Princess Furball

Huck, Charlotte S.

ISBN 10: 0688078389 ISBN 13: 9780688078386

Publisher: Greenwillow, 1989

Synopsis

A princess in a coat of a thousand furs hides her identity from a king who falls in love with her

About this title

About the Author:

"When I was a child, my favorite fairy tale was the story of Furball. I loved this variant of Cinderella that portrays a spunky young woman who uses her own ingenuity to change her life," says Charlotte Huck. She wondered why this dramatic story had never appeared in a picture-book edition, and it is not surprising that she chose it as the basis of her first book for children, Princess Furball. She felt that the selection of the right illustrator was crucial, and she says, 'Anita Lobel was the perfect artist for it. I think no one today extends the narrative of the story through art in the way Anita does. She is a true master." Charlotte Huck's retelling of a second classic fairy tale, Toads and Diamonds, was also illustrated by Anita Lobel.

Ms. Huck was a professor at Ohio State University for thirty years, and in 1996 the university established in her name the first endowed professorship in children's literature in the United States. Her honors include Ohio State University's Distinguished Teaching Award and the Arbuthnot Award, given annually by the International Reading Association to an outstanding professor of children's literature, and she was selected by the Association of Library Service to Children of the American Library Association to deliver an Arbuthnot Honorary Lecture.

Ms. Huck was the author of five editions of the classic Children's Literature in the Elementary School. As an anthologist, she selected poems of nineteen wellknown poets to create Secret Places, a collection for the youngest readers.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-4-- In this variant of the Cinderella story, a motherless princess grows into an accomplished and capable young woman. It's a good thing, too, for her heartless father intends to marry her to an ogre in exchange for 50 wagonloads of silver. The princess, thinking her demands will be impossible to meet, requests four bridal gifts--a dress as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, a third as glittering as the stars, and a coat made from the skins of 1000 animals. When her father meets her demands, the princess dons her coat of a thousand furs, packs her three dresses into a walnut shell, and runs away, taking along a special soup seasoning and three small treasures that had belonged to her mother. Disguised by her strange coat, Furball, as she is now called, finds work as a drudge in a neighboring king's kitchen. When the king gives a ball, she dresses herself in the gown of gold and attends. The princess attends a second ball, and a third, leaving each one abruptly and dropping golden tokens in the prince's soup after each appearance. At the last ball, the prince slips the golden ring on her finger before she disappears, and when the ragged Furball is brought before him, can identify her as his mysterious guest and future wife. Huck's telling is smooth and graceful, with a slightly rustic informality perfectly echoed by Lobel's flat, primitive style. With a palette that ranges from warm brown to radiant white, the illustrations complement the storyline visually, placing it in an undefined middle-European setting. Author and illustrator have created a strong female character: particularly endearing in her coat of fur, she is resourceful and charming throughout. The princess' reliance on her own abilities and the absence of obvious magical help make this a fresh and satisfying addition to library collections of all sizes. --Linda Boyles, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwillow
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0688078389
• ISBN 13: 9780688078386
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 38
• Illustrator: Lobel Anita