Sleeping Bunny [Hardcover]

Emily Snowell Keller (Author), Pamela Silin-Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: K and up

Pamela Silin-Palmer and her daughter Emily Snowell Keller bring their talents to this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, showcasing Ms. Silin-Palmer’s fabulous paintings of animals dressed in costumes. As always, the illustrations are filled with detail, rendered both impeccably and with lots of quirky humor. Where else can you find piggies with butterfly wings as fairy godmothers? The text maintains the humor all the way to “hoppily ever after.”

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ornate illustrations enchant in this humorous fairy-tale adaptation. Silin-Palmer (Bunny and the Beast) once again casts long-legged rabbits dressed in billowing raiment in the starring roles; the gift-giving fairies are winged pigs, while a red-eyed, green-skinned rat takes the role of the excluded vengeful fairy, Mildew. Keller, the illustrator's daughter, alters the traditional plot only slightly. She throws in some groaners (everyone lives "hoppily ever after") but also supplies an imaginative and witty twist at the end. Most of the comic relief comes in the elegantly elaborate paintings, both from the incongruousness of Silin-Palmer's majestically bedecked animals and from the occasional joke (a coat of arms features crossed carrots and bears the inscription "carpe carotae"). The sustained whimsy of the artwork, from the sumptuous settings to the lush floral borders dotted with birds and butterflies, will please readers who like their fairy tales served up with all the trimmings. All ages.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-This lavishly illustrated version of "Sleeping Beauty" features a straightforward retelling spiced with a few amusing surprises, a cast of animal characters dressed in full medieval regalia, and sumptuous paintings that strike just the right balance between romance and humor. The King, his Queen, the Princess, and her hero are depicted as long-limbed, statuesque rabbits, all elegantly draped in silks and velvets and bedecked in shimmering jewels. Dressed in costumes that evoke the various flowers for which they are named, the good fairies are tiny pigs that hover on butterfly wings and sometimes take butterfly form. Mildew, "the eighth and crankiest fairy," who is not invited to Princess Bunny's birth celebration for lack of enough place settings, makes an appropriately jarring appearance as a neon-green rat with razor teeth and bat wings. The dramatic spreads are filled with lush visual details, vibrant colors, and fluid lines. The tone remains lighthearted, as tongue-in-cheek touches in the artwork and in the storytelling reassure readers that all will be well. In fact, a "hoppily ever after" future is guaranteed when Mildew appears at Princess Bunny's wedding with a gift of "eight golden plates." While those familiar with the tale will enjoy the whimsy of Sleeping Bunny, this story also makes a great choice for younger readers who may not be ready for more traditional versions, such as those illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (Little, Brown, 1977) and K. Y. Craft (SeaStar, 2002).
Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375815414
• ISBN-13: 978-0375815416
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kirkus Reviews, January 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sleeping Bunny (Hardcover)

Another retold fairy tale from the illustrator of Bunny and the Beast (2001), this time in collaboration with her daughter, finds Sleeping Beauty with a mostly bunny cast -- that is, except for the fairies, who are pigs with wings, and a few other beasts who are courtiers. Keller tells the classic tale with wry and sly humor. At the beginning, the rabbit king and queen long for what is missing in their lives: "a baby bunny (which was highly unusual in their family!) At the very end, the bad fairy Mildew, the rat whose spinning wheel offers the paw prick, presents Bunny and her Prince with eight golden dishes so she won't make the same mistake as her parents in leaving a fairy out, and "everyone lived hoppily ever after." Silin Palmer designs fabric and ceramics among other things, and has clearly studied the work of Dutch flower painter Jan van Huysum: her dark backgrounds and gorgeous, naturalistic flowers bedeck every image. Roses and butterflies, sunflowers and foxglove glow from the pages. Princess Bunny and her family wear more-or-less medieval royal garb that has a shimmer of its own. Really fun, if rather silly. (picture book/fairy tale. 4-7)

Copyright by Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2002

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Booklist Review, January 1, 2003, February 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sleeping Bunny (Hardcover)

Keller, Emily. Sleeping Bunny. Illus. by Pamela Silin-Palmer. Jan. 2003. 40p. Random, $
PreS-Gr.

Sleeping Beauty becomes a sleeping bunny in this lavish re-imagining of the familiar fairy tale. Keller follows the traditional story, but rabbit touches abound -- right down to the spinning wheel pricking the princess' velety paws. Other animals populate the kingdom as well; the fairy godmothers are pigs -- except for the bad fairy, who is a rat. Silin-Palmer, a decorative artist who has designed everything from paper products to fantasy furniture, puts her skills to good use in luxurious illustrations touched by swirls and whirls of gold and executed in Renaissance-like style. The story highlights the romance; the prince, decked out in golden armor, fights through a tangle of golden roses to get to his sleeping lady love and wake her with a kiss. Not an essential purchase, but a lush and lovely one. -- Ilene Cooper

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic story, Beautiful to look at!, September 12, 2005

By 

J. Kisiel "Mommy to Connor" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleeping Bunny (Hardcover)

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty. This classic has been updated with a little tongue in cheek humor and the most beautiful illustrations I have seen in any children's book. My 5 year old loved the story, and everytime we read it together we find some new detail in the pictures.

Highly recommended!