SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

An old favorite is given a refreshing new look with bold, colorful, graphic art in gouache on watercolor paper. The storyline stays largely true to the conventional tale, but is less gory than some versions and is told with a slightly ironic tone. The Queen asks her “personal guard in the castle” to take Snow White into the woods and leave her to the wild animals—later, when the Queen runs into the forest to stop the upcoming nuptials of Snow White and the prince, “All she found however were the wild beasts, and she was never seen or heard from again.” The eye-catching art features rectilinear, two-dimensional figures formed by geographic shapes: heads are circles, ears are small triangles, bodies are square or triangular, and a contiguous black line runs throughout the pages, outlining the dwarfs’ facial features, some animals’ bodies, the magic mirror, and other elements. The effect is somewhat static, although the bright colors and bold, clean design do work well with the spare yet complete text. (Picture book/fairytale. 4-8)