Sleeping Beauty

Rating:
Summary: An Enchanting Sleeping Beauty in Blue
Review: Adele Geras previously wrote a fine series for children about famous ballets, including the Sleeping Beauty ballet. Unfortunately, many reviews are being published for that title under this newer book. This review is for the book by Geras, illustrated by Christian Birmingham, and with the ISBN number of 043958180X.

If you love blue and white, this Sleeping Beauty will quickly become your favorite version ever. Birmingham uses the entire spectrum of blue for his lush and luminescent illustrations of Geras' adaptation of the well-known fairy tale. While Geras' text is excellent, Birmingham's illustrations are the true reason for owning this book. Every page glows with light and magic, providing an impact similar to Thomas Kinkade's paintings without the blatant sweetness. Even at the darkest moments of the story, the happy ending is foreshadowed with beams of light streaming into the image.

Kinuko Y. Craft most recently illustrated this tale with a rich palette of reds and earth tones. Now Birmingham has provided us with the opposite spectrum of cool blues and the sky. Both books are highly recommended; don't think that this one should be missed if you already own Craft's beautiful book. We can only hope Geras and Birmingham will produce more fairy tales with their unique vision.