Publisher's Weekly Review
Highly detailed, painterly illustrations anchor this collection of seven European and Russian fairy tales, which combines well-known classics, including "Hansel and Gretel" and "Beauty and the Beast," with lesser-known works such as "The Three Golden Hairs" and "The Spirit in the Bottle." A straightforward, traditional narrative tone predominates: "There was once a poor couple who had a son. A visiting fortune teller foretold that the baby would always be lucky and would marry the king's daughter." Romantic details of an imagined past--flowing tresses, ermine robes, doublets, golden crowns, and mullioned windows--figure prominently in Plumbe's pictures, which also reflect a more problematic historical vision: all of the protagonists cue as white. Given that, the dark-toned skin and exaggerated features of the ogre in "The Spirit in the Bottle" and Hades in "The Three Golden Hairs" stand out as troubling artistic choices. Back matter includes brief author biographies. Ages 6--12. (Sept.)
Kirkus Review
Pretty illustrations accompany seven tales from Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Oscar Wilde, and other European writers. Though all but Wilde's "The Selfish Giant" do revolve around brave young people, the stories are significantly abridged and have been edited with a distinct lack of courage. They are so stripped of religious references, for instance, that the "Three Golden Hairs" are plucked from the chin of Hades rather than the devil, and Wilde's giant is promised Paradise by a "child of love" with unmarked palms. On the other hand, "Vassilissa" still allows the flaming skull from Baba Yaga to burn her cruel stepfamily to death, and the stripped-down version of Andersen's "The Wild Swans" actually improves on the original by switching out the walnut oil the evil stepmother uses in the original to transform Princess Elisa into a brown-skinned outcast for a generic "foul ointment" that just makes her unrecognizable. But Hades is the only member of Plumbe's otherwise all-White cast with broad features and dark skin, and the artist's tidy tableaux of stolid figures in medieval garb follow the overall lead of the stories by going for the safely bland. In the cursory author bios at the end Wilde is tagged as "controversial" without explanation, presumably embedded as a code word for adults with parochial values. But the attached ribbon bookmark is pretty. Children, brave or otherwise, in search of classic stories have plenty of other choices. (Folk & fairy tales. 9-11) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This lively anthology features seven well-chosen folktales and literary fairy tales: the Brothers Grimm's "Hansel and Gretel," "The Spirit in the Bottle," and "The Three Golden Hairs," as well as Afanasyev's "Vassilissa," Andersen's "The Wild Swans," Leprince de Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast," and Wilde's "The Selfish Giant." The book originated in Germany in 2017, and the English-language edition was first published in Scotland in 2020. Though translated, retold, and somewhat simplified, the stories retain much of their energy and grace. The only selection that was originally written in English, "The Selfish Giant," has been changed as well. With wording cut, added, or rearranged and religious references removed, the story becomes somewhat more accessible but considerably less powerful. Visually, the book has enormous appeal, with striking jacket art and large, imaginative pictures on most double-page spreads. Canadian artist Plumbe illustrates each story with lively, subtle pictures, sketched in pencil and digitally enhanced. Grounded in precise details, the illustrations soar with imagination and magic. A beautiful showcase for these traditional and literary tales.
