A review by sisteray
The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati
4.0
This is a rather adorable book following the adventure of the bear king Leander. Perhaps a little too old world conservative in that the moral of the story is that it is better to starve to death rather than be prideful or debaucherous, but the journey of the bears is endearing and the illustrations are gorgeous. I'm tempted to buy a second book just to tear it apart and frame the plates.
I do have some issues with this edition. It seems that the illustrations aren't placed very well within the text. They either give away the reveal too soon, or when the story calls for you to look at the illustrations, you have to read/flip forward a couple pages before you get to see it.
The Daniel Handler stuff is totally worthless. I understand why the publisher wanted to use the Lemony Snicket name to sell this book, but it is annoying that the waste of paper reader guide gets more accentuation on the cover than the actual author himself. I guess it all comes down to taste, but I'd rather that dude stick to playing back-up for Stephen Merritt. Having him here is like buying a great album, but having to skip over the track with Jay Z guesting on it.
I do have some issues with this edition. It seems that the illustrations aren't placed very well within the text. They either give away the reveal too soon, or when the story calls for you to look at the illustrations, you have to read/flip forward a couple pages before you get to see it.
The Daniel Handler stuff is totally worthless. I understand why the publisher wanted to use the Lemony Snicket name to sell this book, but it is annoying that the waste of paper reader guide gets more accentuation on the cover than the actual author himself. I guess it all comes down to taste, but I'd rather that dude stick to playing back-up for Stephen Merritt. Having him here is like buying a great album, but having to skip over the track with Jay Z guesting on it.