Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride

by Barbara Ensor

Overview

HERE’S A CONTEMPORARY retelling of Andersen’s tale, revamped and fleshed out for today’s hip tweens. As she did in Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Tale), Ensor re-imagines this classic, adding her own inimitable humor, flair, and stylish black-and-white silhouette spot illustrations. Thumbelina is that story most of us can’t quite remember. Okay, sure, it’s about a tiny girl just the size of your thumb. But did you know that her troubles (or adventures, if you prefer) begin when she begs her mother to let her sleep outside on the porch? And that in no time she is engaged to a frog, and then a mole, and even receives a proposal from a miniature king?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307491916
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	12/30/2008
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), the Danish author and poet, is most famous for his beloved fairy tales such as The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, and Thumbelina.

Barbara Ensor is the author-illustrator of Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Story), hailed in the New York Times as “truly divine.” She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Ensor revisits Andersen's tale and gives it a feminist touch…her expressive collage cutouts have tons of charm.
—The New York Times

Julie Just

It all begins when a young woman decides she wants a baby enough to visit a witch. After paying a fee, Anne Marie goes home with a seed that quickly grows and blossoms to reveal a tiny girl. Thumbelina grows up sheltered, loved and well-cared for, but full of curiosity about the outside world. She records her frustrations in her diary and begs her mother to let her sleep outside. Finally her mother agrees, but after a night spent playing tag with fireflies, the slumbering Thumbelina is kidnapped by a frog looking for a daughter-in-law. She escapes this fate with some effort and embarks on her own journey down the unfamiliar river. This fleshed-out version of the Andersen tale is faithful to the original and has a charming, old-fashioned tone that lovers of fairy tales will undoubtedly embrace. Crisp silhouettes appear as spot illustrations and hand-lettered diary entries alternate with the conventional text throughout, lending an air of timelessness. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

Review, The New York Times Book Review, June 15, 2008:
"Ensor revisits Andersen's tale and gives it a feminist touch . . . [and] her expressive collage cutouts have tons of charm."

From the Publisher