Review by New York Times Review
with their violent excesses and winning magic, fairy tales once entertained adults and children together. As John Updike said, they were the television and pornography of an earlier age, and they rarely pulled punches, even when the young were listening in. Today, fairy tales move on two different tracks: films like "Snow White and the Huntsman" and television series like "Once Upon a Time" add existential torment, surreal plot twists and macabre special effects for their adolescent and adult audience, while adaptations for children tame the tales' original melodrama and impose moral lessons on their plotlines. Lisbeth Zwerger's "Tales From the Brothers Grimm" and Michael Hague's "Read-to-Me Book of Fairy Tales" draw children into nostalgic fairy-tale worlds with the seductive beauty of their illustrations. "Fairy Tale Comics," edited by Chris Duffy and animated by 17 cartoonists and illustrators, by contrast, refashions classic tales with bold creativity, reminding us that, as Italo Calvino put it, a fairy tale is always "more beautiful" (and more interesting) when something is added. And then there is "Princess Tales," adapted by Grace Maccarone and illustrated by Gail de Marcken, which enlivens the stories with rhymes, seek-and-find pictures, busy illustrations and unusual settings. This last volume takes a sentimental turn and is the safest choice for parents anxious about what Bruno Bettelheim, endorsing the therapeutic value of the unforgiving violence in fairy tales, called the uses of enchantment. Some of the stories in Zwerger's "Tales From the Brothers Grimm" reveal just how hard it is to cover up the primal energy of fairy tales. In one, a young queen takes out a contract on her husband who, despite many heroic feats, remains "nothing but a tailor." "Hans My Hedgehog" features a hero - half-boy, half-hedgehog - who is so vexed with a young woman who refuses to marry him that he takes off her beautiful clothes and pricks her with his quills until she bleeds. Then he chases her back home, where no one has "a good word for her all the rest of her days." This is followed by "The Children of Hamelin," a version of "The Pied Piper" that bluntly declares: "In all, a hundred and thirty children had been lost." A poignant final illustration shows adults wandering the streets, one holding the hand of a limp doll, another pushing an empty carriage. Though Zwerger's watercolors are sometimes disturbing, the decorative beauty of her work also functions as an antidote to the violent content of the tales. This dynamic is reversed in Hague's "Read-to-Me Book of Fairy Tales": Allison Grace MacDonald's gentle prose mitigates the ferocity of some of Hague's illustrations. MacDonald uses an abundance of caution in retelling the tales, making sure, for example, that Rumpelstiltskin does not tear himself in two, as was the case in the Grimms' version, but simply stomps his foot in anger and disappears. In adult reworkings of fairy tales, almost anything goes, and in a creative flash, the girl in red can turn into Red Hot Riding Hood. When it comes to versions for children, the urge to preach becomes almost irresistible. We put tight constraints on improvisation, insisting on morals, even when they do not square with the facts of the story. MacDonald turns the audacious Jack into a repentant rogue who "knew he shouldn't have risked his life like that." Adventurous and beauty-loving Little Red Riding Hood is portrayed as disobedient (for talking to the wolf) and wayward (for picking flowers). In the end, she promises "never to stray from the path again," just as her mother had told her in the beginning. All versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" in these collections make the same point, even though staying on the path would not have changed a thing. In "Fairy Tale Comics," Little Red Riding Hood vows never to talk to strangers again, an update to the story, making it about stranger danger but ignoring the fact that conversation was never the real problem. Not surprisingly, "Fairy Tale Comics" is the most inventive and daring of the books, remaking the old tales and infusing them with manic liveliness and antic art. By including less familiar stories like "The Boy Who Drew Cats," "Give Me the Shudders" and "The Small-Tooth Dog," the collection reminds us that such tales can be refashioned because they shape-shift with such ease, never losing their edgy entertainment value, even when we work hard to domesticate them for the younger crowd. Once we orient fairy tales toward children, we forget that they were engineered for entertainment, less invested in sending messages than in producing shock effects so powerful that to this day we feel compelled to talk about them, reinvent them and pass them on. "If you want intelligent children," Einstein is said to have remarked, "read them fairy tales." He was surely less interested in simplistic morals than in how these stories use the sorcery of words to shock us into thinking about the terrible, complicated things that can happen before "happily ever after." That was the true educational value of the fairy tale. And he affirmed it by adding, "If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." MARIA TATAR directs the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 10, 2013]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* To follow up the winning Nursery Rhyme Comics (2011), First Second offers this similarly spectacular idea. Once again gathering a coterie of grand artistic talent from kids' and indie comics (many returning from NRC), this collection features 17 stories longer than those in the previous project, which gives each work more room to delight. Many classics appear, from Snow White to Goldilocks to Hansel and Gretel, but an effort has been made to turn up a few more obscure fables, and the balance between familiarity and novelty proves just right. The artists all bring their A-game to produce standouts like Emily Carroll's wondrously textured 12 Dancing Princesses, Luke Pearson's mystical and eerie The Boy Who Drew Cats, Joseph Lambert's rousing and hilarious Rabbit Will Not Help, and David Mazzucchelli's stark-lined and graceful Give Me the Shudders (his first comics work since Asterios Polyp, 2009). But every artist here knows how to turn in an elegant, flowing story, and every tale is pitch-perfect for young readers and intimate read-alouds. Overall, the book is an ideal choice for a child's first comics experience and a new way to enjoy old favorites.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Duffy has assembled a dazzling lineup of comics versions of more than a dozen fairy tales in this hilarious follow-up to Nursery Rhyme Comics. Favorites like "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Rapunzel" (whose heroines gain welcome agency) join rarities like "The Small Tooth Dog" and "The Boy Who Drew Cats." The stories' visual styles range from Gilbert Hernandez's straightforward, flat-color cartoons for "Hansel and Gretel" to Brett Helquist's elaborately rendered Rumpelstiltskin; the bewildered stares of the bear family say it all in Graham Annable's wordless "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Karl Kerschl conceives "The Bremen Town Musicians" as a down-home romp ("Me and Abel talked it over and we ain't goin' near no haunted house"); Ramona Fredon crafts a formal, Classics Illustrated-style version of "The Prince and the Tortoise"; while Vanessa Davis capitalizes on the absurdities of "Puss in Boots" ("Bunny!" the king shouts inanely, hearts dancing around him, when Puss presents him with his first gift). Most stories are in the six- to eight-page range, and children will probably beg their parents to read the whole thing in one sitting. Ages 6-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3 Up-Nineteen cartoonists re-envision the world of "once upon a time" in this collection of 17 fairy tales. Stories are chiefly from Grimm and other European sources, but a few represent Middle Eastern, Asian, and American lore. The rich potpourri of interpretations presented in various mediums, styles, and settings makes the anthology unique. Some stories remain true to conventional retellings, while other adaptations have a decidedly fanciful aspect. Readers will note marked differences in the approaches to the Grimm tales. For example, Emily Carroll dresses her "12 Dancing Princesses" in elegant renaissance gowns while the wicked stepmother in Jaime Hernandez's "Snow White" has a futuristically styled gown and headdress. Graham Annable's wordless "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" illustrates the effectiveness of images in nuanced storytelling. "The Prince and the Tortoise" echoes the classic realistic scenes of Prince Valiant, while subdued monochromatic colors and simple drawings of the Japanese "The Boy Who Drew Cats" complement the tale's Asian origins. Several artists inject playful humor: Puss in Boots motors around on a Vespa scooter while the King and Queen travel in a pickup truck bed. The "Bremen Town" setting is the Wild West with outlaws stating, "We ain't goin' near no haunted house." While many traditional stories feature young maidens as beautiful brides, Raina Telgemeier's contemporary "Rapunzel" finds her own version of happily-ever-after when she realizes that "I've got the whole world to explore." These adaptations are sure to enchant devotees of comics and those who like a fresh and distinctive approach to fairy tales.-Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY (c) Copyright 2013. 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 fine companion to Nursery Rhyme Comics, editor Duffy has chosen seventeen tales ("Puss in Boots," "Rapunzel," and "Hansel and Gretel," among others) to be adapted by seventeen illustrators and cartoonists, including Raina Telgemeier, Brett Helquist, Charise Mericle Harper, and Jillian Tamaki. A wide range of tone and artistic styles result in a collection that offers something for everyone. (c) Copyright 2014. 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
A quirky and vibrant mix of visually reinterpreted fairy tales compiled by the editor of the Eisner-nominated Nursery Rhyme Comics (2011). In varying styles, renowned artists present their interpretations of 17 fairy tales ranging from the well-trod "Snow White" and "Hansel and Gretel" to some lesser-known stories, such as "Give Me the Shudders" (a more obscure Brothers Grimm tale), "The Boy Who Drew Cats" (a Japanese tale) and "The Small-Tooth Dog" (an English tale). As individual as snowflakes, the interpretive styles range far and wide. There is a traditional Sunday-comics feel to the captivating "The Prince and the Tortoise," illustrated by comics veteran Ramona Fradon; Graham Annable presents a delightfully wordless and expressive take on "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"; in Gigi D.G.'s digitally reimagined "Little Red Riding Hood," the heroic lumberjack happens to be female; Jillian Tamaki contributes a dreamily earth-toned rendition of "Baba Yaga." This pastiche works beautifully, and it should inspire readers to seek additional versions; those who wish to do so can find helpful suggestions in the editor's note. A veritable who's who of artists renders this an instant crowd-pleaser and will most certainly leave its readers "happily ever after." (editor's note) (Graphic folk tales. 6 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
