Customer Reviews

Snow White

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

 

 

The illustrations in this book are breathtaking. The story is familiar, but with little twists and turns away from the Disney version, but it's the amazing artistry of the illustrations that makes this a wonderful book to own.

Charles Santore's illustrations were beautiful. He portrayed the moods and feelings of the subjects very well indeed. We appreciated that he gave human faces to the subjects rather than the animated cartoons of Disney. I never could understand from the Disney pictures why the stepmother was so beautiful or how Snow White was deceived by such an evil looking hag. Santore's illustrations make the story believable on this score. Santore also "aged" Snow White in each consecutive picture of when she was "dead" for "many years" - thus making it credible that she was a young woman when she awoke. We also preferred the simplicity of the original story over the Disney version. We enjoyed this book and our 2.5 year old really likes it too.

These soft illustrations are eye-catchingly simple, and the gentle colors make for peaceful reading. This is the whole Snow White story with all the Brothers Grimm details - from the mother pricking her finger while sewing, to the enchanted mirror, to the huntsman, to the three murder attempts (laces, comb, and apple), all the way through to the stepmother dancing in hot-iron shoes at the wedding (Grimm, indeed!).

My favorite part of this story is the dwarves - they are illustrated to look like garden gnomes, with their red pointy caps. The simple facial expressions have a manga-feel to them, but without any harshness or exaggeration. Beautiful backgrounds and textures.

Quentin Greban, well done!