series: | n/a |
| Pages: | 161 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Non-Fiction |
| Trope(s): | Fairytales |
| Release Date: | 14th February, 2023 |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Such an uplifting book
As soon as I turned the first page, I started to smile with this book. I’m a romance reader so fairytales are almost my religion – so I immediately felt that this book was written for someone like me. But anyone who feels an affinity with the fairytales of your youth will, I’m sure, get a lot out of this book.
The book starts with a quick and interesting history of fairytales and sets the scene for the rest of the book which is split up to fit with the narrative structure of a fairytale. The chapters are:
- The Power of Storytelling
- Starting Out
- Tales of Transformation
- Love and Relationships
- Fears, Desires and Phobias
- Changing Roles and Responsibilities
- Creative Ideas
- Further Reading
Each chapter is written in such a warm and friendly manner – it’s so easy to read and makes you feel positive about making your life better. While this is essentially a self-help book, it feels more fun that that. Some self-help books make me feel low and then attempt to build me up – this one just felt affirmative and uplifting.
There are also exercises throughout the book, all centered around themes of fairytales, that you can use to find purpose and, according to the blurb, gain confidence, find romance and discover your path to self-fulfilment.
I really enjoyed this book. It felt inspiring, interesting and manageable. Some of the techniques and exercises are those that I have seen before, or been taught in therapy, but the fairytale twist makes things so much more fun and accessible. This is a short book but that makes it so much easier to read and re-read when needed. Definitely 5 stars.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review. *
Alison Davies is an author, storyteller and freelance writer from Nottingham. She has penned over 40 books, including the popular ‘Be More…’ series for Quadrille, which started with Be More Cat, and includes to name a few, Be More Bee, Be More Sloth, and Be More Dog. Alison is a professional storyteller and delivers sessions at universities on how stories can be used as tools for teaching and learning. Her most important and demanding role by far though, is being human of choice to her three furry felines, Ziggy, Diego and Honey.
 |  |
No Comments