Though a bit of a patchwork with all the visual styles on display, this gathering of old favorites in their full, original...
Color and silhouette illustrations first seen in editions 50 to 150 years ago add an antique glaze to 27 stories newly translated from the Brothers Grimm’s final and, as the editor puts it, “most child-friendly” versions.
Not to say that there aren’t still plenty of violent and gruesome bits—from the ugly fates of Cinderella’s stepsisters to the decapitated horse in “Goose Girl.” With only rare exceptions, like the Brave Little Tailor, who swats flies that are “bugging him out of his mind,” the language in these unabridged versions remains classically formal, more grand than intimate and conveying in the lighter stories more wit than laugh-out-loud humor. The art samples work from 27 illustrators, nearly all of whom were European, and likewise presents a range of elaborately stylized Princes, graceful Maidens, anthropomorphic animals and comical magical creatures in, usually, court or period costume. Printed in double columns of small type, the collection is designed for adult readers to read or read aloud, and for the grown-ups Daniel also includes analytical introductions, an opening appreciation of the Grimms’ work as “the DNA of all fairy-tale scholarship,” and long biographical notes on the illustrators. As a piece of bookmaking, it harkens back to more extravagant times, with a gold-stamped, purple cloth cover, many gilt pages, elaborate display type and scrollwork and two bound-in silk ribbons to act as bookmarks.
Though a bit of a patchwork with all the visual styles on display, this gathering of old favorites in their full, original forms collected in a lovely package should please fairy-tale collectors and bibliophiles alike. (translator’s and historical notes, index) (Fairy tales. 7-11, adult)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-3-8365-2672-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Taschen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This genuinely clever math book uses rhyming couplets and riddles, as well as visual cues to help the reader find new ways to group numbers for quick counting. It’s a return to number sets, with none of those boring parentheses and <>signs. Here the rhyme gives a clue to the new ways of grouping numbers. For example: “Mama mia, pizza pie, / How many mushrooms do you spy? / Please don’t count them, it’s too slow, / This hot pie was made to go! / Let me give you some advice, / Just do half and count it twice.” A quick look at the pizza, and the reader can see each slice has the same number of mushrooms. Count by threes for half the pie, and double it. Each rhyme is given a double-page spread. The extra-large, brightly colored images leap off the page but never distract from the author’s intent. Some riddles are very challenging, but the author provides all the solutions in the back. Once the reader has seen the answers, the strategy is obvious and can be applied to other situations. Great fun for math enthusiasts and creative thinkers, this might also teach adults some new tricks. A winning addition. (Nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-21033-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...
Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.
One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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