Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen($17.99Value)

Description

Gerda and Kay are the best of friends. They live across an alley from each other and happily chat, play, and tend their lovely rose garden. The children are happy until tragedy strikes Kay. His eye and heart are pierced with fragments of a mirror, and the loving boy Gerda knew vanishes. The Snow Queen has put him under her spell and taken him to her palace of snow and ice. It is up to Gerda to find him and bring him home to the love that awaits him. In this timeless storybook, Ken Setterington has captured the haunting beauty of the classic tale of love’s ability to conquer the coldest, most damaged heart. The book is illustrated with the delicate traditional cut paper art of scherenschnitt , which Hans Christian Andersen himself practiced. Gr 2-4-In seven short chapters, Setterington retells the story of the Snow Queen's abduction of little Kay and his rescue by his loyal friend Gerda. Alternating with full pages of text are pictures done in the traditional art of scherenschnitte, a technique of paper cutting that uses sharp scissors with tiny blades. An author's note provides a bit of history about the art form, which was practiced by Andersen himself. The Hofers have created wonderfully intricate illustrations, which appear the way silhouettes would on the white pages. Though the medium is different, the detail and symmetry of the artwork are reminiscent of Virginia Lee Burton's style. Setterington's language is rich but not easy for children to read, making this more suitable for sharing out loud.-Sally Bates Goodroe, formerly at Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Gr. 3-5, younger for reading aloud. This secular retelling will appeal to those who struggle with the Christian references in Andersen's story. Unfortunately, the narrative lacks the strong imagery and Old World flavor of earlier translations such as that of R. P. Keigwin (illustrated by Marcia Brown). Mention of God and Jesus are also absent in Amy Ehrlich's greatly reduced version of the story ( The Snow Queen) , but that retelling is smoother and retains some of the grace of these earlier editions. Like Andersen himself, Nelly and Ernst Hofer create their pictures through scherenschnitt , or cut-paper art. The old-fashioned black-and-white silhouettes may not immediately attract children, but if introduced to the technique, kids will be entranced by the intricate figures and scenes. Not a first choice, but an alternative with art that is uniquely suited to the Andersen tale. Linda Perkins Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved y are the best of friends. They live across an alley from each other and happily chat, play, and tend their lovely rose garden. The children are happy until tragedy strikes Kay. His eye and heart are pierced with fragments of a mirror, and the loving boy Gerda knew vanishes. The Snow Queen has put him under her spell and taken him to her palace of snow and ice. It is up to Gerda to find him and bring him home to the love that awaits him. In this timeless storybook, Ken Setterington has captured the haunting beauty of the classic tale of love s ability to conquer the coldest, most damaged heart. The book is illustrated with the delicate traditional cut paper art of scherenschnitt , which Hans Christian Andersen himself practiced. Gerda and Kay are the best of friends. They live across an alley from each other and happily chat, play, and tend their lovely rose garden. The children are happy until tragedy strikes Kay. His eye and heart are pierced with fragments of a mirror, and the loving boy Gerda knew vanishes. The Snow Queen has put him under her spell and taken him to her palace of snow and ice. It is up to Gerda to find him and bring him home to the love that awaits him. In this timeless storybook, Ken Setterington has captured the haunting beauty of the classic tale of love's ability to conquer the coldest, most damaged heart. The book is illustrated with the delicate traditional cut paper art of "scherenschnitt, which Hans Christian Andersen himself practiced. Storyteller and librarian Ken Setterington was born in Toronto. He worked with CUSO in Nigeria for two years and now is the Children and Youth Advocate for Toronto Library Services. He was honored by the Association of Canadian Publishers as the Outstanding Public Librarian for the year 2000. The Snow Queen is his first book. Nelly and Ernst Hofer learned the folk art of scherenschnitt in their native Switzerland. They live on a dairy farm in Perth County, Ontario with their two children. Their first book was Silent Night: The Song from Heaven by Linda Granfield.