READ ME A FAIRY TALE

Fourteen of the best-loved tales from the Grimms, Joseph Jacobs, Perrault, Andersen, et al., in a lively style that retains their basic structure and flavor and much of their language. Impey retells with great taste and sensitivity. Her graceful modifications almost always clarify; and rather than merely simplify or eliminate problematic passages, she comes up with new phrases as colorful and energetic as the earlier versions. Beck's illustrations—mostly head- and tailpieces and marginal vignettes—add a running visual commentary; their colors are bright and the crosshatched details expressive, but they are discreetly understated, quietly supplementing the text. An unusually attractive introduction to these basic tales, for reading aloud or alone. (Folklore. 6-12)