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Review:
In this fairy tale, a princess is sent away and her brothers are turned into swans by their evil stepmother. Fifteen years later, a fairy comes to the princess in a dream and tells her the only way to break the spell over her brothers is to remain silent while knitting cloaks out of stinging nettles. While knitting she meets a prince who decides to marry her. However, the princesses troubles grow when the archbishop claims she is a witch and the town decides to have her sentenced to death.
Critique:
This is an excellent example of a fairy tale because the princess is caught in a battle of good vs evil in her struggle to break the curse over her brothers. Additionally, it teaches children that persevering through trials will be rewarding.
Use:
1. One good use of this story would be to read it aloud when talking about the life skill of perseverance. After reading, the teacher can discuss how the princesses perseverance despite difficulties.
2. Another way to use this book would be to have students identify key plot points, such as the beginning, rising action, climax, etc, since this fairy tale has a more complex plot than others.
Age Appropriateness: primary, intermediate
Media: Fine line pen with ink and dyes ( )

Ah,what a treasure! This fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson about Princess Elisa and her eleven brothers, is one of Anderson's best, complete with an evil stepmother and enchanted swans. For me, though, the real magic of this book is the volume itself - it is illustrated by Shiba Productions as one of their Living Storybook series, with a lenticular 3D pastedown on the cover depicting the princess and one of her brothers, and is filled with photos of puppets posed in handcrafted miniature sets that are absolutely magical to gaze upon. There are many black-and-white drawings, too, but they are of the mundane sort. The adventure and pathos of the story is borne out well by the magical illustrations. I am 54 years old now, and the thrill and the wonder of reading this book as a child (the first edition in 1966) has never left me, all because of the illustrations. A true reader loves a book because of the story it tells, whether it is a torn paperback or a crisp new hardcover, but we are not immune to the physical beauty of books. When we experience a literary masterpiece showcased in a true work of art, we are absolutely over the moon! I am so grateful that my parents gifted me with this book for Christmas so long ao. I didn't ask for it and I have no idea where they got it, since we lived in a very small town with no bookstores within 35 miles. My parents now are gone, and I never told them how much this book meant to me, so let me close this review with a word of advice - if someone has given you a book that you treasure, tell them! Tell them now!

In case anyone is interested to learn more about Shiba Productions, here is a link: http://nishikataeiga.blogspot.com/2011/12/shiba-productions-little-tin-soldier.h... ( )

The Wild Swans, illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert.

Since the time I was a child, I have always had a deep and abiding love of folk and fairy-tales, and have taken great pleasure over the years, as both a reader and collector, in comparing the different artistic approaches used by various illustrators, when undertaking to interpret the same stories. Sometimes - as with the Isadora, Archipowa and Pinkney versions of The Little Match Girl - I find that a number of different editions all have equal appeal for me. At other times - with Edward Gorey's Rumpelstiltskin, for instance, or Evelyn Andreas' Cinderella - the edition of my youth retains its hold on my imagination, always coming first in my affections. And at still other times - as with Angela Barrett's Snow White - I have stumbled, as an adult, across some new edition that has become my favorite.

But although I have read countless folk and fairy-tale retellings, and keep an ever-growing list of artists whose work in this vein I admire, I do not think - with the exception of Vladyslav Yerko's superb The Snow Queen - that I have ever come across a book which so perfectly captures the wonder and terror, the beauty and cruelty, and the dream-like vividness of the fairy-tale world, as this edition of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans, retold by Naomi Lewis and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, has done.

The narrative flows smoothly, but it is the artwork - Gilbert's beautiful artwork, by turns dreamy and sharp, so poignantly expressive and tender - that make this a fairy-tale masterpiece! The portrait of the wicked stepmother whispering her falsehoods in the king's ear, or kissing the poisoned toads she intends to use against the heroine, evoke true anxiety in the reader, who immediately recognizes that evil is afoot. The beautiful depiction of Elisa reunited with her brothers - all gathered in a group, and lovingly touching one another, as if to make sure that they are truly together again - has the power to move anyone who has ever loved brother or sister. The moment in which the king secretly watches Elisa, wanting to believe no wrong, but beginning to fear the worst, will have the reader wishing that she could but speak! And of course, the scenes in which Elisa goes to meet her death, surrounded by an angry mob, only to find salvation at the last (through speech!) will send shivers down the spine of any person who knows - as we all do, on some level - that justice is not always done.

It is difficult to imagine a more pitch-perfect interpretation of the story, with all its cruelty and injustice, loyalty and love. There is power here, and Anne Yvonne Gilbert had tapped into the heart of it, transforming us from mere readers to witnesses. For that, all true fairy-tale lovers owe her a debt of gratitude. ( )

This was one of my favourite fairytales when I was little! The evil step-mother strikes again, but children turn out to be smarter and better than her :) ( )