Flemish watercolorist Greban's queen may not be "the fairest of them all," but she steals center stage from his waifish Snow White-who is perhaps less beautiful than the (uncredited) translated text suggests. While the queen's frightful, menacing presence is effectively apparent as she transforms herself throughout her doomed quest to destroy Snow White, the princess lacks the trademark "blood red lips," and her small, close-set eyes and sometimes bulbous nose combine in a depiction that, while not ugly, is not exactly lovely either. She does seem naive and innocent, which bolsters a necessary contrast with the queen. Also strong are the illustrator's pictures of the satisfyingly individual seven dwarfs-one bespectacled, some clean-shaven, others bearded, etc. The inclusion of the often-omitted final scene with the queen dancing to her death in red-hot iron shoes (curiously white in the illustration) is deftly and gently handled with a picture that presents her in an awkward, foot-stomping stance that is tantrum-like rather than agonizing or scary. An uneven, though worthwhile, addition to fairy-tale collections. (Picture book/fairy tale. 5-9)
Of all the deadly sins, envy is the one that always feels terrible. The rest of them can feel natural, fun, satisfying, even good. I find sloth to be a most enjoyable sin, which pairs nicely with gluttony. Wrath, greed, or even lust often go undetected as sins by the person committing them, and in […]
Meet the Young Adults, the B&N Teen Blog’s swat team of awesome teenaged bloggers. YA literature is a strange and wonderful landscape of books that should be read by everybody, but each month we highlight the perspective of teens reading the best of the best books written for and about them. Check back monthly to see what they’re recommending […]
With winter coming, there’s one thing everybody can rely on: snow. Even if you’re not in an area that gets snow – you lucky ducks – there’s no doubt that snow will appear on your TV screen, in the movies you watch, and in the books you’re reading. And the best kind of snow? A […]