Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies (Little Lit) [Hardcover]

The book's a beautiful package--an oversized hardcover just perfect for sprawling on the floor or crawling up in a lap with. Some of the pieces are straight-forward, somewhat twisted retellings of fairy tales and folktales, others are games or puzzles, but every one of them has a distinctive and colorful charm. You'll have your own favorites--mine are the Japanese-style, subtly-toned "Fisherman and the Sea Princess" by David Mazzucchelli and the macabre but pointedly-moral "The Hungry Horse" by Kaz--but there's stories in here for every sensibility and mood, outrageous or subtle. And don't think that just because it's 'comic-booky' that it's not great: teach your kids how to read visual storytelling, how to follow the word balloons, captions, and panel sequences, and they'll soon be ready for some of the finest the medium has to offer: 'Calvin and Hobbes,' 'Tintin,' 'Akiko,' 'The Spirit' --all of them great stories *and* storytelling, even though the characters are in little boxes talking with word balloons.

Firstly, it's designed by Chip "BATMAN: ANIMATED" Kidd. He is, quite simply, the best graphic designer in the business. In this volume, he strikes the perfect balance between old-fashioned and avant-garde design. And the covers (no dust jacket -- just the leather hardcover) are by Art Spiegelman. The paper is thick and matte. The only problem here is that the book seems a little fragile, like the pages will come out at the slightest provocation. But I could be wrong about that.

"Prince Rooster" (Spiegelman), "The Leafless Tree" (Joost Swarte), "The Two Hunchbacks" (Lorenzo Mattotti), "The Baker's Daughter" (Harry Bliss), and "The Princess and the Pea" are all lushly drawn, fairly simple fairy tales. "Humpty Trouble" (William Joyce) and "Jack and the Beanstalk" (David Macaulay) are light satires. "The Hungry Horse" (Kaz) is a wonderful story, my favorite *story* of the batch, but "The Fisherman and the Sea Princess" (David Mazzuchelli), the Japanese folk tale is my favorite overall. The only story here that I don't like is "The Sleeping Beauty" (the ending that nobody knows) by Daniel Clowes, because he can't draw people who look good or smile or anything that you need in a fairy tale. Also thrown in is a lost Walt Kelly cartoon, "The Gingerbread Man," originally from FAIRY TALE PARADE (?!) in the 40's. Shorter features are a memory game, a laugh-out-loud "What's Wrong With This Picture," find the twins, and Spookyland (Charles Burns), which is absolutely terrifying -- I think it's too scary for little kids myself. In the front and back is FAIRY TALE ROAD RAGE (Chris Ware), a game with little cars to assemble and chits to punch out and instructions to read. Essentially, you move around the board and create a story by picking random chits and putting them in the appropriate places on your card. When it fills up, you read the story and make up a moral. It's a lot of fun. And the pictures and instructions are absolutely hilarious.

All in all, this book is highly recommended for small children of any age! :)

E-mail if you would like to discuss (kobyc@softhome.net) ...... -Koby.

All the stories are wonderfully written and illustrated. The "Jack (and his Mother) and the Beanstalk" would have been better if it diverged less from the traditional in my opinion, but "The Princess and the Pea", which takes hillarious stabs at the original story while being beautifully illustrated in a traditionally romantic style, is effective at poking fun at itself. Most of the stories have obvious morals and can just be taken at their face value, and therefore can't be read on a different level by adults, but they are still enjoyable. The one exception to this is Chris Ware's wonderful original (though depressing) fairy tale and his board game (the instructions are priceless!) which utilizes his usual sardonic and cynical sense of humour very effectively, and I agree with the reviewer below that Charles Burns' Bosch inspired double-page spread might be a little disturbing to adults, but seen through innocent eyes I believe kids will find it more humourous.