Jill and I have been exploring fairy tales that do NOT involve princesses, mostly Jack and the Beanstalk and the Elves and the Shoemaker, because she was unfamiliar with those. We've covered Little Red, Goldilocks, and Hansel and Gretel.
Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg is a faithful re-telling complete with a hideous boy-eating ogre (I'll crush his bones to make my bread.) and equally ugly yet merciful wife. Jack escapes with his life, a bag of coins, the hen that lays the golden eggs, and the singing harp. At the end of the story, he must rush to chop down the beanstalk with a hatchet, thus sending the ogre tumbling to his death, which is how I remember it. Yes, it's scary and violent, but aren't all faithful re-tellings of fairy tales scary and violent?
Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellogg is a faithful re-telling complete with a hideous boy-eating ogre (I'll crush his bones to make my bread.) and equally ugly yet merciful wife. Jack escapes with his life, a bag of coins, the hen that lays the golden eggs, and the singing harp. At the end of the story, he must rush to chop down the beanstalk with a hatchet, thus sending the ogre tumbling to his death, which is how I remember it. Yes, it's scary and violent, but aren't all faithful re-tellings of fairy tales scary and violent?
The Elves and the Shoemaker by John Cech and illustrated by Kirill Chelushkin was the first to arrive from the library.
I had forgotten how beautiful the basic Elves and the Shoemaker storyline is, and I don't mean because the setting is a shoe store. Though I do love a nice shoe store.
The shoemaker (always poor through no fault of his own) is secretly helped out by elves at night. He and his wife decide to stay up to see who their benefactor is. Upon seeing, the ragged or sometimes naked elves, they decide to make clothing and shoes for the poor elves. When the elves get their gifts, they always run off happily, but the shoemaker is successful evermore.
Despite a sweet story, the illustrations in the Cech version were weird and confusing. Jill could not wrap her tiny brain around how the elf wearing a hat, was actually the table laden with shoemaking tools. I'm not sure I can either. Bizarre.
Ever the sucker for a Little Golden Book, I ordered The Elves and the Shoemaker a Little Golden Book # 307-56 as well. Same great story, but pretty sub-par illustrations, like half melted wax figures.
I've learned that Paul Galdone does very authentic re-tellings. Sometimes, too authentic for my taste. Simcha Fisher mentioned Paul Galdone recently, pointing out that his work dates from the 70s. That might explain why his elves look a little...strange.
The Elves and the Shoemaker by Paul Galdone was again good story, but the pictures of the naked elves were odd. Apparently, these elves have nothing but smooth skin from neck to toes, like scuba suits of skin. I didn't say anything, but Jill brought it up. Galdone's version is perfectly (almost too) decent, but I think the next one is better.
Finally, The Elves and the Shoemaker by Jacob Grimm and Jim LaMarche met all of our high expectations.
If you're going to get a version of this fairy tale, Jim LaMarche's illustrations are top-notch. Fourth time's a charm.
Journey by Aaron Becker is a 2014 Caldecott Honor book. Jill and I have read the winner and all the honor books for this year, and in our opinions, Journey should have won.
Journey is a wordless picture book. A lonely girl in a gray world finds and red marker. (Or is it a crayon? Or chalk? Jill says marker.) She's draws a red door to a magical world where she has adventure after adventure and befriends a magnificent purple bird. The bird brings her full circle, back to the gray world, where she meets a boy with a purple marker.
Like most parents, I find that wordless picture books can be tedious if not downright exhausting. They demand so much of the reader. Upon "reading" Journey to Jill a few times, we discovered more and more interesting things throughout the story. I have no problem reading Journey to her, no matter how weary I am at the end of the day. It's that good.
I'm a sucker for Little Golden Books too, esp anything illustrated by Eloise Wilken, tho' my kids are apathetic. . . . Can't wait to check out Journey.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Steven Kellogg book called the Missing Mitten Mystery that my girls always enjoyed. Thanks for the comparison of the Elves books. You're right, those illustrations in the last one look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMrs. C
Wow, I'm so impressed you went through all that to find the perfect Elves and the Shoemaker book! Thank you! That is one of my favorite fairy tales, so I need ot go find that book at the library now!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed as well! And you're making me want to get a copy of The Elves and the Shoemaker for my book-lovin' granddaughters.
DeleteI need to jump on the classic fairy tale bandwagon. We haven't read anything new or interesting lately. (Even me--just rereading things!) I think Jack and the Bean Stalk would be a hit over here!
ReplyDeleteI was going to buy Journey on Amazon yesterday! Good to know it's awesome.
ReplyDeletePicked up Journey from the library based on your recommendation. The kids loved it! My oldest (4) was happily looking at it for nearly an hour by himself!
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