HERE’S A CONTEMPORARY retelling of Andersen’s tale, revamped and fleshed out for today’s hip tweens. As she did in Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Tale), Ensor re-imagines this classic, adding her own inimitable humor, flair, and stylish black-and-white silhouette spot illustrations. Thumbelina is that story most of us can’t quite remember. Okay, sure, it’s about a tiny girl just the size of your thumb. But did you know that her troubles (or adventures, if you prefer) begin when she begs her mother to let her sleep outside on the porch? And that in no time she is engaged to a frog, and then a mole, and even receives a proposal from a miniature king?
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From School Library Journal
Grade 3–5—In this retelling, Hans Christian Andersen's original tale gets a little padding, some reinterpretation, and a format makeover into an early chapter book. The changes include expanding the role of Thumbelina's mother, making Thumbelina a bit more assertive, assigning the mouse a case of unrequited love, and adding an epilogue with an alternate ending. The basics, including Thumbelina's adventures and suitors, remain the same, even retaining language alluding to Denmark and references that create a historical context (e.g., mention of a dowry). Old-fashioned-looking black-and-white silhouettes break up the text. Neither the caliber of the writing nor the illustrations make this an essential purchase. The novel format may tempt fairy and princess fans who have moved on to longer fiction. Otherwise, libraries that own good versions of the tale, such as Lauren Mills's Thumbelina (Little, Brown, 2005), could pass on this one.—Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In this light, charming retelling of Andersen’s classic fairy tale, Ensor focuses on Thumbelina’s engagements, with an alternative ending that many girls will relish. Ensor allows modern sensibilities to peek through as she embroiders the original tale. The witch who gives Thumbelina’s mother the seed from which Thumbelina is born sounds “like Anne Marie’s high-school math teacher.” The epilogue tartly informs readers, “Now you know exactly what happened and can write a book report, if you need to do that, or count this as part of your summer reading list.” The expanded dialogues work well: the toads are especially fun, and direct comments and questions to the reader are engaging and effective. The strong feminist perspective will delight young readers, who may have been puzzled by Thumbelina’s passivity in the original version, and the story also encourages empathy for individuals whose options are narrowed by their particular environment, culture, or history. Black-and-white paper-cut illustrations, like those Andersen himself made, and Thumbelina’s diary entries round out this slight but satisfying addition to the retold fairy-tale genre. Grades 2-5. --Debbie Carton
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More About the Author
Barbara Ensor isn't looking at you in this photograph because she wouldn't actually be able to see you anyway and this way you can see what her silhouette looks like. (Since after all she is always making silhouettes of other things.) Barbara Ensor did many daring things in her life, like walk on stilts, but she never dared to write a children's book until she was fifty years old. After that she knew she wanted to write many more books for children (and maybe adults as well) and to make the pictures to go with them so she had better hurry up. Press the button on her website, BarbaraEnsor.com and tell her to write another book right away.
To prepare for being an author and artist Barbara Ensor did many many things. She listened carefully to the stories her mother and father told her. In due course she began to tell her own stories (not all of them true) as a mother, as a puppeteer, an illustrator, a clay animation teacher, and a journalist. Barbara Ensor grew up mostly in London England where she figured out how to make pictures with whatever was around. Her two children, who are now taller than her, taught her most of what is most important to know. Barbara Ensor lives in Brooklyn, New York where an awful lot of people turn into authors and artists for reasons nobody knows for sure.
Barbara Ensor doesn't believe in fairy tales, but she lives happily ever after, and hopes you do too.
To prepare for being an author and artist Barbara Ensor did many many things. She listened carefully to the stories her mother and father told her. In due course she began to tell her own stories (not all of them true) as a mother, as a puppeteer, an illustrator, a clay animation teacher, and a journalist. Barbara Ensor grew up mostly in London England where she figured out how to make pictures with whatever was around. Her two children, who are now taller than her, taught her most of what is most important to know. Barbara Ensor lives in Brooklyn, New York where an awful lot of people turn into authors and artists for reasons nobody knows for sure.
Barbara Ensor doesn't believe in fairy tales, but she lives happily ever after, and hopes you do too.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, lighthearted book for tweens,
This review is from: Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride (Hardcover)
Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Brideby Barbara Ensor is a contemporary spin on the classic tale of the tiny girl, Thumbelina. The book begins showing Thumbelina's mother, Anne Marie, who is desperate for a child handing over her life savings to a witch. Anne Marie gets her child, and as we all know, this child is so small that her mother names her Thumbelina.
As Thumbelina grows, we see that her mother becomes extremely overbearing and overprotective. She reads Thumbelina's diary, edits her spelling and grammar, and writes her own comments to her daughter's private thoughts in the diary itself. Thumbelina is a bit spunky and longs to go outside on her own and to have a bit of freedom. When her mother reluctantly grants her wish, she is carried off by a mother toad, looking for a bride for her son. The rest of the story chronicles Thumbelina's escape from the toad and her adventures that follow. Scattered throughout the book are inkblot illustrations that resemble the Rorschach inkblot test. Thumbelina's messy handwritten diary entries with sentences and words crossed out are endearing and look like many of my own diary entries when I was that age. Tweens will relate to Thumbelina's desire to have a bit of freedom and will enjoy this lighthearted and fast-paced book with an unconventional ending.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully Witty and Whimisical,
By Agnes G. (Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride (Hardcover)
Once again Ensor's witty and fresh approach to a classic fairy tale captivates the reader and keeps the pages turning. The scumptious illustrations are icing on the cake. A must for every smart girl's bookshelf. I can't wait for the next in the series.
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Same Tiny Runaway Bride We've Always Known...,
By
This review is from: Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride (Hardcover)
Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride follows the adventures of the tiny, thumb-length character most of us have already encountered in other stories, which is one of the reasons I'm going to skip the short plot summary.
If you have ever seen the movie or read the Hans Christian Anderson version (or any version), you pretty much have a very good idea of what this fairy tale retelling is about. There are few original additions to this story, even counting the alternate ending to what most of us are familiar with and the inclusion of diary entries. An example of what my reading experience was like concerning this book is a rerun. Reading this version of Thumbelina was similar to watching a rerun of a television show that I've seen many times before. Maybe it's entertaining at parts, but I know what happens next, and nothing surprises. Even the sort of surprise ending of this version of Thumbelina didn't surprise me. By the time I neared the last few pages, I expected it. That being said, while I am a little disappointed that the story didn't have as many surprises as I'd hoped (especially since it's a retelling), it was still a cute (and very familiar), short read. I think it would make an excellent read-aloud, but I would suggest checking it out from the library instead of making a purchase.
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