Sleeping Bunny

PreSchool-Grade 3-This lavishly illustrated version of "Sleeping Beauty" features a straightforward retelling spiced with a few amusing surprises, a cast of animal characters dressed in full medieval regalia, and sumptuous paintings that strike just the right balance between romance and humor. The King, his Queen, the Princess, and her hero are depicted as long-limbed, statuesque rabbits, all elegantly draped in silks and velvets and bedecked in shimmering jewels. Dressed in costumes that evoke the various flowers for which they are named, the good fairies are tiny pigs that hover on butterfly wings and sometimes take butterfly form. Mildew, "the eighth and crankiest fairy," who is not invited to Princess Bunny's birth celebration for lack of enough place settings, makes an appropriately jarring appearance as a neon-green rat with razor teeth and bat wings. The dramatic spreads are filled with lush visual details, vibrant colors, and fluid lines. The tone remains lighthearted, as tongue-in-cheek touches in the artwork and in the storytelling reassure readers that all will be well. In fact, a "hoppily ever after" future is guaranteed when Mildew appears at Princess Bunny's wedding with a gift of "eight golden plates." While those familiar with the tale will enjoy the whimsy of Sleeping Bunny, this story also makes a great choice for younger readers who may not be ready for more traditional versions, such as those illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (Little, Brown, 1977) and K. Y. Craft (SeaStar, 2002).
Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ornate illustrations enchant in this humorous fairy-tale adaptation. Silin-Palmer (Bunny and the Beast) once again casts long-legged rabbits dressed in billowing raiment in the starring roles; the gift-giving fairies are winged pigs, while a red-eyed, green-skinned rat takes the role of the excluded vengeful fairy, Mildew. Keller, the illustrator's daughter, alters the traditional plot only slightly. She throws in some groaners (everyone lives "hoppily ever after") but also supplies an imaginative and witty twist at the end. Most of the comic relief comes in the elegantly elaborate paintings, both from the incongruousness of Silin-Palmer's majestically bedecked animals and from the occasional joke (a coat of arms features crossed carrots and bears the inscription "carpe carotae"). The sustained whimsy of the artwork, from the sumptuous settings to the lush floral borders dotted with birds and butterflies, will please readers who like their fairy tales served up with all the trimmings. All ages.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.