Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustafson

From the Publisher

This exquisitely illustrated, large format gift book features ten of the most enduring fairy tales of all time. The stories, chosen and edited by the artist, are a balance of 'princess' classics and frolicking adventure tales.

Artist Scott Gustafson spent more than four years creating the seventy-five rich oil paintings, reproduced here in full color. His style is reminiscent of N.C. Wyeth and Wyeth;s gifted student Jessie Wilcox Smith (plus a touch of Arthur Rackham in the fairies). The rounded-face, glowing children and charming interiors contribute to Gustafson?s unique and contemporary style, which will capture the hearts of even the most hard-boiled media-savvy child.

Claudia Mills - Children's Literature

This oversized, lavishly produced collection includes ten well-loved fairy tales: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Tom Thumb, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Rumplestiltskin, Cinderella, and the Three Little Pigs. Gustafson explains in an illustrator's note that the book's seventy-five paintings were over a decade in the making, with some of the "largest and most complex paintings" taking "up to three months to complete." The result is a visual feast of rich and detailed splendor: Goldilocks sleepily stretching in the little bear's bed, surrounded by the astonished (and well-dressed) bear family; a shy Red Riding Hood, clutching her small bouquet of wild flowers, about to be gobbled by a most convincing wolf, luxuriating under Grandmother's hand-stitched quilt; Snow White presiding over the elaborately carved cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. No attribution of any kind is provided for the text, however, presumably taken from common-domain retellings—but which ones? from which sources? While the stories for the most part are told in a familiar, classic style, every once in a while there is some jarring addition, as when the frog prince snuggles down next to the princess on her silken bed, and asks her, "Don't you love sleepovers?" One would have liked to have seen the words of these beloved tales presented with some of the evident care lovingly bestowed upon the illustrations. 2003, Greenwich Workshop Press, Ages all.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 6-Gustafson has selected 10 of the best-known tales to retell and illustrate: "Goldilocks," "Puss in Boots," "Hansel and Gretel," "Snow White," and the like. His luminous paintings-from spot art to full spreads-are carefully composed and rendered. The facial expressions and postures of humans and animals alike are full of life. The language of the retellings is adequate, but not inspired. All in all, this handsome, oversized volume is a good addition to libraries that need to replace or supplement their fairy-tale collections.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Details from Seller

• ISBN: 086713089X
• Publisher: Greenwich Workshop Press
• Pub. Date: September 2003
• Condition:

Comments from the Seller: Brand new item. Over 6 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: U20091111225542G