Thursday, December 21, 2006

Princess and the Beast

Child, Lauren. 2006. The Princess and The Pea.

Today I am presenting reviews for two beautiful picture books that are retellings of classic fairy tales. The first is Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child. It is beautifully illustrated. Child created beautiful, intricate, detailed paper dolls and provided them with proper backgrounds even adding small little details done in miniature to create the perfect backdrop for this classic tale of love. This miniature world was then photographed to create the illustrations. The text of the picture book is wonderful as well. Together the text and illustrations share a magical story with young readers.

Real princesses do not grow on trees. You just have to wait for one to come to you. And if one does, just to be sure, make her a bed of twelve feather mattresses, and underneath those twelve feather mattresses place a small pea-green pea. Then wait for the moon to set and the sun to rise. And if she wakes up all black and blue, you’ll know that you have indeed discovered a REAL princess.

http://www.milkmonitor.com/

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/princesspea/index.html

Eilenberg, Max. 2006. Beauty and the Beast.

The second book I am reviewing today is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Max Eilenberg and illustrated by Angela Barrett. Again beautiful illustrations and text are used to create a magical environment for sharing this story with young readers. The illustrations by Angela Barrett are done beautifully in soft pastel colors. And help set the tone and mood of the story. The text is well-written and for the most part faithful to the traditional tale.

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/index.html

http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Max-Eilenberg

No comments: