"Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of us all?" repeatedly asks the Queen, Snow White's stepmother. She always gets the answer she wants, until Snow White turns seven, and the mirror must truthfully answer, "Snow White." At the news, the Queen turns yellow and green with envy and commands the huntsman to kill Snow White and bring her "lung and liver as a token." Thus begins another enchanting fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm!
Kirkus Reviews called this collaboration between Randall and Nancy Eckholm Burkert "a sort of legend even before its time of publication." Jarrell also wrote The Bat-Poet and The Animal Family, a Newbery Honor Book. Jarrell retained the Grimm (and grim) ending to the tale, as the stepmother is forced to dance to her death. Burkert's illustrations are magical, light-filled creations that more than earn the book its Caldecott Honor Book status. This delightful book's extra-large format showcases the fabulously detailed illustrations, alternating two facing pages of art with two pages of straight text. This is an unforgettable interpretation of a well-loved story. (Ages 6 to 9)
From Publishers Weekly
A stunning version of the Grimms' classic story. All ages. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs ANNOTATION
Retells the tale of the beautiful princess whose lips were red as blood, skin was white as snow, and hair was as black as ebony.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Retells the tale of the beautiful princess whose lips were red as blood, skin was white as snow, and hair was black as ebony.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A stunning version of the Grimms' classic story. All ages. (September)
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2 Iwasaki's handling of watercolors is competent, particularly her manner of blending transparent hues to create the appearance of sensuous textures. These areas of chromatic interplay produce a visual vibrancy which, unfortunately, is not captured in her delineation of the characters. Snow White is a vacuous doll, the Prince an equally characterless wimp and the wicked stepmother is as frightening as a soap opera star. Comparing Burkert's meticulously researched settings and her personification of her teenage heroine (Farrar, 1972) or Hyman's gut-wrenching depiction of a decaying psychotic queen (Little, 1979; o.p.) to this saccharine rendering makes the publisher's decision to salvage a series of paintings by an artist who died more than ten years ago questionable. On several pages it's clear that there is no relationship between text and image. The telling is too flat for so emotional a series of hates and loves, double-dealings and rejuvenations. And the pictures, pretty as many are, fail to shape the psychological drama that has kept this tale so popular. Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Art & Photography
Book Info
