The Brave Little Seamstress

by Mary Pope Osborne, Giselle Potter (Illustrator)

Overview

"Goodness!" the little seamstress said. "I've killed seven flies with one blow." And to mark the event, she took out her favorite coat and stitched on the back:
SEVEN WITH ONE BLOW!
Proud of her amazing feat, the brave little seamstress sets off to tell the world. It's not her fault if, along the way, a giant sees her coat and thinks she slayed seven giants, now is it?
Based on the classic fairy tale "The Brave Little Tailor," Mary Pope Osborne's spirited retelling — this time starring a gutsy seamstress — and Giselle Potter's charming illustrations take you to a magical world where a little heroine meets even the biggest challenges with wit and imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689844867
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/01/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	741,252
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mary Pope Osborne is the award-winning author of many distinguished books for children and young adults, including the bestselling Magic Treehouse series; Favorite Medieval Tales, illustrated by Troy Howell; American Tall Tales, illustrated by Michael McCurdy; Rocking Horse Christmas, illustrated by Ned Bittinger; and Adaline Falling Star. The former president of the Author's Guild, she lives in New York City with her husband, Will.

Giselle Potter has illustrated many books, including Try It! by Mara Rockliff, All by Himself? by Elana K. Arnold, and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, as well as her own Tell Me What to Dream About, This Is My Dollhouse, and The Year I Didn’t Go to School, about traveling through Italy with her parents’ puppet troupe when she was eight. She lives in Rosendale, New York, with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at GisellePotter.com.

Hometown:

Goshen, Connecticut

Date of Birth:

May 20, 1949

Place of Birth:

Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Education:

B.A., University of North Carolina

Website:

http://www.marypopeosborne.com

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Marvelously absurd."

— New York Times Book Review

"Clever."

— Publishers Weekly, starred review

Editorial Reviews

"Marvelously absurd."

— New York Times Book Review

"Clever."

— Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

In a starred review of this feminist reworking of The Brave Little Tailor, PW said, "This briskly imaginative romp will sew up fans' allegiance and gear them up for this pair's next Grimm makeover." Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-The popular story of "The Brave Little Tailor" receives its just revision as a feminist adventure. All of the familiar elements are present-the jam and the flies, the giants, the unicorn, and the wild boar-but the finale is a delightful twist. The brave little seamstress marries the knight who has told her of the king's plan to be rid of her, and becomes a legendary "kind and wise" and "strong and brave" queen. Osborne, who previously collaborated with Potter on Kate and the Beanstalk (Atheneum, 2000), has crafted another lively tale suited to reading aloud or telling. In a note, the author relates that the Brothers Grimm collected the story from female relatives and that Andrew Lang, whose version she has adapted, relied on his female relatives for retellings and translations. Potter's stylized art, rendered in pencil, ink, gouache, and watercolor, is replete with humorous details. The diminutive but clever seamstress perched on the knee of the huge and slightly befuddled giant sets the tone for this playful version. The palette of greens, browns, and oranges for the giants and the landscapes, and royal purple for the king is appealing. The use of a running stitch design for the title and some page borders adds to the visual treat. A beautifully designed book that children will enjoy and adults will want to share again and again.-Susan Pine, New York Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Switching genders in another traditional tale, the author and illustrator of Kate and the Beanstalk (2000) pit a clever, doughty seamstress against a swarm of flies ("Seven At One Blow"), three giants, a unicorn, a wild boar, and, most dangerous of all, a fearful king with a hundred knights. Whether facing wild beasts, or surrounded by large (sometimes very large) pale, purse-lipped men, the seamstress visibly exudes self-confidence, and though Potter places her in a medieval setting-and the way the heroine addresses her adversaries (" ‘Hey! Unicorn! . . . Over here!' ")-gives this rendition a contemporary flavor. In the end, the seamstress sends the king and 99 of his knights packing; the 100th, who admires her spirit, sticks around to become king and inherit the kingdom with her. As the story is about courage and cleverness overcoming brawn, it's actually improved by a protagonist even smaller and weaker than the tailor in the original-even more so, as Osborne points out in the source note, since its best-known versions, from the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang, were probably collected from female storytellers. (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews