Rapunzel

September 1, 2009
Gr 1-4-"Rapunzel" features staid, spare storytelling. Except for the witch, the characters are not detailed and blithely live in perfect happiness at the end. The hunched-over, goggle-eyed wicked witch does provide some dark flavor to the story. "Three Little Pigs" has more spunk and not quite so happy an ending. The pigs and wolf are larger than life, with mud, sweat, and saliva flying across the panels. The animals frenetically bounce across the pages in pursuit of one another. The wolf is particularly menacing and its curved claws and glowing green eyes will remain in childrens thoughts at the end of the tale as it lies in wait. Although the books have some appealing illustrations, children can experience these fairy tales in more stimulating ways."Carrie Rogers-Whitehead, Kearns Library, UT"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2009
Grades 2-4 From the Graphic Spin series, which adapts classic fairy tales into graphic format, comes this retelling of the long-tressed girl locked into a tower by an evil witch. The text does an adequate job of leading readers through the tale, but it would behoove them to be familiar with the story (if, indeed, there are any who arent) before engaging in this bare-bones account. What will attract children to this offering is Timmins highly visceral artworkequal parts frightening and excitingwhich captures the original appeal of the Grimm Brothers tale. The hollow-eyed and lederhosen-attired characters look as if they have been lifted from an idyllic Bavarian scene and dropped into a nightmarish shadow world dominated by the witchs evil intent. But the overall scariness is leavened by some dark visual humor and the ultimate happy ending. Although this is for a younger audience than Shannon Hales Rapunzels Revenge (2008), the two still make an interesting comparison of just how wildly different a story can become when draped in divergent atmospherics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)