Castle Waiting:The Curse Of Brambly Hedge [Paperback]

Linda Medley (Author, Artist)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Olio Press (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965185222
• ISBN-13: 978-0965185226
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,714,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why is this book not available???, June 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Castle Waiting:The Curse Of Brambly Hedge (Paperback)

Okay, this is the third edition of this book, published 2 months ago...AND IT'S NOT AVAILABLE!!! WHY???

This is a rare gem of a book. "Castle Waiting" is one of the best comic books (okay, "drawn books") ever. The characterization is fantastic. Linda Medley's drawing style is charming yet oddly realistic (her people look like people, not like how-people-should-look). Her focus on the "lesser" characters is interesting and long-overdue. Her fairness in terms of gender is refreshing. This retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" is riotous at times, touching at others.

Another reviewer mentioned her wonderful resource for children at the end. EARTH TO PARENTS! LINDA MEDLEY CARES WHAT YOUR CHILDREN READ! THIS ARTIST HAS WONDERFUL SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR CHILD'S MIND!!! Worth the price of admission right there. No, really - she has put her heart and soul into making this book as helpful and well-rounded as possible, in addition to being a great read.

I am constantly buying copies of "Lucky Road" for new moms. I've found that new mothers respond really well to the story of Jain and Pindar, and it's nice to have a different kind of storybook to put in a child's (or adult's!) library. I've been trying to get my hands on more copies of Brambly Hedge ('cause I'm not giving up my copy) to give to these same women and kids. It's very hard! It's really, REALLY unfair when all sorts of dreck gets offered through book sites and the good stuff isn't available.

I know Linda Medley is having trouble getting the monthly comic book out (at least, as per the last issue of CW). Go pick up "Lucky Road", go visit your local comics shop and buy them out of CW, ask your local bookstore to carry it, anything. Anything to keep her writing, anything to keep these books coming out. Few titles are this worthwhile. Really.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a story...., February 4, 2003

By 

tulyar, a drawn books fan and librarian (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Castle Waiting:The Curse Of Brambly Hedge (Paperback)

Linda Medley is a storyteller supreme. And her story re-telling is pretty darn impressive, too. The Curse of Brambly Hedge is Medley's take on the old story of Briar Rose (Which is, of course, very similar to the story so many of us know as "Sleeping Beauty".). Medley's dialogue and art are flexible and expressive and the story fairly leaps off the page. But what makes this book in this edition so priceless is the huge appendix at the end. Aimed at younger readers and drawn book newbies, she provides character drawings with instructions to experiment with coloring their costumes, a step-by-step guide to creating a character of your own, two guided exercises for creating your own story, helpful instructions on how to read pictures (e.g., what various lines around characters can mean and what the different dialogue bubbles signify), suggestions for classic stories to retell, a bibliography of such stories, and, finally, a list of resources for parents focussed on reading and stories. All that in 75 pages and for $9. This is an excellent place for anyone to start reading drawn books and the "Reading Pictures" is perfect for the person who wants to learn more about the medium by doesn't have time to digest Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.

By the way, "drawn books" is Medley's term for what we normally call "comic books" or "graphic novels". I think this is a more accurate description, so I've adopted it.