A retelling of the centuries-old tale follows Sylvia, a spirited girl apprenticed to a sorcerer, as she steals from his castle a powerful potion that she is sure will help her complete a difficult task.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This sophisticated collaboration from the creators of Pish, Posh Said Hieronymus Bosch reinvents a magical tale that is perhaps best known to young readers from Walt Disney's Fantasia. Willard's vivid rhyming text conjures up a fantasy world ruled by old Tottibo, a magician who "stood so tall his very shadow chilled them all." Red-haired Sylvia volunteers to be his new assistant and takes on the task of clothing every one of his creatures. From "bibs well-matched for baby dragons newly hatched" to "cloaks to clothe the lesser things," Sylvia has a daunting list of garments to sew, and can hardly be blamed for calling on a little magic to speed things up. However, when the newly enlivened sewing machine bares a set of gleaming steel teeth and takes to the air, magical mayhem ensues. The glee-filled text speeds along to a pleasing conclusion, stopping only to challenge the reader with an interesting word choice or image ("a famished stretch of sky"). Distilling the frenzied energy of the text, the Dillons' majestic artwork captures the story's essence and, with its quiet sheen, invokes the timelessness of fairy tales. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 6-10. The old story of the powerful magician and the awkward apprentice who messes with the magic has been told again and again from ancient Greece to Goethe to Disney's Fantasia. In this version for the 1990s, the apprentice-hero is a confident young woman. With long red hair, checked trousers, and high-heeled clogs, Sylvia comes riding up to the sorcerer's mountain on an old-fashioned large-wheeled bike. As in her 1982 Newbery Medal-winning A Visit to William Blake's Inn, Willard tells her story in lively rhyme that jumps with the unexpected. The Dillons' full-page watercolors, exquisitely drawn in meticulous detail, show domestic uproar just about to burst out of the tight gold frames. In fact, there are a few tiny spot illustrations outside the frame on each page. The sorcerer's house has 57 doors and "knockers made of gnashing teeth"; there are eyes everywhere, and his creatures are neurotic, brooding, sinister, and clownish. Words and pictures work together perfectly to make us see that chaos is "very near"; everything is in a state of transformation. The more you look, the more shapes change and slither and leap out as something different. The best scene of all shows the sorcerer ordering the dishes to wash each other ("The spoons leapt up and scrubbed the plates"). He's in control. In contrast, when Sylvia's task is to make clothes for all the creatures, she can't control anything. She's overwhelmed; even the scissors try to bite her hand. In desperation, she pours the sorcerer's potion on the sewing machine--and creates the wildest nightmare. The machine reveals its monstrous teeth: it bursts from the house and hems the trees; it stitches the mountains, snips the moon, bites the sun, until the sorcerer returns and order is restored. In a lovely last line, Willard gives the old cautionary tale a moral for today: Sylvia has learned to turn "failures into fairy tales." Hazel Rochman
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outstanding children's book,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Hardcover)
Thanks to Captain Katie's review for bringing this children's book to my attention. It is a variation of the story of the sorcerer's apprentice. It is written as a long poem with large, full color illustrations. It is suitable for pre-school or early grade school children, particularly young girls. The exact age depends on their reading level, but the recommended age range of 4 to 8 years old ssems about right (although I am 68 and thought it was a delightful story). Be sure you get the book with the dust jacket because the introduction to the story is on the inside of the dust jacket (for whatever reason).Sylvia goes off to become an apprentice to the sorcerer Tottibo, but discovers that an apprentice starts at the bottom doing drudge work. She is assigned to making lots and lots of clothing. She decides the work would be easier if she could use magic on the sewing machine, but - well, the results are unexpected. "It stitched the dishes to the table, it stitched the noodles to the ladle." You get the idea. The sorcerer finally has to come to the rescue. For some reason good children's books always seem to go out of print. Some copies are available (new and used) from secondary sources at this writing (July 4, 2004). One could hope it would go back into print before the Christmas season.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful retelling,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Hardcover)
This book has beautiful pictures and a new twist on an old tale. I highly recommend it!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beware of What You Wish For,
By
This review is from: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Hardcover)
Nancy Willard has written in verse a new version of "The Sorcerer's" Apprentice and Leo and Diane Dillon have painted the pages with beautiful illustrations that make the story come alive.
In this version, young and impatient Sylvia has come to the sorcerer Tottibo to learn his magic. Tottibo tells her that she has to take it slowly, learn a little at a time, and then he assigns her the job of sewing new clothes for all his animals. However, Sylvia spies a modest bottle full of sand next to a book of spells. She pours the sand on the sewing machine and commands it to sew, but the machine won't stop. Like Lizzy Bordon, she gives the machine forty whacks (well maybe not forty) and every time she whacks the machine it turns into another, till she has lots of machines, sewing and sewing. Fortunately Tottibo comes and saves the day and we learn our little moral. I love reading this book to my nieces. They love the sound of the rhymes as they look at the pictures. If you can find this book, you should get it, even if you don't kids, as it's a work of art.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
