CLASSIC FAIRY TALES

In well-crafted retellings, Cresswell streamlines nine traditional favorites, omitting some repetitions (Cinderella goes to just one ball), restructuring to create different storytelling cadences (Goldilocks eats the porridge after the chair breaks), and toning down the violence (the Frog Prince isn't thrown at the wall; the wolf eats neither Grandmother nor Red Riding Hood, though he's killed with an arrow). Commendably, she treats both the stories and the sensibilities of little listeners without condescension. Each tale is given a full-page illustration plus appealingly scattered decorative spots (blossoms, a bag of gold, Snow-white and Rose-red's bear cuddled up with a lamb, Rapunzel's tower). Lawson's work with ornamental plates and figurines is apparent in the delicate precision of her paintings and the rather static and doll-like characters: Hansel and Gretel are too demure to elicit much sympathy. Still, the deft adaptations make good introductions to the familiar stories while the romantic art is sure to attract an adult seeking a gift book. (Folklore. 3-6)