Authors: Shannon Hale. Dean Hale.
Hardcover, 144 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Publication Date: 2008-08-05


Reviews :

    ...

Authors: Brothers Grimm.
Hardcover, 48 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: 1997-10-01
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    Surely among the most original and gifted of children's book illustrators, Paul O. Zelinsky has once again with unmatched emotional authority, control of space, and narrative capability brought forth a unique vision for an age-old tale. Few artists at work today can touch the level at which his paintings tell a story and exert their hold. Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel reaches back beyond the Grimms to a late-seventeenth-century French tale by Mlle. la Force, who based hers on the Neapolitan tale Petrosinella in a collection popular at the time. The artist understands the story's fundamentals to be about possessiveness,confinement, and separation, rather than about punishment and deprivation. Thus the tower the sorceress gives Rapunzel here is not a desolate, barren structure of denial but one of esoteric beauty on the outside and physical luxury within. And the world the artist creates through the elements in his paintings the palette, control of light, landscape, characters, architecture, interiors, costumes speaks to us not of an ugly witch who cruelly imprisons a beautiful young girl, but of a mother figure who powerfully resists her child's inevitable growth, and of a young woman and man who must struggle in the wilderness for the self-reliance that is the true beginning of their adulthood. As ever, and yet always somehow in newly arresting fashion, Paul O. Zelinsky's work thrillingly shows us the events of the story while guiding us beyond them to the truths that have made it endure. ...

    In older versions of the classic tale Rapunzel, it always seemed improbable that a grown man could scale a tower using only his beloved's hair. Not so in Paul O. Zelinsky's Caldecott Medal-winning version of Rapunzel. Here, Rapunzel's reddish-blonde mane is thick with waves and braids, and cascades like a waterfall down the walls of her isolation tower. In Zelinsky's able hands it's easy to believe that a prince would harbor no hesitations about scrambling up our fair heroine's hair.

Of course, this is not the work of an amateur--Zelinsky's lush versions of Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Swamp Angel all earned him Caldecott Honors. His gorgeous, Italian Renaissance-styled illustrations are characterized by warm golden tones and the mesmerizing sensation of trompe l'oeuil. Not only does he have the touch of a world-class illustrator, Zelinsky has also proven himself a master storyteller. We are frightened when the sorceress demands to take the baby Rapunzel, we are alarmed when the flowing locks are cruelly shorn, and we rejoice when the prince and his now modest-haired love are reunited. The notes at the back of Rapunzel reveal his careful scholarship regarding the long history of the story (tracing its origins and transformations from Italy to France and finally to Germany and the Grimm brothers)--work that no doubt contributed to his clean, compelling version of the age-old tale. Children will be captivated by the magical story and evocative pictures and adults will delight in the fresh feel of a well-loved legend. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustration © 1997 by Paul O. Zelinsky, published by Dutton Children's Books, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.) (Ages 4 and older)...

Authors:
Paperback, 24 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Publication Date: 2007-01-01


Reviews :

    Expertly told, these childhood favorites open up the world of fairy tales to children who can now see themselves reflected in the 'mirror mirrors' in their books! With beautiful full-color illustrations on every spread, these tales will delight readers everywhere, and ever after....

Authors: Leah Wilcox.
Paperback, 32 pages
Publisher: Puffin
Publication Date: 2005-12-01


Reviews :

    When the prince spies Rapunzel in her high tower, he’s convinced she’s the girl of his dreams. He thinks he can rescue her in the ordinary way, but this is no ordinary Rapunzel. She throws everything from her tower except what the prince keeps asking for— including one delightful surprise to make all his dreams come true. Here is a hilarious tale of how one bad hair day turns into happily ever after. With charming art and lilting text, Leah Wilcox and Lydia Monks take fairy-tale fun to a whole new level....

Authors: Donna Jo Napoli.
Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Puffin
Publication Date: 1998-11-01


Reviews :

    High in the mountains, Zel lives with her mother, who insists they have all they need -- for they have each other. Zel's life is peaceful and protected -- until a chance encounter changes everything. When she meets a beautiful young prince at the market one day, she is profoundly moved by new emotions. But Zel's mother sees the future unfolding -- and she will do the unspeakable to prevent Zel from leaving her... "Will leave readers spellbound."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review ...

Authors: Cameron Dokey.
Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: 2007-06-26


Reviews :

   

"Once upon a Time"

Is Timeless

Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future.

After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue, who was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed...forever....

Authors: Catherine Mccafferty.
Paperback, 32 pages
Publisher: Brighter Child
Publication Date: 2001-08-23


Reviews :

    Between the pages of these delightfully illustrated books are the classic stories of magic, imagination, and inspiration that will delight children again and again. From the hard-working Red Hen to the foolish Gingerbread Man, these tales will capture children's interest and spark their imagination page after page, inspiring a love of reading that is vital to success in school and life. Fresh, captivating illustrations enliven each tale....

Authors: Scholastic.
Paperback, 32 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date: 2008-03-01


Reviews :

    This Level 2 reader is a retelling of the classic fairy tale-- starring the Littlest Pet Shop pets!

...

Authors: Wendy Mass.
Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Publication Date: 2006-06-01


Reviews :

    Rapunzel is having the ultimate bad day. She's been stolen from home by an evil witch, locked in an incredibly high tower, and doesn't even have a decent brush for her hair. Prince Benjamin is in a pretty uncomfortable situation himself. His father wants him to be more kingly, his mother wants him to never leave her sight, and his cousin wants to get him into as much trouble as possible. Plus, there's the little matter of prearranged marriages. . . . Both Rapunzel and Prince Benjamin are trapped . . . in very different ways. It's only when their paths cross that things change....

Authors:
Paperback, 32 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: 2006-02-16
Edition: Bilingual

Reviews :

    Retold in both Spanish and English, the universally loved story Rapunzel will delight early readers and older learners alike. The striking illustrations give a new look to this classic tale and the bilingual text makes it perfect for both home and classroom libraries....