Review by Booklist Review
Ages 6-9. Evidently based on the Grimms' familiar fairy tale (though that's unacknowledged here), this picture book offers a richly illustrated edition of the familiar story. Poole sticks to the original fairly closely but embroiders it with details of setting, motivation, and plot. As dense and elaborate as the writing, Barrett's rather dark, full-color artwork provides a handsome setting for the tale. Through dramatic use of composition, contrast, and detail, the illustrations provide a graceful and mysterious vision of the story. (Reviewed Jan 1, 1992)0679826564Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Exquisite endpapers set the tone for this elegant version of one of the most-loved fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm: a leafless ebony tree stands in stark relief against a sweeping expanse of snow, the whiteness of which is marred by a single drop of blood. Echoing the central image of this classic tale of contrasts (good and evil, innocence and cruelty, youth and age, beauty and ugliness of spirit), Barrett's images unfold in a twilight world of ethereal beauty anchored by telling detail, from the moonlight reflected in the creek by the dwarves' cottage to the evil-looking poison comb the disguised queen offers Snow White. Poole's version of the lovely young princess and her vindictive stepmother remains faithful to the original, and enchants with its unassuming prose. The artwork's overall tone is sophisticated and somewhat remote, placing the book beyond the reach of younger readers, but this is nonetheless a fairy tale in the grand tradition, and an exemplary marriage of illustration and narrative. All ages. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Snow White is not pretty in any conventional sense, but she's certainly young and vulnerable in this pleasing rendition of the Grimms' tale. Greban's watercolor views on the book cover and endpapers-where the intruding girl lies asleep in one of seven small beds-invite readers into the home of the dwarfs, a much happier place than the lonely forest in which Snow White is quickly abandoned once the story actually begins. Unlike most picture-book versions, Greban's text is faithful to the old story, omitting just a few details. Here the queen does not eat the heart and liver she believes to be Snow White's, but she does dance to her death in the red-hot iron shoes, bringing Snow White's wedding and the book to their old abrupt close. The pairing of the text and pictures will work especially well for read-aloud sharing. White text pages include smaller views and face full-page scenes. The artist is adroit in his choice of perspective and in creating mood. His clear, nicely articulated characters are most appealing in the varied personalities of the dwarfs and the old women who are the disguised queen. The book is more informal than Nancy Ekholm Burkert's handsome version (Farrar, 1987) with Randall Jarrell's text, and much more fulsome than the old Disney version that has dominated publication of this particular story. Every library should find it a most welcome introduction to Grimms' tales.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this welcome reissue the language of the translation is idiomatic, direct, and graceful. The pictures interpret the story as thoroughly and carefully as does the text, adding depth and dimension to the visually memorable characters. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Flemish watercolorist Grban's queen may not be "the fairest of them all," but she steals center stage from his waifish Snow Whitewho 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 nave and innocent, which bolsters a necessary contrast with the queen. Also strong are the illustrator's pictures of the satisfyingly individual seven dwarfsone 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
