A year in Spain in the 1930s provided Ruth Sawyer with many of the folk tales and legends— The Frog, Juan Cigarron, The Three Kings Ride-which have become favorites in and out of the library; here she provides the story behind the stories within a personal narrative of a rich year. Sympathy and respect for each acquaintance enabled her to make friends and make their lives her own, however briefly. In Galicia she borrowed a calico pig and hunted truffles among the oak trees; in Seville on New Year's Eve she swallowed the traditional twelve grapes by the twelfth stroke of the clock. Wherever she went, a certain canniness in receiving all stories as new, coupled with her own experience as a storyteller, enabled her to learn much, to evaluate and to exchange. (On one occasion she felt like "Tommy Tucker singing for his supper.") There are lessons here for the would-be-good traveler, as well as background for the storyteller. In the words of Antonio, the wise guide, this is "a gift between friends."
Pub Date: March 6, 1967
ISBN: 0670501107
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1967
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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