From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 5–Doyle has turned his fluent pen to the retelling of 12 folktales: five from Germany, and one each from Spain, France, Ukraine, China, Argentina, and what he calls Native America and Arabia. Unfortunately the language he employs in his narrations is no more culturally specific than the broad labels on the table of contents. So the Ukrainian Fool of the World looks down from his flying ship and says to the man below, Sure, youve a basketful of it on your back already! And the heads of the terrifying man-eating fish in the Chinese story The Jeweled Sea are described as being twice the size of a football. Such turns of phrase do not actually injure the plots of the tales, but they detract from the ethnic atmosphere that might have enhanced them further. The playful, colorful acrylic-and-pastel illustrations likewise err on the side of a comfortable lack of specificity. Ceccolis human figures, with their minimally rendered expressions and rounded shapes, resemble interchangeable figures in a dollhouse set. Taken as a whole, the collection may serve as a read-aloud, but it should not be relied upon as an accurate representation of the folklore of any of the cultures from which Doyle drew the stories.
–Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 3. Doyle follows his
Tales from Old Ireland (2000) with a more global anthology that combines ubiquitous European fairy tales ("Hansel and Gretel" "Rumpelstiltskin") with a few choices from other continents, such as "The Magic Ball," from Argentina, and "The Jeweled Sea," from China. Doyle's retellings are swift and lively, and he maintains the original brutality of the stories, such as the parade of beheadings that starts off "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." He also knows the details that will leave kids chortling: "Cut my toenails!" is among the commands made by Cinderella's bullying stepsisters (referred to as "the lumpy one" and "the dumpy one"). Like Doyle's text, Ceccoli's acrylic-and-pastel artwork stays close to traditional images, while also injecting a modern vibrancy. The expected, lovely scenes of enchanted castles and princesses in ball gowns are shot through with acidic, almost neon contemporary hues. Comprehensive source notes conclude this handsome, energetic, and accessible addition to the crowded fairy-tale shelves.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
