Re: ELEM: in search of princesses and other royalty

["J. Kimball" <jakimball@MINDSPRING.COM>]

Johanna Halbeisen asked:
>I have a number of kids who ask for stories with kings, queens, princesses
>and such.  We are very short on these.  I know about
>        The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
>        Cinderella
>        Sleeping Beauty
>Help me...what other royalty are in picture book form?  If I could have six
>more books like the Twelve Dancing Princesses (with detail-rich
>illustrations), I think that would do it.

We could use more picture book prince and princess books.

I just found a fine version of Andersen's The Princess and the Pea
illustrated by Dorothee Duntze, pub. by North-South Books.  ISBN's:
155858-034-4 (trade hardcover, 1985) and 155858-381-5 (paperback, 1995).
The illustrations are as delicate and etherial as the story itself.

Other possibilities:

The King's Chessboard by David Birch, wherein a foolish king agrees to
double the gift of rice to a wise man starting with one grain and filling
the squares of the chessboard by doubling the amount each time. This tale
is useful for multicultural themes and lends itself to math problem-solving
and to discussions of greedy people and needy people. It's just plain
entertaining, too.

The Water of Life: a tale from Grimm retold by Barbara Rogasky, illus. by
T.S.Hyman.  A prince searching for the Water of Life to cure his dying
father finds an enchanted castle, a lovely princess, and treachery from his
older brothers. And after many adventures on the part of the prince, the
king finally realizes everlasting life is not the way to happiness.

Young Arthur by San Souci (King Arthur's boyhood including the pulling out
of the sword in the stone).

Young Guinevere by San Souci (King Arthur's future wife as a young,
headstrong princess).

It's hard to find a good Snow White, but I like the one illustrated by
Charles Santore, Park Lane Press, 1996. The text follows the original Grimm
version, except that the evil queen in the end must dance to her death in
iron shoes (not red-hot iron shoes!). The pictures are not as frightening
as Disney's.

Rumpelstiltskin retold and illustrated by Zelinsky is good, entertaining
and funny, especially when Rumpelstiltskin rides off on a cooking spoon
instead of stamping his foot on the floor and splitting in two.

I don't care for Zelinsky's Caldecott Medal Rapunzel, but others obviously
do. (It has gorgeous Italian Renaissance style pictures of Rapunzel, the
witch, the prince, and it suggests single, possibly unmarried motherhood
which is okay with me, but the strong evocation of the Christian holy
family, reminiscent of Raphael's painting of the madonna, child and John
the Baptist, in the last picture seems inappropriate to me.)

Bearskin by Howard Pyle, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1997). The
prophecy that a miner's son will marry the princess prompts the king to set
the baby adrift, but a she-bear raises him; he calls himself Bearskin; he
rescues the princess from a dragon and of course marries her.The
illustrations depict a black princess and a mixed marriage white king and
black queen. Great story of an outsider (with oriental features) trying to
marry the princess.

For a humorous version of this type of fairy tale, get Ouch! by Natalie
Babbitt, illustrated by Fred Marcellino (1998), retold from the Bros.
Grimm, wherein the king keeps trying to prevent a poor boy from marrying
the princess by sending him off to do impossible tasks. Great pictures!

For a tongue-in-cheek parody of princess tales, get The Paperbag Princess
by Robert Munsch.


Joan Kimball



Joan Kimball, Librarian, Writer, Storyteller
Retired from Hart's Hill Elem, Whitesboro NY
Formerly of Clinton NY; moved Aug.1999 to Ayer MASS.
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: jakimball@mindspring.com

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