The Nightingale, illustrated by Beni Montresor.

Italian artist Beni Montresor, who was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1965 for Beatrice Schenk de Regniers' May I Bring a Friend?, turns his attention to Hans Christian Andersen in this picture-book retelling of The Nightingale. The story of the Emperor of China, who discovers the beauty to be found in nature - as embodied by the humble brown nightingale - it has been retold many times and interpreted by many artists.

This version of the tale is translated and adapted by Alan Benjamin, whose narrative is competent, but rather stiff and unexciting. Montresor's illustrations, which remind me a bit of Friso Henstra's work, have a somewhat dated sensibility, and are not particularly appealing. Although ostensibly set in China, they sometimes felt very Western to me, which seems an odd criticism to level against artwork meant to accompany a European man's Chinese fantasy. Still, the story is set in China, and I would like the illustrations to convince me that that is where we are. Bagram Ibatoulline and Nancy Ekholm Burkert do a much better job in this respect, as do their respective translators, and I think most Andersen fans will gain more from looking at those editions, than from hunting down this out-of-print selection. ( )

Very good condition