The Golden Key (Graphic Novel Adaptation)

by George MacDonald, Stephen Hesselman (Illustrator)

Overview

Young friends Tangle and Mossy undertake an epic adventure in the Faerie realm when they go in search of the "land whence the shadows fall." In this graphic novel adaptation by illustrator Stephen Hesselman, George MacDonald's beloved fairy tale comes to life in stunning color and imagery. Foreword by Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951872151
Publisher:	THE RABBIT ROOM
Publication date:	05/12/2023
Pages:	132
Sales rank:	537,732
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

George MacDonald is often regarded as the founding father of modern fantasy and is considered a major influence on C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. A contemporary and friend of Mark Twain and Lewis Carroll, his fellow writers were also his biggest fans. His best-known works are Phantastes, The Princess and the Goblin, At the Back of the North Wind, and Lilith, all fantasy novels, and fairy tales such as "The Light Princess," "The Golden Key," and "The Wise Woman."


Stephen Hesselman is an illustrator living in the Nashville area. He has illustrated Carolyn Clare Givens' The King's Messenger, A. S. Peterson's The Oracle of Philadelphia, and has illustration contributions to multiple volumes of The Molehill.

Editorial Reviews

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Richly described and illustrated. . . . Sanderson's dramatic black and white scratchboard illustrations bring grace and depth to this old story."

Booklist
"Sanderson's black-and-white illustrations play on the story's motif of light and darkness as she skillfully depicts the children's journey through fairyland. . . . Beautifully presented."

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
Gr 3–7—This classic, enigmatic Victorian fairy tale of two children who find, lose, and then find each other again as they search for "the place from which the shadows fall" is given a new treatment by Sanderson. The artist has divided the work into nine short chapters and illustrated it with more than 45 bold black-and-white scratchboard pictures. Mossy discovers the key he has heard about in his great-aunt's stories and is charged with locating the lock into which it fits; Tangle, a neglected orphan, follows a magical fish to a hidden cottage where a beautiful woman takes her in and lovingly cares for her. Here the two meet and venture on a quest, developing a deep friendship, then losing each other, until, with the help of special beings and magical creatures, they are reunited in a new life. Unlike Maurice Sendak's soft, evocative illustrations in an older edition (Farrar, 1967), Sanderson's is deeply textured and dramatic, enhancing the vivid imagery of the narrative with many full pages and spreads. An afterword by Jane Yolen provides a snapshot of MacDonald's life and explores her experience of the story over time. An illustrator's note describes how Sanderson came to reformat and pictorially interpret the mysterious tale. Young readers may be puzzled by the narrative but will likely enjoy the magic, intriguing characters, and richly detailed illustrations; older readers may recognize religious or metaphorical elements. VERDICT A lovely addition for fairy-tale collections.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

School Library Journal

2016-08-02
Scratchboard illustrations add atmospheric notes to MacDonald’s enigmatic tale of two children who grow old and then young again as they journey through magical lands.The 1867 tale is full of lyrical references to color: the titular key itself, for instance, along with a mystical rainbow shining with “shade after shade beyond the violet; while before the red stood a color more gorgeous and mysterious still,” and hummingbird-feathered fish that swim through the air and are transformed (when eaten, a weirdly macabre touch) to tiny angels that “throw off a continuous shower of sparks of all colors.” Rather than try to capture these, Sanderson chooses to use a medium best suited to conveying the story’s likewise significant themes of light and shadow. But for all the expertly modeled hair, faces, and foliage in her art, the rainbow, when it does appear, looks like a monochromatic sunbeam, and shadows in some scenes are obtrusively heavy. The story's metaphors are murky where the illustrations are not, though, and that, along with the ritualistic tone, will likely leave young readers in the dark. Jane Yolen adds a biographical sketch of the author; her critical reflections on different ways of reading the strange miniodyssey only underscore its obscurity. A Victorian-era artifact, available today in collections of the author’s works and served only partially, at best, by these new illustrations. (Illustrated short story. 9-11, adult)

Kirkus Review