The Princess And The White Bear King (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Nicoletta Ceccoli (Illustrator) "In the North, where the thickly-needled pine forests are deep and dark and the snow falls bride-white, there once lived three Princesses, daughters of a..." (more)
Key Phrases: land that lies, Troll Queen

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4 - An original tale combining elements from several Norwegian folktales including "The White Bear King," "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," and "The Black Bull of Norraway." A princess dreams of a beautiful golden crown and eventually encounters a bear in the frozen forest that possesses it. She passes a test and returns with him to an exquisite castle. Every night he enters her chamber quietly and sleeps on the floor next to her bed. The Princess's mother convinces her to look at him even though the bear had warned, "Do not listen to your mother's advice, for if you do, bad luck will befall us both." Indeed, the bear/prince now tells her that he must flee to the terrible Troll Queen and marry her. What follows is the Princess's long journey to be reunited with him. She meets three women along the way who give her items that help her outwit the Troll Queen. The deeply saturated acrylic illustrations magnify the adventure, offering varied perspectives and highlighting the magic of the northern landscape. This story begs to be told aloud and is a fresh addition to most library shelves. - Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA
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From Booklist

Gr. 1-3. The king's youngest daughter goes to stay in the castle of a white bear. She is content there until her mother makes her suspicious and encourages her to light a candle to look upon her host at night. In doing so, she condemns the prince, who was turned into a bear by enchantment, to marry the Troll Queen who cast the spell. Only through great courage, effort, cunning, and goodness can the princess change his fate. Young girls enamored of princess tales and their elders seeking strong female role models can agree that this powerful, romantic story has it all. Longer than in most picture books, the text combines elements of three traditional folktales: "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," "The Black Bear of Norraway," and "The White Bear King." Created with acrylic paints, pencils, and oil pastels, the molded artwork features many stately, luminous scenes in which the princess's red robes and yellow hair glow against the cool ice blues of the northern landscapes. Well suited to reading aloud. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Barefoot Books (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841483397
• ISBN-13: 978-1841483399
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,402,751 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly imaginative and uplifting fantasy, April 11, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

The Princess And The White Bear King is an impressive retelling by Tanya Robun Batt of an old fairytale. Enhanced with the superlative artistry of Nicoletta Ceccoli, young readers are provided with the picturebook story of a princess who has a strange encounter with a great white bear, who takes her to live in his castle. Yet when she fails to pay attention to a warning, disaster strikes, and she must set out on a journey east of the sun and west of the moon in hopes of restoring her chance at happiness and love. A truly imaginative and uplifting fantasy.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and confusing, not inspiring at all, November 2, 2004

By	Linda Kranz (Arizona) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Since this was the same author, illustrator team that gave us The Faerie's Gift I thought this will be another "must have" book for my library. With great anticipation I read the story and studied the art on the pages. I thought a couple of times that I had missed something as I was reading, yet I decided that if I kept reading, that surely the questions that I had, would clear up. Unfortunately they did not. The story rambles along. It clearly needs some good editing. It's way too long. You don't feel close to the characters. The time lines are too long for a child to comprehend. In the end, it's basically a nothing story, it's not something that I would ever want to read again nor even give as a gift. As a last ditch effort to "fix" the story the author tells the reader that she has woven three tales together and even the explanation gets very long winded. Still at that point re-reading what I already labored through isn't something that interested me again. I was so disappointed. Save your money, seek out The Faerie's Gift instead .... leave this book behind.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and illustrated, November 21, 2007

By	NCRK - See all my reviews

This is an engaging story, although a bit long. My daughter loved the book and it has a heartwarming and perfect story book ending that every Princess (and Prince) will love. The illustrations are gorgeous!