Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Straw into Gold
Hilary McKay · 2019
85/100
👍 Worth It
A Carnegie Medal winner rewriting Perrault, Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm with starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus — this is as close to a sure thing as middle-grade fairy tale collections get. McKay's perspective tricks are genuinely clever rather than gimmicky, and the Hansel and Gretel told as school holiday essays is the kind of invention that stays with readers. A standout.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety90
Substance / usefulness83
Craft & writing88
Originality86
Evidence & accuracy85
Hype vs delivers88
Age-fit90
👁 Human-eye gut-check86
Penny’s verdict85
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