Customer Reviews

Count Silvernose: A Story from Italy

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I thought this was an excellent picture book that would be suitable for many ages and for girls in particular. This book breaks a lot of typical sterotypes that are present in our culture today. First the heroine is not male and secondly, she is not beautiful, but ugly even by her own standards. So this makes the story very original and captures the reader's interest because of these reasons. Another important thing that this story does is that it grabs the reader's attention and imagination right away. The plot has many twists and turns to it, yet I found it interesting and easy to follow. It was also laced with humor which was important to cut the tension in places. Another reason to recommend this book is for the illustrations. The illustrator Omar Rayyan is excellent. His illustrations for this book seem to have been influenced by Lenoardo DaVinci. His drawings of imps and goblins are wonderfully horrid, but not so bad as to scare the younger reader. This is an outstanding book that children and adults will both love and it is well worth having in your collection.

When you are ready to have your tales with less treacle and pink powder the world of story opens up. How about an ugly heroine? How about an older sister both clever and kind? How about a tale which leaves out the prince? the witch? the dragon?

Count Silvernose is an English retelling of an Italian folktale. Our heroine, Asunta, has none of the traits we look for in a potential princess, yet we find ourselves rooting for her and her quest to rescue her silly sisters.

The colors of the illustrations are as warm as sunset and recall the parchment sketches of the old masters.

We found this book while looking for stories to complement our study of Italy. The story and the illustrations are a great springboard for a discsussion of Italian artists and architecture.

A great book for grade-school kids and older.

I came across this book looking for a picture book version of Bluebeard. They are very familiar tales, but instead of a freakish blue beard this Italian variant features a villain with a silver nose (likely a replacement for the real one lost in a duel). Assunta knows better than to trust a man with a silver nose, but her sisters are foolish and eagerly accompany him to his home as his servants. After each sister disappears it's up to Assunta to travel to the Count's home and get to the bottom of the mystery. (She doesn't have brothers to depend on like the heroine of Bluebeard). It's an eerie, but empowering story.

Simply put - I love it! I love the unique storyline which starts with a heroine described as having warts, a glass eye and a face as ugly as a barn door. She's also clever and kind, but also a little sassy. Go Assunta! Eric Kimmel has adapted this from Italo Calvino's version found in Italian Folktales. All in all it's a very pleasing and entertaining read. I also love the illustrations which are like nothing I've ever seen in a picture book before. Omar Rayyan has chosen to model them after an Italian Renaissance sketchbook - with vibrant color paintings bleeding into incomplete sketches with parchment paper edges. Stunning! Very highly recommended for lovers of fairy tales and great art!