Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-up. The 1992 presentation of a special Pulitzer Prize to Spiegelman for Maus signaled the arrival of a new art form: the graphic novel. What Spiegelman did has now taken firm root in the field of books for young readers, growing some of the most visually exciting books in ages. In this book Spiegelman and his wife, Francoise Mouly, art editor of the New Yorker, invited 15 stellar talents to create original graphic stories that poke often ironic fun at tales from that Mother Goose woman and other traditional sources. Some of the contributing artists will be familiar to lovers of children's lit: William Joyce, for example, has some fun with a cracked version of "Humpty Dumpty," and David Macaulay struts his creative stuff in "Jack and His Mom and the Beanstalk," perhaps the funniest and most aesthetically agreeable tale in the collection. Others--Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware, among them--will be more familiar to fans of graphic novels for adults. Still other talents and tales reflect the original inspiration for this art form: the Sunday funnies and "all in color for a dime" comic books. Regardless of their sources, though, all that's old is arrestingly new again in this delightfully eye-and imagination-stimulating collection. It's an extravagant treat for readers of all ages. --Michael Cart
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this provocative anthology, husband-and-wife team Spiegelman (Open Me... I'm a Dog) and New Yorker art editor Mouly enlist well-known artists to retell traditional tales and invent visual games. Spiegelman himself kicks things off with "Prince Rooster," a typical be-yourself tale but for the references to R. Crumb's Mr. Natural, a guy whose knee-length white beard conceals his nudity. William Joyce offers "Humpty Trouble," a revisionist egg-stravaganza featuring ovoid voice bubbles and delicate watercolor images, while David Macaulay submits a straightforward pen-and-ink "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the lone female contributor, Barbara McClintock, pens a gentle, old-fashioned "Princess and the Pea." Among otherwise Western folktales, David Mazzucchelli's elegantly drawn Japanese legend ("The Fisherman and the Sea Princess") stands out for its active navy blue line, refined palette and generous use of negative space. Elsewhere, single-panel illustrations pay homage to brainteasers in Mad and nonsatirical children's magazines. Bruce McCall alludes to "Rapunzel" and his own What's Wrong With This Book? in a deliberately error-strewn painting, and Black Hole's Charles Burns contributes a gruesome scratchboard hide-and-seek that exhorts readers to "find all the snakes and eggs in this picture!" But by far the most adventuresome item comes from Jimmy Corrigan author Chris Ware, who turns the endpapers into a stylized board game called "Fairy Tale Road Rage." On Ware's ironic instruction sheet, two adults debate the game's "collectible resale value" before punching out the coin-sized paper playing pieces. "Road Rage" cuts to the ambivalent heart of Little Lit's fusion of cheap comic strips and glossy picture books. Spiegelman and Mouly's sophisticated collection, unified by a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale theme, lingers at the crossroad between kids and adults, classics and parodies, children's literature and comics. All ages. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 6-This is a cool book: cool in the sense that it is presented by 18 renowned cartoonists; cool in the McLuhan sense of comics as a medium that commands audience involvement through iconic forms; and cool in the sense of a marriage of form and content that is brilliant in concept. Cartoonists include Spiegelman, Walt Kelly, David Macaulay, William Joyce, and Kaz. Each uses a unique style of sequential art to interpret a fairy tale, either an original story using traditional motifs (Spiegelman's "Prince Rooster") or a familiar tale. Macaulay offers a version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" and there is a fractured tale (Joyce's "Humpty [Dumpty] Trouble"). Some of the retellings like Daniel Clowes's sequel to "Sleeping Beauty" are told in formal language, others like Barbara McClintock's "The Princess and the Pea" are tongue-in-cheek. Comics and folktales have much in common. Both depend on our understanding of universal symbols and icons (think of the "smiley face") that are stripped down to amplify their meaning. Both are interactive forms that depend on the audience to fill in the details with their own imaginations. Chris Ware's "Fairy Tale Road Rage" game on the endpapers will acquaint children with the motifs and patterns of traditional tales. Librarians will hate it because processing will conceal part of the game and the punch-out game pieces will disappear. Nonetheless, the book will still circulate. This is a sensational introduction to traditional literature for a visually sophisticated generation. It will live happily ever after in the hands of readers everywhere.-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Although this oversized volume might at first glance seem to be an entry in the Stinky Cheese satire sweepstakes, it's actually too cool to make fun of anything, and its stories stand on their own for both comic and dramatic effect. To be sure, the collection of comic-strip folktales contains some offbeat choices, including, along with ""Jack and the Beanstalk"" (David Macaulay) and ""The Princess and the Pea"" (Barbara McClintock), the defiantly un-p.c. ""The Two Hunchbacks"" (Lorenzo Mattotti) and the ghoulish ""The Hungry Horse"" (Kaz). Speaking of ghoulish, check out the unnerving black-and-white double-page spread ""Spookyland,"" by Charles Burns, one of several ""activity pages"" (""find all the snakes and eggs in this picture!"") that grace the book. The inclusion of Walt Kelly's ""The Gingerbread Man,"" from a 1943 issue of Fairy Tale Parade, suggests the impetus of the collection, and many of the stories are illustrated with an affectionately retro flair. Librarians take note: the endpapers, which feature a board game called ""Fairy Tale Road Rage,"" have punch-out pieces. The game looks clever but strikes a false note, being the one aspect of the book that seems to be winking over the heads of children rather than appealing to their natures for better and worse. r.s. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Under the proud banner, Comicstheyre not just for grown-ups anymore! the editors of RAW Magazine call on 17 contributors for a dozen cartoon folktales or folktale spin-offs, five single-page or spread-sized visual puzzles and two role-playing board games. David Macaulay plays his version of Jack and the Beanstalk relatively straight, as does Spiegelman with a tale about a prince who decides hes a rooster. But Daniel Clowes concocts a grim (or, more precisely, Grimm) sequel to Sleeping Beauty, and William Joyce a sprightly one for Humpty Dumpty. There is also a challenging matching game from J. Otto Siebold, from Bruce McCall a Rapunzel Whats Wrong with This Picture? andrare treasurea Gingerbread Man from the 1940s by Walt Kelly. Running the visual gamut of modern cartoon art, the panels are filled with figures now crudely drawn and grotesque, now charmingly sophisticated, but the collection hangs together brilliantly as a whole, despite all the individual drawing and storytelling styles, without rough joins or violent switches of mood. Libraries may have a problem keeping the board games dozens of punch-out pieces together, but this should be a big hit with both the picture book and the non-superhero comics crowd. (Folktales. 6+)
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Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Horn Book Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
