Review by Booklist Review
First published in Austria and Germany in 2004, this large-format book presents 13 of Andersen's tales, including familiar ones, such as The Princess and the Pea and The Ugly Duckling, as well as some that are seldom read. Six were translated by Anthea Bell, while the rest were adapted from translations by H. P. Paul. The book's tall format allows for quite a bit of text on a page, and each spread includes at least one illustration. Contributed by Austrian illustrator Leffler, the artwork, which ranges from small vignettes to full-page pictures, is a combination of pencil, paint, and occasional pieces of printed paper. The colors are usually restrained, and the style is accessible, if somewhat sophisticated, with distinctively elongated or rotund human figures and billowing, bell-like skirts on the ladies. This handsomely designed anthology is recommended for collections interested in acquiring many alternate editions of Andersen's tales.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Hans Christian Andersen's classic tales are given a fresh look in Andersen's Fairy Tales by Friederun Reichenstetter, illus. by Silke Leffler (A Simply Wonderful Christmas). Its 13 stories include both the familiar ("The Princess and the Pea" and "The Emperor's New Clothes") and the lesser-known ("There Is No Doubt" and "Jack the Dullard"). Leffler's pencil and watercolor spot art and single page scenes add to the collection's whimsical appeal. (North-South, $19.95 96p ages 3-up ISBN 9780-7358-2141-5; Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4 Up-Thirteen tales-10 of them among Andersen's most popular-are adapted from excellent translations by Anthea Bell and H. P. Paul. Although several of the tales ("The Princess and the Pea," "Thumbeline," "The Emperor's New Clothes") might be enjoyed by young children, others ("The Traveling Companion," "There Is No Doubt") contain scary or gruesome details that make them more appropriate for older children and adults. Andersen's subtly related plots, often involving tales within tales and resolutions that necessitate discerning thought and attention to detail, are aimed at adults and teens, as well. Leffler's often-humorous painted folk-art illustrations show cute little people with chubby line-drawn faces dressed in clothing of 18th-century style. Some animals-especially the fowl-are cartoons. In four of the stories, a full-page illustration and its opposing text page are mismatched. These flaws aside, the volume itself is quite handsome. Lisbeth Zwerger's Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (Minedition, 2006) is more traditionally illustrated and contains tales that are more appropriate for family sharing.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (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 Kirkus Book Review
Leffler's small, delicately drawn and colored figures--part collage, and mostly of fairies or distant, elegantly posed people--add graceful visual notes to every spread of a collection that resembles many others, but does mix some less familiar tales in with the usual chestnuts. Readers may be disappointed that there's no "Little Mermaid," and no Emperor to be seen, clothed or otherwise, in the "Emperor's New Clothes." However, the grisly "Traveling Companion," which features an abusive ghost and a sorcerer with a taste for human eyes, makes pleasantly chilling reading, and Andersen's cutting style of humor definitely comes through in "The Sweethearts," about a top who abandons his love for a leather ball when she turns old and ugly, and the closer, in which "Jack the Dullard" gets the Princess by displaying a rude sense of fun. Reichenstetter trims away some of Andersen's descriptive and ornamental fancies to retell the 13 tales in formal but not stiff language. A good choice for a gift, or to showcase the author's always surprising versatility. (Short stories. 10-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
