The Golden Goose

by Brothers Grimm, Margaret Hunt (Translator)

Overview

Here is a classic, comic tale from Grimm about a kind-hearted young man called Simpleton whose generosity is rewarded in strange and wonderful ways.
REVIEWS: "Duntze's large pictures for this Grimm tale include a mixture of pleasing compositions and favor light hues, which give them an airy openness. . . . A fresh-looking interpretation."--Booklist
"Duntze's light-filled, surreal illustrations capture well the underlying humor in the tale." --The Reading Teacher

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788726591453
Publisher:	Saga Egmont International
Publication date:	09/30/2020
Series:	Grimm's Fairy Tales , #64
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	6
File size:	211 KB

About the Author

After studying at Marburg, Jacob became a clerk in the War Office at Kassel, and in 1808 librarian to Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. In 1841 he received Professorship at Berlin, and in 1854 began work on Deutsches Worterbuch with his brother.

Anthea Bell (translator) is the recipient of the Schlegel Tieck Prize for translation from German, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize in 2002 for the translation of W. G. Sebald's "Austerlitz", and the 2003 Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation. She lives in Cambridge, England.

Dorothee Duntze was born in Reims, France. She studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Reims and the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Strasbourg. Among the other books she has illustrated for North-South are The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, and Hansel and Gretel.

Place of Birth:

Hanau, Germany

Place of Death:

Berlin, Germany

Editorial Reviews

This is the classic and beloved tale in which the youngest son, powerless and underappreciated in his family, gains wealth and love through an act of kindness. Smooth and unabridged, the telling carries the full flavor of the original. And as usual, Duntze's stylish illustrations contribute fascinating details, in the characters' expressive faces, the clothing and furnishings, as well as in the beautifully composed settings. A treat for lap-sharing or reading aloud. this would also be an espe cially fine choice for any child's shelf. Ages 6-8. (October)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-4-- Duntze's rich, stylized watercolors for this well-known tale are an unusual blend that includes folk art and surrealism. They present the story effectively from varied perspectives, although sometimes with a static quality. The simpleton/protagonist is portrayed as a grown booby who plays with toys, but practically everyone in these illustrations appears to be a dolt. The most appealing pictures are those of the simpleton leading the people stuck to the goose and the Holbein-like portraits of the princess and of her and the simpleton at the conclusion. These distinguished illustrations do not equal Leslie Brooke's inimitable ones in his Golden Goose Book-- still available in a reduced format--but they are preferable to others in print (although they may be admired more by adults than by children). The text, unfortunately, seems shaped by the modern view that children must have simple, graceless language in simplified sentences. It is acceptable, but hardly worth reading aloud to children. At least the adaptor has not tampered with the plot and tells the tale complete. --Ronald A. Van De Voorde, Graduate Library School, University of Arizona, Tucson

School Library Journal

Unlike his two older brothers, who refuse to share their bread with an old man and meet with accidents, a simpleton offers his food gladly and is rewarded with the gift of a gold-feathered goose. When a girl tries to steal a feather, she becomes ""hokety pokety stickety stuck"" as does everyone who tries to free her. Like the Brothers Grimm, Shulevitz never explains how the people become "unstuck," but the simpleton ends up with a princess and lots of golden baby geese. Shulevitz makes a few thoughtful omissions and keeps his words to a minimum. Despite the disturbing chopped-off people who appear in some of the illustrations, the artwork is striking. The pictures, whether of buildings or people in the kingdom, are intensely colored, full of points and crazy angles, and bursting with a bouncing vitality that fits the amusing story well.

Susan Dove Lempke