The Magic Flute - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811810038 ISBN 13: 9780811810036

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2005

Synopsis

Enter a magical world of monster serpents, mysterious ladies, and flying machines where giant flowers and butterflies the size of birds abound. It is here, amidst a lush wood and within a dark labyrinthine castle that an unforgettable cast of characters gathers and a magical story of good versus evil unfolds. Readers will thrill as Prince Tamino strives to save Princess Pamina from the wicked Queen of the Night and the Chancellor Monostatos. Accompanied by Papageno, the birdcatcher, and a magic flute to ward off evil, Tamino and Pamina must overcome thundering waterfalls and walls of fire to save their kingdom from darkness and live happily ever after.

Illustrated with the glorious paintings of Peter Malone, this enchanting retelling of Mozart's famous opera paired with an audio CD is sure to delight lovers of fairytales and music alike.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Malone is a full-time illustrator who enjoys painting in gouache. His work has appeared in The Times and The New Yorker. He lives with his wife and two young daughters in the United Kingdom.

Anne Gatti is an Irish writer based in England. She has two children. She enjoys writing both fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults, and has published several re-tellings of traditional stories, from Aesop's to African folk tales.

Reviews

Grade 4 Up?A stunningly illustrated, well-written retelling of one of Mozart's most beloved works. This operatic fairy tale is related in an elegant, clear tone in 15 scenes; most have a single page of text and one facing full-page painting. This technique breaks the rather complicated story into easy-to-follow pieces. Malone's soft oil paintings are full of light; stylized but warm, they precisely catch the flavor of Mozart's vision. Story and pictures are lovely, fresh, and rich, but it is the enclosed CD with 16 selections coded to each page of the book that make this a unique and appealing offering. This reading-plus-listening package is almost as good as being in the audience. Libraries may encounter problems circulating a book with a CD tucked in the back, but this a special item and it deserves a place on the music shelves of most libraries. A beautiful treat for the eyes, the ears, and the imagination.?Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This retelling of Mozart's wonderful opera works particularly well for two reasons. First is the eye-catching appeal of Malone's illustrations, with their gorgeous theater-set qualities, fresco naturalness, and zesty characterizations. The second is that Gatti keeps tempo of the opera in her text, with pleasingly swift scene changes and quick character portraits. She neither simplifies the story, nor bevels its edges: Papageno might be there for light relief, Tamino and Pamina feel destined for one another despite their miscues, but good and evil often wear their opposite qualities, and the mother, disquietingly, is still the most evil of all; consider the scene outside the temple walls (Pamina: ``Oh, Mother, I don't know what to do! Please protect me.'' Queen of the Night: ``Protect you?''). An audio CD is included (with musical cues in the book); if everything pales before the music, readers will still sense how the opera's magic worked on Gatti and Malone, and gain an entry to the magic themselves. (Picture book. 7-11) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0811810038
• ISBN 13: 9780811810036
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Malone Peter
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40