The Happy Prince - Hardcover

Wilde, Oscar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525453679 ISBN 13: 9780525453673

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile, 1995

Synopsis

An adaptation of the writer's original fairy tale features a gilded statue of a prince that mourns the hardship and misery of the land that surrounds it and the gentle swallow that performs the helpful deeds that the statue cannot do itself.

About this title

About the Author:

Oscar Wilde was a playwright, essayist, and novelist. He was the author of The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Carole Bloch is the central coordinator of the Stories Across Africa Project, which is developing shared anthologies of stories for children in the many languages of Africa. She has written extensively on early literacy and multilingual education in South Africa and Africa, as well as writing several picture books for young children. Joan Rankin has illustrated more than 30 children’s books, including A Frog in the Bog and Off to First Grade. She is the recipient of the Katrina Harris Award for Children's Book Illustration and the ME Rothman Prize for best illustrated children’s book.

From Publishers Weekly:

Ray's (Magical Tales from Many Lands; The Story of Christmas) folksy, gilt-laden artwork graces this somewhat formal abridgment of Wilde's tale about an enchanted statue. The Happy Prince, who had lived a happy life and died a happy man, is now immortalized high above the city as a golden and bejeweled statue. For the first time the royal sees the suffering, poverty and misery of the common people. Sharing his sympathetic view with a sparrow, the prince persuades the bird to postpone its migration and instead to deliver his gold leafing, his sapphire eyes and ruby belt to those who need them. Soon the sparrow dies of cold and the prince, now shabby, is removed from its pedestal and melted down. Though young readers may appreciate the lessons of selflessness and sacrifice here, the telling may seem to them stilted and even occasionally disjointed. Ray's characteristically rich palette and her delicate borders and backgrounds provide the visual magic that keeps this sentimental tale afloat. Ages 7-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0525453679
• ISBN 13: 9780525453673
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Ray Jane