From Publishers Weekly
In this faithful translation of the Brothers Grimm, Duntze (The Twelve Dancing Princesses) explores themes of fear and silence with a somber palette and refined, elongated figures. Lost deep in a forest, a king promises a witch that he will marry her daughter in exchange for a way out. Fearing that his new wife will harm his children (from a previous marriage), he conceals them in a lone castle in the thick of the woods. However, she discovers their hiding place and sews shirts with a spell that turns his six sons into swans. The daughter escapes, vowing to free her brothers by sewing them shirts of starflowers and by keeping silent for six years. She marries, remains mute and, wrongly accused of the murder of her own children, stands at the stake about to be burned when the swan brothers arrive, the six years of silence ended. They take from her the starflower shirts and turn back into men. Duntze's drawings are architectural in their composition, each serving to convey the silent woman's isolation?dwarfing tree limbs in forest scenes and interiors sectioned in grids. Startling images of animals, whether hybrid decorations on the evil queen's mantelpiece (birds with human faces, a mermaid) or the six swooping swans, underscore the magical world in which humans and nonhumans inextricably intertwine. Duntze succeeds in depicting the darkness of human experience without shielding children from strong emotion. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-In this classic tale, a sister rescues six brothers turned into swans by a cruel stepmother by sewing them shirts from starflowers and refusing to speak or laugh for six years to break the spell. She falls in love with and marries a king, keeping her vow of silence even when his mother steals the new queen's children and accuses her of having eaten them. The spell is broken just as she is about to be burned at the stake; all six brothers are returned to human form except for one who, because of an unfinished sleeve, retains a swan's wing. This grim retelling is true to the original version, with its violence and the final burning at the stake of the king's mother. Children will find much to explore in the complex illustrations, including strange animal figures on headgear, on clothing, and in the interior designs. Libraries that own Susan Jeffers's version (Dial, 1981) or Marcia Brown's version (Scribners, 1963) of The Wild Swans-Hans Christian Andersen's more benign version of this tale featuring 11 brothers-may want to acquire this one for contrast. School libraries may want it for use in units on variants of tales.
Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
