In this captivating and darkly funny tale, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell have twisted together the familiar and the new, as well as the beautiful and the wicked, to tell a brilliant version of Snow White's (sort of) and Sleeping Beauty's (almost) stories. This story was originally published (without illustrations) in RAGS & BONES. This is the first time it is being published as an illustrated, stand-alone edition, and the book is a beautiful work of art.

When he was seven, Charlie Porter never intended to become the world's youngest published author. He just wanted his father to stop crying. So he told him a story about a talking beetle. But this tale not only made his father stop crying --- it made him start planning. The story became a book, and then it became school events and book festivals, a beetle costume, and a catchphrase: "I was born to write!" Now Charlie is 18, and the beetles still haunt his dreams. The childhood he never really had is about to end...but there's still a chance to have a story of his own.