The Random House book of fairy tales

K-Gr 6 Nineteen popular traditional tales selected from the works of the Grimm brothers, Andersen, Perrault and others form the contents of this fine collection. Ehrlich drew upon many sources, listed in back but not keyed to individual tales, and her literary but not effusive retellings remain faithful, for the most part, to the common canon. (Exceptions include Hansel's holding out a knuckle to the witch rather than a chicken bone; Rapunzel's twins are missing; and the prince's mere presence rather than a kiss wakes the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.) The soft pastel colors of Goode's pencil and watercolor illustrations give a misty, faraway quality to Once-upon-a-time, but they are too much alike and occasionally too bland to be totally effective. Still, it's a good companion volume to Prelutsky and Lobel's Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983) and a nicely packaged collection that will give pleasure to many a grateful child. Susan Hepler, formerly at Ohio State University, Columbus (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A reissued collection of nineteen classic European fairy tales. These concise retellings are illustrated with delicate pencil drawings which alternate from black-and-white to full-color double-page spreads. From HORN BOOK 1991, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.