ENDLESSLY EVER AFTER

Multiple reader options give the woodsy road to Grandma’s house any number of surprise twists and diversions.

First “you” choose either a hooded red cape or a (faux) wolf skin coat to wear and, in traditional choose-your-own-adventure fashion, flip ahead to one of two designated pages. From there, it’s on to encounters with big bad wolves, two sleeping princesses (one of whom you can opt to kiss), an unhappy lad named Jack who has lost both his goose and most of his clothes, a really angry little pig, a hunter with a rather too-ready axe, and/or a gang of similarly spun-around versions of familiar characters—all on the way to a set of endings, happy or…otherwise: “And though you turn to run away, there isn’t time for that. / You’re finished off in seconds, and you never hear the SPLAT.” In Santat’s country storyscapes the reader stand-in (named Rosie) has beige skin and dark hair; other human figures vary in skin tone. Snyder casts her storylines in sturdy, regular rhyme and concludes each with The End except for the last, which offers the more liminal thought that “whether you adventure far / or sit alone / or snooze, / the thing you must remember is // that every day… / you choose.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Some choices are hard but not this one: Pick it up!