The Enchanter's Daughter - Softcover

Barber, Antonia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0374421439 ISBN 13: 9780374421434

Publisher: Sunburst, 1994

Synopsis

The Enchanter's daughter--a lonely girl with no name, no companions, and no knowledge of other lifestyles--learns through reading that everyone has a name and that there are many lands filled with people beyond the high mountains

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Gr2-5 This original fairy tale celebrates the bond between mother and daughter. It is the tenderly told story of a beautiful girl who lives like a princess in an enchanted place with a sorcerer who calls himself her father. As the girl grows older, she begins to yearn for freedom, companionship, a name, and a mother. Finally, she leaves her enchanted home, risks her life, and finds everything that she has hoped for including the love of the long-lost mother from whom she was stolen. Lovely and graceful full-page paintings complement the reflective mood of the text beautifully. The full-color art combines images of the far north with Scandinavian and Russian touches and other motifs of Asia. The pictures are framed by fields of color with decorations of tapestry and brocade patterns. One delightful picture shows the Asian heroine poring over books out of which flow images from classic tales such as Alice, Thumbelina, the Pied Piper, and King Arthur. The story and the art will have broad appeal for children who love fairy tales, but it will be most meaningful to thoughtful readers who are ready to appreciate a courageous search for independence and identity. This modern fairy tale, which raises important issues for today's children, will be good for independent reading or reading aloud. Marilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

This is a magnificent storytelling achievement, as well as a wonderful collaboration between gifted artists. Like Miranda in The Tempest , the Enchanter's daughter longs to see the world beyond the place she has grown up (in this case, a castle). But whenever she expresses her yearning to see new landscapes, the Enchanter simply waves his hand and creates that view from the castle window. She cannot remember her name, but believes she once had one, and so asks the Enchanter who her mother is. He distracts her with lies, telling her that she has no mother, that she was a rose, (which she temporarily becomes, and knows that it is not her true self) and a fish and a fawn. Each time she sees the lie, and finally tricks him into making her a bird, so she can fly away. Barber brings poignancy to this telling of the search for identity; the language is rich and moving. The paintings are opulent, textured mosaics of color and pattern, with lavish borders and interiors. A stellar work, flawlessly executed. All ages.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sunburst
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0374421439
• ISBN 13: 9780374421434
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Le Cain Errol