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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen and P J Lynch (Illustrator) (view source)
Revision as of 13:58, 27 November 2013
, 13:58, 27 November 2013no edit summary
|summary=Beautiful reissue of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale, retold by Caroline Peachey, with dreamy illustrations by P.J. Lynch. A perfect family Christmas read aloud.
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Determined heroine Gerda has a series of adventures on her journey to find her friend Kay after he has been spirited away by the Snow Queen to live in her palace of ice. ''The Snow Queen'' is one of Hans Christian Andersen’s less disturbing fables with a message about the power of love and true friendship. No heart wrenching deaths like ''The Little Match Girl'', no tortured longing like ''The Little Mermaid’’Mermaid'', it has the benefit of a happy ending. And, in contrast to so many traditional tales where the hero is usually male, its star is a lively girl who rescues her friend against all the odds.
''The Snow Queen'' is one of those stories that virtually everyone knows, in one form or another. This one is a real collector’s piece. It has a lovely, slightly simplified version of the original text, with outstanding illustrations by P.J. Lynch. So many great illustrators have tackled this tale that it’s a hard act to follow. But Lynch’s pictures are up there with the best classic editions of this book, which has been illustrated by the likes of Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen. Lynch’s interpretation of the story makes it leap off the page. It is imaginative (see the Snow Queen moving over the roof tops: half woman, half element) but also makes the reader see the children as only too real (see Kay curled up at the feet of the Queen).
