By kissing the sleeping girl, she showed she was fearless and had lots of courage.
My favourite character was the queen because she was brave, resilient and understood that she didn’t need anyone to make her choices for her. There is an interesting twist to the story as I initially thought that the old lady was the evil one who put the girl to sleep, but as the story goes on you find out that the girl is a nasty witch who put a sleeping spell on everyone, taking their youth away. The illustrations throughout the book are beautifully detailed and they go perfectly with the story, encouraging you to read on. Magical because the whole world was falling asleep, creepy because of the way the sleeping people were described as covered in cobwebs with their eyes rolled into the back of their heads. I really enjoyed reading The Sleeper and the Spindle. ‘The queen was brave, resilient and understood that she didn’t need anyone to make choices for her’ Jackie Murrell is a librarian at Bromley High School GDST, in south-east London Pupil reviews Not the ideal bedtime story for a toddler, perhaps, but a richly nuanced tale with a contemporary slant that will fire your imagination - and haunt your dreams. They are full of dark magic, innocence and corruption, and encapsulate both the beautiful and the grotesque. The narrative is wonderfully enhanced by Riddell’s illustrations, intricate black-and-white drawings with the occasional feature picked out in blood red. The language is very expressive, and the narrative is deliciously creepy the sleeping retinue move around like zombies, the thorny bushes grow around the skeletons of unsuccessful rescuers, menace and decay is everywhere. The narrative touches on themes of gender, power, beauty, ageing and death. This is no Disney-style fantasy for the very young, but instead akin to some of the original, more gruesome tales in the genre, but there is much to engage and thrill the older child.
Gaiman encourages you to believe that, just like the Snow White, herself once condemned to a year’s unconsciousness, she would be the ideal person to save the day - but not everything is as it appears. Her upcoming wedding, with some relief, is put on hold. When three dwarves inform her of a cursed kingdom where a princess and her people have lied asleep for decades, the queen decides to take up the challenge to save them, even though many have failed before her.
An extremely dark and gothic fairy tale, it features the stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, but given a very modern and feminist twist.Ī queen prepares unenthusiastically for marriage and a future that is mapped out for her. When prize-winning author Neil Gaiman collaborates with the equally award-laden former children’s laureate and illustrator Chris Riddell, you can guarantee the result will be something unique and special, and this book is no exception.
0 kommentar(er)
