Book Guide

Considering that virtually every familiar folk tale has been interpreted and reinterpreted in an abundance of contemporary picture books, it is remarkable that no distinguished illustrator in over thirty years has accepted the challenge of doing such an edition of Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs, certainly one of the most beloved tales in European folk literature. Now Nancy Ekholm Burkert has painted a series of visions of this story, so grand, so intense, and so magical that children and adults alike will return to study them again and again. Together her pictures create a complete and believable world. Nothing is left out, neither mystery nor sorrow nor medieval richness.

The late Randall Jarrell said of his rendering of this tale from Grimm that it is "as much like the real German story as I could make it." What better guarantee of fidelity could we have?

From the dust jacket

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Nancy Ekholm Burkert

Nancy Ekholm Burkert

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Content Guide

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Resource Guide

The Literary Life
Podcast

Episode 70: Why Read Fairy Tales?
Released in 2020 by The Literary Life
Available formats: Streaming Audio
Length: 1 hr. 29 min.
View on the The Literary Life site

"Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins tackle the topic of fairy stories, discussing the what, why and how of reading them. Angelina shares the distinctive characteristics of fairy stories in contrast to other types of stories, such as myths. They deal with the question of whether fairy tales are 'escapist', the influence of the Grimm brothers scholarly work on interpreting fairy stories, and allowing the story to unveil its deeper truths without forcing meaning onto it.

Angelina gives an illustration of how to see the gospel messages in fairy tales by talking us through the story of Sleeping Beauty. She refutes the ideas that fairy tales are about human romance or are misogynistic. She also highlights some of the Enlightenment and Puritan responses to fairy tales that still linger with us today. Cindy and Angelina also discuss some common concerns such as the magical, weird, or scary aspects of fairy tales. Angelina also makes a distinction between folk tales, literary fairy tales, and cautionary tales."


Reviews

Plumfield and Paideia

Snow-White and The Seven Dwarfs
Reviewed by Sara Masarik
Born in 1977, I grew up on the “original” Disney princesses and Snow White was my favorite. I did have the benefit of knowing that the Disney movies were just “modern” versions or interpretations of Old World fairy tales. Published in 1972 and awarded a Caldecott Honor, I am shocked that I do not remember ever having seen this particular version of Snow-White before. This is gorgeous!

Read the full review on Plumfield and Paideia