Book Guide

A brilliant evocation of love, hate, innocence, and evil, The Snow Queen is one of Hans Christian Andersen's most profound fairy tales. Haunting and eloquent illustrations by Susan Jeffers masterfully capture the tale's depth as two childhood friends—Kai, a boy, and Gerda, a girl—are cruelly separated by the Snow Queen's malevolence. Young readers will be stunned by the tale's power when Kai's heart is pierced and frozen into ice; entranced by the tale's scope when Gerda searches the world for her stricken friend; ensnared by the tale's beauty as articulated in richly detailed, meticulous paintings. Here Gerda's face is as pure as a flower, and the Snow Queen's palace made of ice is glittering, luminous, and dramatically illusory.

Gracefully retold and magnificently illustrated, this version of The Snow Queen will deeply affect young readers.

From the dust jacket

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Amy Ehrlich

Amy Ehrlich

1942 -
American
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Susan Jeffers

Susan Jeffers

1942 - 2020
American
Susan Jeffers is one of only a few illustrators who have been on the adult New York Times bestseller list. She has won the ABBY from the Americ... See more

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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."