Rapunzel and Other Magic Fairy Tales - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405227028 ISBN 13: 9781405227025

Publisher: Egmont UK, 2007

Synopsis

A selection of 15 fairy and folk tales, including "The Goose Girl," "The Bremen Town Band," "Puss in Boots," "Cinderella," and of course, "Rapunzel." These stories have been translated from the original German and French versions and therefore retain the remarkably vivid and sometimes strange quality that characterizes these classic tales. Authentic and affecting, this book is startling, dramatic, and otherworldly.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthea Bell is a well-known translator of children's literature who is best known for witty and innovative translations of the French Asterix comics.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4 Up—Sauvant has selected 14 tales of German, English, and French origin, many of them written down by the Grimm brothers. While most of them are familiar ("Jack and the Beanstalk," "Hansel and Gretel," "Cinderella," "The Bremen Town Band," etc.), others will be unknown to most readers. In her preface, Bell cautions, "Fairy tales were not told especially for children in the first place. They appealed to adults as well, and they still do." Such is the case with "The Girl with No Hands"-a gruesome tale in which a miller unknowingly makes a deal with the Devil to chop off his own daughter's hands in exchange for wealth. In "The Sea Rabbit," a princess has the heads of 99 suitors placed on stakes around the castle before the youngest of three brothers (his own siblings among the beheaded) wins her respect and her hand in marriage. Several tales contain Christian elements. A short translator's note at the end of each story gives some background on its origin and history. The illustrations, which range in size from tiny fillers to full-page and double-page pictures, appear to be painted in watercolor or acrylic on a textured surface. While some are painted in classic fairy-tale style, others are best described as surreal. (Cinderella floats in the air, a gossamer dress attached to her hands and flowing behind her. Rapunzel uses a dinner fork to comb her lengthy hair that wends into the horizon like a road, on which a chair, a horse and rider, a sailing ship, a lighthouse, and more appear.) The sophistication of both stories and artwork makes this collection most suitable for older readers.—Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
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About this edition

• Publisher: Egmont UK
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1405227028
• ISBN 13: 9781405227025
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Illustrator: Sauvant Henriette