THE PRINCESS’S BLANKETS

An original fairy tale with more style than substance tells of a princess who is always cold. Her father, in the way of fairy-tale kings, offers any reward—“even unto half of the kingdom”—to the person who can warm her, with mostly futile results. A stony-eyed stranger comes and challenges the princess to tell him how cold she is. Not wishing to have to leave with him—his chosen reward—she says she’s as cold as the ocean, and he responds by throwing “the ocean’s blanket” over her, then the forest’s, the mountain’s and the earth’s, all to no avail, but he does succeed in denuding the land utterly and sending the kingdom into chaos. Hyde’s textured oils go for mood rather than strict representation, surrounding the princess’s white face with gold-flecked “blankets” of the appropriate oceanic, forested, mountainous and earthy colors. Predictably, a simple, loving musician warms the princess and restores her “blankets” to the land. There is little here for a child reader to hang onto; although initially beautiful, this tale is ultimately as warming as one of the stranger’s blankets. (Picture book. 6-10)