Snow White

by Brothers Grimm, Quentin Greban (Illustrator)

Overview

Quentin Greben breathes new life into this beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The lush illustrations transform the well-known story of the beautiful princess—her lips as red as an apple, her skin as white as snow—into a tale that's new and thrilling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735841161
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	04/01/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,006,579
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Quentin Greban was born in Belguim, where he still lives today. He studied illustration at the Saint Luc Institute in Brussels. Since 1999, Greban has published more than 15 children's books in several French, Belguim, German, and Greek publishing houses. His books are translated in many countries. He received the Saint-Exupery award in 2000 for Les contes de l'Alphabet.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in 1785 and 1786 near Frankfurt, Germany. In their early twenties, they began the linguistic studies that would culminate in their collected editions of folk- and fairy tales. They got their stories from peasants and villagers, and sometimes from already-published works from other cultures. Jacob did much of the research; Wilhelm put the stories into literary form.

Place of Birth:

Hanau, Germany

Place of Death:

Berlin, Germany

Editorial Reviews

"A beautiful rendition for children who can handle the full story as the Grimm brothers intended it."

Midwest Book Review

"The tender artwork serves to move the story along...Use this simple story with children who might be missing someone to give them the reassurance that the anticipated day will indeed arrive." School Library Journal on Quentin Greban-illustrated Wish You Were Here

From the Publisher

Exquisite endpapers set the tone for this elegant version of one of the most-loved fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm: a leafless ebony tree stands in stark relief against a sweeping expanse of snow, the whiteness of which is marred by a single drop of blood. Echoing the central image of this classic tale of contrasts (good and evil, innocence and cruelty, youth and age, beauty and ugliness of spirit), Barrett's images unfold in a twilight world of ethereal beauty anchored by telling detail, from the moonlight reflected in the creek by the dwarves' cottage to the evil-looking poison comb the disguised queen offers Snow White. Poole's version of the lovely young princess and her vindictive stepmother remains faithful to the original, and enchants with its unassuming prose. The artwork's overall tone is sophisticated and somewhat remote, placing the book beyond the reach of younger readers, but this is nonetheless a fairy tale in the grand tradition, and an exemplary marriage of illustration and narrative. All ages. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1–3—Snow White is not pretty in any conventional sense, but she's certainly young and vulnerable in this pleasing rendition of the Grimms' tale. Gréban's watercolor views on the book cover and endpapers—where the intruding girl lies asleep in one of seven small beds—invite readers into the home of the dwarfs, a much happier place than the lonely forest in which Snow White is quickly abandoned once the story actually begins. Unlike most picture-book versions, Gréban's text is faithful to the old story, omitting just a few details. Here the queen does not eat the heart and liver she believes to be Snow White's, but she does dance to her death in the red-hot iron shoes, bringing Snow White's wedding and the book to their old abrupt close. The pairing of the text and pictures will work especially well for read-aloud sharing. White text pages include smaller views and face full-page scenes. The artist is adroit in his choice of perspective and in creating mood. His clear, nicely articulated characters are most appealing in the varied personalities of the dwarfs and the old women who are the disguised queen. The book is more informal than Nancy Ekholm Burkert's handsome version (Farrar, 1987) with Randall Jarrell's text, and much more fulsome than the old Disney version that has dominated publication of this particular story. Every library should find it a most welcome introduction to Grimms' tales.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston

School Library Journal

Flemish watercolorist Greban's queen may not be "the fairest of them all," but she steals center stage from his waifish Snow White-who is perhaps less beautiful than the (uncredited) translated text suggests. While the queen's frightful, menacing presence is effectively apparent as she transforms herself throughout her doomed quest to destroy Snow White, the princess lacks the trademark "blood red lips," and her small, close-set eyes and sometimes bulbous nose combine in a depiction that, while not ugly, is not exactly lovely either. She does seem naive and innocent, which bolsters a necessary contrast with the queen. Also strong are the illustrator's pictures of the satisfyingly individual seven dwarfs-one bespectacled, some clean-shaven, others bearded, etc. The inclusion of the often-omitted final scene with the queen dancing to her death in red-hot iron shoes (curiously white in the illustration) is deftly and gently handled with a picture that presents her in an awkward, foot-stomping stance that is tantrum-like rather than agonizing or scary. An uneven, though worthwhile, addition to fairy-tale collections. (Picture book/fairy tale. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews