Traditional Literature Book Reviews

 All of these reviews are completed as an assignment for a Masters class for SHSU.

Zelinskey, Paul. 1986. RUMPELSTILTSKIN. New York: E.P. Dutton. ISBN: 0525442650

 Plot Summary: Paul O. Zelinsky retells and illustrates a famous tale called Rumpelstiltskin.  A poor miller in a town decides to impress the king one day and tells him that his daughter can spin straw into gold.  The king loves this idea and brings her to a room in his castle filled with straw. She’s told she needs to spin the straw into gold in one night or she will die.  The poor miller’s daughter is in tears trying to figure out what to do when a mysterious little man appears and helps her for the price of her necklace.  The king is so impressed that he puts her in a larger room the next day. The little man returns and helps her turn the straw into gold for the ring her on her finger.  The king is so impressed that if she does this a third night, he will marry her.  The miller’s daughter has nothing left to give, so she promises the little man her first born child.  Once the new queen has her first child, the little man returns to claim his reward.  The queen doesn’t want to lose her child, so the little man makes her a deal.  The queen has three nights to guess the little man’s name so that she can keep her child.  The queen sends her faithful servant into the woods to find him and learns his name is Rumpelstiltskin.  To Rumpelstiltskin’s surprise, the queen guesses his name on the third night, and he is never heard from again.

 Critical Analysis: Zelinsky does an incredible job of illustrating and retelling this classic tale.  The tale adds a little magic to the reader’s world.  Even though it is retold from the Brothers Grimm, the language and plot are easy for the reader to understand and to follow.

On top of the story being one that is enjoyable for any library to own, the illustrations, which are paintings, awarded Zelinsky a Caldecott Honor Award. With illustrations like these, any reader is more likely to enjoy this traditional tale.

 

Review Excerpts:

Goodreads: “Richly hued oil paintings complement a story simply and gracefully told.”Kirkus: “A distinguished edition of one of Grimm's favorite tales.”

 Connections: This retelling of a traditional tale helps the reader to see elements of a traditional tale like good vs. evil and right vs. wrong. Using this book for some upper-level discussion would be very beneficial.  Students could discuss if the miller’s father was justified in lying to the king; they could also discuss what would have happened if Rumpelstiltskin wouldn’t have helped the miller’s daughter.

 

 

 

 Artell, Mike. 2006. THREE LITTLE CAJUN PIGS. Illustrations by Harris, Jim. New York: The Penguin Group. ISBN 9780803728158

 Plot Summary: The classic tale of Three Little Pigs is taken to whole new level in Three Little Cajun Pigs.  Any reader who knows about the Cajun culture will be immediately attracted to our three little pigs Trosclair, Thibodeaux, and Ulysse who build their three houses of straw, sticks, and brick.  Instead of a big, bad wolf coming after the three pigs, in true Cajun form, the reader meets Ol’ Claude the big gator from the bayou who uses his tale to whack the pigs’ houses.  In the end, the gator climbs to the chimney of the third little pig’s brick house and doesn’t realize the pigs are making a hot roux that burns the gator’s tail and sends him back home to pack tail with ice and is never heard from again.

 Critical Analysis: Artell spins our classic tale in such an entertaining way that any reader will find enjoyment.  Readers who are familiar with Louisiana and the Cajun world will find the language and the characters relatable.  If readers are unfamiliar with the Cajun culture, they will still love learning through the language.  The reader might find the pronunciations difficult, but Artell offers a Glossary at the beginning of the story that not only shows the reader how to say the more difficult words, but also gives definitions.  

The illustrations are very attractive to any reader with simplicity and similarity to other versions of this famous tale.  The gator isn’t drawn too scary for young readers, and is portrayed in a sillier, carton like way that will attract young readers.  The illustrator included background details, like the décor in the pigs’ houses, on each page that are very attractive to the observant reader.

 

Review Excerpt:

Kirkus: “Harris’s playful and detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations heighten the quirky humor of Artell’s rhyming verse, which is characterized by heavy, but accessible, Cajun dialect.”

Goodreads: “This hilarious tale from the creators of the popular Petite Rouge (which School Library Journal declared "A treat from start to finish") will once again take you to the heart of the Cajun swamps and show you the Three Little Pigs like you've never seen them.”

 Connections: Students will love to use this version of Three Little Pigs to not only learn a little about the Cajun culture, but also to compare this version with the traditional tale.  Students could even complete a project on another version of the classic tale by finding a fractured fairy tale version or a Three Little Pigs story from another cultural background.

 

Bryan, Ashley. 2003. BEAUTIFUL BLACKBIRD. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9780689847318

 Plot Summary: Beautiful Blackbird is an African tale about the beautiful and colorful birds in Zambia who are envious of the one blackbird.  The blackbird seems to gleam all the colors of the sun and the other birds think they will be perfect if they just have a little bit of black coloring. The blackbird uses his paintbrush to add a little black coloring to each bird, but reminds the birds each time that beauty isn’t on the outside. Rather, beauty is what’s on the inside that makes you special and unique. The story ends with all birds possessing a small touch of black, but the beautiful blackbird still seems to radiate beautiful colors.

 Critical Analysis: The story is a very straightforward plot to follow with a very common lesson. All the colorful birds are envious of one bird that is different, but the lesson is still voiced that beauty is truly on the inside, not the outside. This moral was mentioned a few times in the story, but the lesson wasn’t completely taught in the end. All the birds received a little black coloring, but it didn’t seem to change things for them.  The author didn’t really teach the lesson of beauty on the inside versus on the outside.

The author notes at the end of the story that the illustrations are done using scissors and colored paper. What’s great is that the lines are crisp and clean, which makes them very eye appealing to the reader. The reader can automatically tell from the front cover illustration that this could be an African tale.

 Review Excerpts: Publisher’s Weekly: “But if the ending creates a bit of confusion, Bryan's collages make up for it with their exhibition of colorful splendor and composition. Scenes of the rainbow of wings are outdone only by a lakeside view of their colors intricately "mirrored in the waters." And Bryan's lilting and magical language is infectious.”

Kirkus: “Still, the rolling language and appealing illustrations make this a must.”

 Connections: This African tale could link to an entire research project on the country of Zambia.  Student researchers could use two different websites to start their research to link with this story: the tourism website: https://www.zambiatourism.com/ and the national country homepage: https://zambia.co.zm/

Students could also do further research on the author and illustrator Ashley Bryan and review other books like Freedom Over Me (2016) and Let it Shine (2007) to name a few.  Students could then compare the different stories.

 

Issacs, Anne. 1994. SWAMP ANGEL. Illustrations by: Zelinsky, Paul. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 9780140559088

 Plot Summary: Angelica Longrider didn’t seem like much of girl when she was first born, no taller than her mother and she couldn’t climb a tree without help. However, as she began to grow, she proved otherwise.  She puts out fires with water from a cloud and she builds a log cabin at the age of two.  Angelica earns the nickname Swamp Angel when she lifts a band of covered wagons out of the swamp.  Along comes a bear that no one in the town can kill. The men ensue on a hunt so that they can feed the town.  Swamp Angel fights through a swamp, the sky, and a lake and ends up killing the bear and feeding the town.

 Critical Analysis: Swamp Angel is a great story that shows a female hero who triumphs in all her adventures if the reader believes her stories to be true.  She not only shows a good vs. evil them when she triumphs over the bear, but Swamp Angel also refuses to listen to the men in her story that tell her she needs to be cooking rather than hunting a bear.  Isaacs using imagery and analogies that lead the reader to believe he or she is reading a true tale from Tennessee.

Zelinsky does an incredible job with the illustrations using muted colors and clothing that resembles a time in history on the prairie.  The reader feels like the illustrations are taken straight from a history book.

 Review Excerpt:

Goodreads: “Caldecott Medal-winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky's stunning folk-art paintings are the perfect match for the irony, exaggeration, and sheer good humor of this original tall tale set on the American frontier.”

Kirkus: “To say that you are entering Caldecott land doesn't begin to do this book justice.”

Connections: This book is such a great tale to coincide with the famous Paul Bunyan story.  Students could read both stories and compare the actions of the heroes, along with the imagery language that is used. 

Readers could also locate other books with Zelinsky’s illustrations, like Rumpelstiltskin, and compare who he changes or doesn’t change his illustration style.