Customer Reviews

Sleeping Beauty

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The five stars are for the artwork. Ms. Craft's work is brilliant and, as always, I find no fault with it. The style in this book reminds me of flemish tapestries, though some paintings seem to have a very strong Renaissance feel to them. Also noteworthy are the illuminated letters that introduce each page of text. They rival those of Medieval times. They employ a labyrinthine quality and I enjoyed gazing on these letters repeatedly, as I did the large paintings.

In addition to technical achievement with her lush details, Ms. Craft demonstrates a strong ability to tell a story with pictures in this volume. I very much admire this aspect to her work and I think she uses extraneous details wisely. Ms. Craft's details always enhance the narrative. They add something without giving the sense of simply being tacked into the works. For example, a mermaid child on the fountain goes through the enchantment with Beauty and leaves a little something to wonder about. This character is shown on a fountain in a painting in the opening where Beauty is playing a 12-stringed instrument. You wonder if the child is real or a statue. Later, you can the watery little thing sleeping peacefully inside the fountain when the prince arrives. I found this element to add a bit of mystery and a sense of old fashioned enchantment that has ancient, classical roots.

Another character that lives in the paintings is the German Shepard Dog that you can see clearly sleeping at Beauty's side by her bed. He's introduced earlier, at the side of the fairy, when she flies in with her dragons. There, he's hardly noticeable, but evidently, this handsome dog is left behind to guard the princess. He's even seen in the last full page painting, adding a symbolic element of domesticity and safety, as he sits there and calmly gazes at the reader from his corner. I found him charmingly reminiscent of flemish Renaissance paintings.

I think that Mahlon Craft tried to do the same thing with his ancient frog. This frog swims with Beauty's mother, and to repay her for her songs, he fortells the birth of Beauty. I think I missed the frog's real meaning, if there was one. I found him distracting, creating a slow start for the book. The frog only seemed to be added in for the sake of stretching Mr. Kinuko's narrative, of giving the reader the prophecy in the space of a page, not a paragraph.

Another strange element that didn't seem to mesh tightly into the rest of Mr. Craft's narrative was the negligence of Beauty's parents on her 16th birthday. They leave her alone as they've gone out to buy her a very special gift. How does that make any sense? They are characterized as having feelings for their daughter and they had been warned that she would be afflicted on this day. How could they have been so callous to have left her? They learned their lesson about ignoring the 13th fairy right away, you'd think that they would take these things more seriously! This is the one place in Mahlon's story that I thought showed a weakness and could have been more thoroughly developed.

I have read published reviews of other collaborations done by the Crafts in which Mahlon Craft's writing was characterized as a bit bland and not matching his wife's work for artistic merit. I have agreed at least in part with that assesment until I collected this latest book and got past the strange, bumpy opening. In all fairness, I think that Mahlon's star is rising with the remainder of this text. The strange little frog and the neglect of the King and Queen aside, Mr. Craft creates a lovely narrative that sounds elegant when read aloud. His use of language is soft, gentle and evocative, at times an almost perfect match for the sleepy tapestry of paintings Ms. Craft provides.

I was most pleased with how Mr. Craft's story is a love story, and most of the versions of Sleeping Beauty that I have encountered don't exercise this emotion in the narrative. The other stories seem to focus almost exclusively on magic and retribution- the prince is merely an agent of change and offers little else to the narrative. In this book, however, there is an element of love that gives the story much of its meaning.

Only one prince, her soul mate, could awaken Beauty, for example. He isn't some fellow who comes along at the right time, he's special! His special quality is why he gets through the brambles: the other princes only "disappear" (and don't die in vain, as they do in other stories.) The value of being true to your heart, of waiting as long as necessary to choose the right love to live your life with is strongly affirmed. Mahlon's Beauty gazes on her prince with "tender glances" and informs him that, "These many long years only you have filled my dreams, for none other could awaken me from my spell. Now in love's sweet name at last our hearts will together be eternally bound."

This is sweet stuff, more poetic than others of Mr. Craft's I think, and where his cleverness shines most brightly.

In sum, I see two stories being told. One is in paint. It is enchanting, the brainchild of a true master who excels at her craft. The other story is told in the text. It is not bad, by any means, and is fairly pretty. It sounds pretty and makes sense most of the way through. It is the work of someone who has gotten better but is still outshone by others in his field and by the glorious paintings that they seem to have been written to support but not equal in beauty. A truly extraordinary book would be the one where the text matches the paintings, but with Kinuko Craft this may be too great a challenge for the children's book industry's wordsmiths. In my opinion, few modern works ever come close to happy marriage of beautiful text and beautiful pictures, as we see in the example of past masters, such as Howard Pyle. I do hope the Crafts keep up the effort- we are in need of some new timeless classics for this generation of readers and readers in the future.

I have four children and a large collection of childrens' books, including some wonderfully illustrated classics. However, this book has the most beautiful illustrations I've ever seen. I am a fan of Kinuko Craft's other books, but this one truly oudoes them all. Sleeping Beauty is a wonderful treat for kids, and anyone who appreciates truly beautiful art. Its classic story line and amazing illustrations make it the best bedtime story book I've seen.

Although the tale is well-known and almost as popular as Cinderella, there are few picture books of Sleeping Beauty currently in print. The Crafts have helped to fill the void with this lushly written and illustrated version of the classic tale. The tale is romantic and Kinuko Craft's illustrations are her usual high standard, this time with a baroque whimsy that will delight young and old readers. I have seen grown-ups reaching to thumb through the book as often as the children in my library and at the bookstore. If you are not familiar with Craft's illustrations, this book is a perfect introduction while presenting a fairy tale princess in all of her baroque splendor. It's also great if you have been looking for that perfect bedtime fairy tale so rarely seen in this format. ...

I have long been a fan of ms. Crafts illustrations. They are breathtakingly beautiful from a distance, and full of interesting and fantastic details upon closer examination. This book is no exception, and takes the classic story of the enchanted Princess Aurora, setting the tale in a romantic fantasy kingdom, with the artwork combining rennaisance, high baroque and modern artistic styles.

There are no words to describe how talented Craft is at capturing beauty, you must see it for yourself.

This book is unique in that the illustrations are breathtaking! This is an amazing book, retelling the timeless classic story of Sleeping Beauty with the most exquisite artwork, a joy for both parents and children alike! The storyline matches the classic story in history, rather than the storyline Disney created, an excellent book to add to your collection, especially if it is desired that children are aware of the original story in addition to what Disney created.

The illustrations in this retelling are exquisite and almost like delicate portraits from a bygone era. (the illustration of the king carrying Aurora is very touching!) There are also gorgeous details (both in wording and illustration - the falcon, the dog, the rose - oh, and the Prince's horse is beautiful!) K. Y. Craft made a very wise decision, I think, by matching such intricate illustrations with a fairly high-level of vocabulary. The tale will still regis...more Simply beautiful!

The illustrations in this retelling are exquisite and almost like delicate portraits from a bygone era. (the illustration of the king carrying Aurora is very touching!) There are also gorgeous details (both in wording and illustration - the falcon, the dog, the rose - oh, and the Prince's horse is beautiful!) K. Y. Craft made a very wise decision, I think, by matching such intricate illustrations with a fairly high-level of vocabulary. The tale will still register with younger readers, but be warned that there were a few times I found myself stumbling over the speech patterns or word choices (however, if you know this going into the read, it shouldn't be an issue but will instead enhance the retelling). Also, the attention to detail in this story really help to take the tale to a elevated level of "read-aloud."

I also was intrigued by K. Y. Craft's decision on how to represent the King. Typical of this version of Sleeping Beauty, the evil fairy is not invited because she is believed either dead or under spell since she hasn't been seen for more than fifty years. However, it is quite apparent that this was simply the King's excuse for not inviting her, because he didn't want the expense of creating another costly golden set place-setting: "for his treasuries were nearly as dear to him as his daughter." Zing! However, the King realizes his selfishness, and his character does have quite an arc by the end.

In this tale it appears that the prince wants to rescue Aurora, which appears more selfless than in some other retellings: "The thought of a sleeping beauty such as Briar Rose lying unprotected in a thorny prison was more than his good and valiant nature could bear." A warning, there is an illustration of the fallen princes within the briar, though they pretty much look like they've been sleeping.

Perhaps my favorite part was the last page, I won't spoil it, but I thought it was very poetic and a great way to summarize the lives of the characters.

If not, that's reason enough to buy this book. It is one of the most luminous and exquisite fairytale paintings I have ever seen. And the rest of the book matches it. Believe the raves - if you love fairytales and art this book is definitely for you.

The art of this book becomes a collector's item. So beautiful and lifting for adults as well as children.

The story is timeless, and the product is just as good. Beautiful artwork to accompany the story. The paper is top-rate, and the cover is A+. Every little girl should have this book and eventually pass it down to the next generation.

This rendition of Sleeping Beauty is delicious to the eye. I purchased the book specifically for the art work. KY Craft is fast becoming one of my favorite artists and the children's books she has illustrated are pieces of art that I return to look at again and again.

The story line is well loved.... and it is a pleasure reading a delightfully familiar & wonderfully illustrated fairytale as a 'maturing' grown up! CJ