Under the aegis of the late Jim Henson, here are nine stories that first appeared as The Storyteller TV series—traditional folk and fairy tales refreshed for a modern audience. Released now as an adult book, this appealing, abundantly illustrated offering is just as suitable for young readers. Minghella looks to a Tuscan proverb (``The tale is not beautiful if nothing is added to it'') for inspiration and, like Italo Calvino in Italian Folktales, adds to and alters the stories, most already available in standard collections—``Hans My Hedgehog'' and ``The Luck Child,'' for example. Some of his variations lack resonance on paper (the troll in ``The True Bride'' speaks in scrambled phrases like ``I'm founded dumb'') and distract from the prime-time themes of fear, trust, fidelity, etc. Most, however, are interesting even when they deviate from the classic story line (Hans has soft bristles and a devoted mother) and often enough Minghella's own language sets the tone: ``in a week with two Fridays,'' he writes, or ``Suddenly everyone could live forever'' or ``Beggars are never what they seem.'' Darcy May's 41 full-color paintings, rendered in a subtle palette, are elegant, expressive compositions faithful to the spirit of the stories and kin to several old favorites. Image for image, they don't quite match the spiritual quality and inner flow of, say, Nonny Hogrogian's (juvenile) The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs, and they lack the penetrating aspect of the (much longer) Segal/Sendak collaboration The Juniper Tree. Good company to these and others already on library shelves, they have a soft, distinctive look that should draw in readers of all ages.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-394-58256-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1991
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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