The Swan Maiden

Available (2)

Location	Collection	Call #
Bethel Park Public Library	Picture Books	PB PYLE Howard
Location	Bethel Park Public Library
Collection	Picture Books
Call Number	PB PYLE Howard
Pine Center Branch	Juvenile	J PB PYLE
Location	Pine Center Branch
Collection	Juvenile
Call Number	J PB PYLE

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Summary

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "Ages 5-8. Trying to discover who is stealing pears from his golden pear tree, the king asks for the help of his three sons. After the older two fail, the youngest son cleverly outwits the thief, who is a beautiful swan maiden. The prince promises not to shoot her if she'll agree to marry him. She accepts his proposal but explains that he must first outsmart the three-eyed witch and free her from the witch's power. Pyle's original, romantic story, which first appeared in the nineteenth-century Wonder Clock, captures the essence of a classic fairy tale. Although this edition is credited specifically to Pyle, Ellin Greene, in her afterword, states that this is her retelling, shortened especially for the storyteller. Each full-page illustration is executed in bold, dark colors and framed by a two-color border. The type, printed on large blocks of white paper, intrudes on the illustrations, detracting from the visual quality of the work, but Sauber's painterly style is a match for this enchanting tale of good overcoming evil. ~--April Judge"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Retelling this late-19th-century story, Greene retains the feel and form of traditional folktale-so useful to storytellers-as well as Pyle's (1853-1911) conversational tone. When a king discovers that his tree is being pilfered of its golden pears, he sets each of his three sons, in turn, to catch the thief. The first two are lulled by otherworldly music; the youngest, who has stuffed his ears, discovers a lovely swan maiden, and instantly determines to marry her. First, however, he must free her from servitude to a three-eyed witch. Although Greene comments in an afterword about Pyle's stature as ``one of the best teachers of illustration in America,'' there are no samples of his art for the 1888 edition of this particular tale. Instead, Sauber serves up glowing pictures with fairly conventional figures-blond prince and maiden; and a witch whose beaky nose and unkempt tresses are more noticeable than the eye in her forehead. Ages 5-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Fairy tales.
Publisher	New York :Holiday House,1994
Edition	1st ed.
Contributors	Greene, Ellin, 1927-2018 Sauber, Rob.
Language	English
Description	1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 x 27 cm
ISBN	0823410889
Other	Classic View