nnecatrix's review
4.0
Book #57 for 2016
Stina's Personal Challenge Prompts:
- A book about a royal personage
- A book set in Africa
I've never read the original [a:Hans Christian Andersen|6378|Hans Christian Andersen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434625240p2/6378.jpg] tale, so it is a little hard to rate this adaptation. I'm not even sure what was "adapted," since there is no specific mention of Africa or Morocco in this version. I gather the original was set in China, so perhaps that location was more obvious in the original story. The illustrations are clearly not depictions of China, but had the notes not named the setting as Morocco, I never would have known that was Pinkney's intention.
Pinkney's illustrations are beautiful, so the book is definitely worth checking out just for that. I also liked the story, which came as a relief, because I'm not always a big fan of HCA's work. I am not sure what age range this book is intended for, but I think this is a good book for starting a kid on early, enjoying the colorful and exotic illustrations at first and then re-reading later to develop an understanding of the story.
Stina's Personal Challenge Prompts:
- A book about a royal personage
- A book set in Africa
I've never read the original [a:Hans Christian Andersen|6378|Hans Christian Andersen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434625240p2/6378.jpg] tale, so it is a little hard to rate this adaptation. I'm not even sure what was "adapted," since there is no specific mention of Africa or Morocco in this version. I gather the original was set in China, so perhaps that location was more obvious in the original story. The illustrations are clearly not depictions of China, but had the notes not named the setting as Morocco, I never would have known that was Pinkney's intention.
Pinkney's illustrations are beautiful, so the book is definitely worth checking out just for that. I also liked the story, which came as a relief, because I'm not always a big fan of HCA's work. I am not sure what age range this book is intended for, but I think this is a good book for starting a kid on early, enjoying the colorful and exotic illustrations at first and then re-reading later to develop an understanding of the story.
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