East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon (Paperback)

~ Peter Christen Asbjornsen (Author), Jorgen Engebretsen Moe (Author), George Webbe Dasent (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This expansively illustrated edition of a well-loved epic romance, told here in Sir George Webbe Dasent's 1859 translation from the Norwegian, has lost none of its Gothic beauty and irresistible power. Dasent's translation is a real page-turner, told in a relaxed, conversational style that manages to be at once soothing and suspenseful. Readers will follow eagerly the plight of the beautiful, unnamed lassie, who must travel to a far-off kingdom to rescue her beloved prince from the clutches of an evil--and very ugly--bride. Only a rather swift resolution sounds a slightly jarring note in the otherwise engrossing tale. Lynch's sweeping paintings in dark greens and browns, with their large close-ups and exciting shifts in perspective, expertly capture the story's heroic scale. Several spreads are especially noteworthy: the dizzying bird's-eye-view of the heroine and her bear, dwarfed by the palace's massive architecture; the North Wind, rising from the mists like a bearded Old Testament patriarch, carrying the speck of a girl on his back as the seas roil below. The book's lavish endpapers, in the style of an Old World cartographer, point the way to this enticing kingdom east o' the sun and west o' the moon. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4 Barlow has created vibrant watercolor and colored pencil illustrations to accompany the classic George Webbe Dasent translation of this popular Norwegian folk tale. Each full-page illustration and its facing page of text are bordered by two bands of contrasting colorsome marbleized, some lined, some figuredseparated by double lines of sharper colors. These borders both embolden the text and create the effect of looking through the window into the scene. Many of the paintings have a folk art quality about them due to Barlow's simple rendering of people, clothing, and furnishings. Details abound: patterns in clothing and furniture, gnarling of tree branches and detailing of household objects. Of the three individual editions now in print, Barlow's illustrations are neither as ethereal as Michael Hague's (HBJ, 1980) nor as romantic as Mercer Mayer's (Four Winds, 1980), yet it is appealing in its own right. Only Barlow's edition has the original text. Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, Ohio
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Revised edition (June 1, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486225216
• ISBN-13: 978-0486225210
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #926,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting, fabulous,adventourouse book!, December 4, 2002

A Kid's Review

My name is Elizabeth, and i think that this book is the BEST book I ever read. This book is about a young maden who is so beautiful. One day ever father becomes ill and she needs to fetch him a cup of spring water from the fountain far away. When the maden gets there she drops the cup into the spring. Then a frog gets the cup. he said that in order to do this she must let him have one wish. Then the madens fther becomes better. The maden lives a happy life once again. The frog comes to her house and asks her to kiss him. The maden refuses. Find out what happens to the maden..... she searches far and wide for the one she loves.... I recomend this book because it was so good I remember when my grandfather read it to me and i absolutl loved it! This IS my favoite book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book when I was little, August 26, 2003

By	"torianna" (Atlanta, Ga.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon (Hardcover)

This was my absolute favorite book when I was little. The illustrations are absolutely gorgous, the writing (translation is by Sir George Webbe Dasent) is quirky and reads well.
I find it hard to believe that this version is out of print. If you ever see it, get it, for yourself or for a young friend. Both of you would enjoy it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, January 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon (Works in Translation) (Hardcover)

I bought this book for my granddaughters and immediately began looking for other books illustrated by Lynch, because it is so beautiful. The story is well-told and nicely paced---altogether pleasing.