Sleeping Beauty

October 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-Gibb's picture book retelling of the classic tale has a frog bring news to the queen that she will have the baby girl she longs for. She tells the king, and they are overjoyed with their good fortune. To celebrate Rosebud's birth in the spring, they invite all the fairies except Malevola, because she hasn't been seen for 50 years. Her curse- that Rosebud will prick her finger on her 16th birthday and die-does come true, but, because of the gift another fairy gives her, only partially. "You will fall into a deep sleep until 100 years have passed, when a prince will wake you." Rosebud and her family awaken after a prince comes to kiss her hand, and they marry shortly thereafter, "grateful for the magic of the little fairy." This version does not have Sleeping Beauty's three fairy godmothers, but it is illustrated with spreads full of intricate details, borders of pink roses, and beautiful black and purple silhouettes, reminiscent of the artwork in Gibb's other fairy tale books. VERDICT An additional fairy tale retelling that stands out for its exquisite artwork.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 15, 2015
Borders of lacy wisteria and thorny wild roses add elegant atmosphere to this sweet version of the classic tale. Sage and Gibbs' rendition, based on the Grimms' "Briar Rose," ends with the marriage and goes for the empty calories, equally careless with details and eager to leave behind the grimmer aspects of the original. The "spindles" ordered burned in the wake of dark-skinned Malevola's curse are spinning wheels in the pictures, as is the item on which Princess Rosebud at last (somehow) pricks her finger; when Prince Florizel arrives a century later, he wakes her (by kissing her hand). The joyous couple goes off to a happily ever after, thus avoiding the rape, secret marriage, and cannibalism featured in old versions of the story. Gibb makes effective use of silhouettes and also of a wordless spread to underscore the tale's more melodramatic moments. Elsewhere, Rosebud and her royal parents, along with a flutter of tiny gossamer-winged fairies, float and gesture gracefully in sumptuous pink and pastel settings framed by lush (if sometimes thorny) floral garlands. A sugary take, distinguishable only in minor ways from those illustrated by Maja Dusikova (2012), Kuniko Craft (2002), and a fairy coachful of like romantics. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)

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November 1, 2015
Preschool-G Gibb returns to the Brothers Grimm with this retelling of Sleeping Beauty. For the most part, it's standard fairy-tale fare: when a fairy is left off the guest list for the celebration of the princess's birth, she casts a spell that dooms the princess to death by spindle. She's given a last-minute reprieve by another fairy, who alters the curse to one of sleep. The king burns every spindle in the kingdom, but what's done cannot so easily be undone. When Princess Rosebud turns 16, she pricks her finger on a spindle, and the whole kingdom falls asleep with her. What stands out are Gibb's illustrations: the pink-and-purple tones of Princess Rosebud's life at the castle are tempered by striking ink silhouettes touched with color, most notably depicting the casting of the curse and the burning of the spindles. The story cleaves closely to Grimms', although it's worth noting that the prince kisses Rosebud's hand instead of lips, and their courtship is more extended than is typical. A lovely adaption of an old favorite.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)