Customer Reviews

The Brave Little Seamstress

5 star:		(3)
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3 star:		(1)
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"One summer day a little seamstress sat by her window, eating bread and jam. When the jam attracted a swarm of flies, she tried to wave them away. But the flies, who didn't speak English, kept coming back. Finally the little seamstress lost her patience. She grabbed a cloth and swung it at the windowsill..." Looking down, the little seamstress was astonished to find that she had killed seven. She considered this feat so remarkable, that she embroidered her success on the back of her favorite coat. "Seven with one blow!" Well, the world needed to hear about this, and so the little seamstress put on her coat and set out on what turns out to be the adventure of a lifetime. Unfortunately, her message is misunderstood by everyone who sees it, and before her journey's finished, and she's living happily-ever-after as a good and wise queen, the little seamstress needs to outwit giants, capture a unicorn and a wild boar, and finally outsmart a not so nice king..... Mary Pope Osborne and Giselle Potter are back, and those who loved their first "female revisionist" fairy tale, Kate And The Beanstalk, will be delighted with this latest offering. Based on the old Brothers Grimm story, The Brave Little Tailor, this dynamic duo again give their spirited retelling a decidedly feminist twist. Ms Osborne's engaging text is filled with wit, and kids will be rooting for their resourceful and sassy heroine as she meets and conquers each challenge. Ms Potter's marvelously clever illustrations are rich in humor and eye-catching detail and capture the story beautifully. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, The Brave Little Seamstress is an entertaining, fun-filled read you definitely don't want to miss.

I loved reading this book to my daughter. The book stems from the classic story with a few updates, and the hero is now a female character. It shows how a smart woman can make anything happen!

A little seamstress kills seven flies with one blow  and sets off to tell the world of her accomplishment, which she stitches on the back of her coat. When a giant sees her coat and believes '7 with one blow' means seven giants felled, trouble erupts in this whimsical take-off on the traditional story. Giselle Potter's drawings are fun.

The introduction to this book states that two women originally told this story to the Grimm brothers; and that the version retold by Andrew Lang was in fact most likely translated by a woman, since his wife, cousins, and other "literary young women" did most of his work for him. Because of this, the author says, she felt this story should have a female protagonist. I wonder about that; if all these women were responsible for carrying this story along through generations, they surely would have changed it to a female protagonist had they thought it necessary. It seems to me more respectful to the women involved to keep the story as they had wished it.

Regardless of your feelings on this misguided point of feminism, I have to say that this story didn't need to be retold. The illustrations are garish and tacky, the text simplistic and the dialogue forced and boorish. It seems as though Osborne was working really hard to make the story fun. Why she felt it needed "improving" I can't say. Get the original.