Sleeping Beauty

I have long been a fan of ms. Crafts illustrations. They are breathtakingly beautiful from a distance, and full of interesting and fantastic details upon closer examination. This book is no exception, and takes the classic story of the enchanted Princess Aurora, setting the tale in a romantic fantasy kingdom, with the artwork combining rennaisance, high baroque and modern artistic styles.There are no words to describe how talented Craft is at capturing beauty, you must see it for yourself.

I have four children and a large collection of childrens' books, including some wonderfully illustrated classics. However, this book has the most beautiful illustrations I've ever seen. I am a fan of Kinuko Craft's other books, but this one truly oudoes them all. Sleeping Beauty is a wonderful treat for kids, and anyone who appreciates truly beautiful art. Its classic story line and amazing illustrations make it the best bedtime story book I've seen.

The five stars are for the artwork. Ms. Craft's work is brilliant and, as always, I find no fault with it. The style in this book reminds me of flemish tapestries, though some paintings seem to have a very strong Renaissance feel to them. Also noteworthy are the illuminated letters that introduce each page of text. They rival those of Medieval times. They employ a labyrinthine quality and I enjoyed gazing on these letters repeatedly, as I did the large paintings.In addition to technical achievement with her lush details, Ms. Craft demonstrates a strong ability to tell a story with pictures in this volume. I very much admire this aspect to her work and I think she uses extraneous details wisely. Ms. Craft's details always enhance the narrative. They add something without giving the sense of simply being tacked into the works. For example, a mermaid child on the fountain goes through the enchantment with Beauty and leaves a little something to wonder about. This character is shown on a fountain in a painting in the opening where Beauty is playing a 12-stringed instrument. You wonder if the child is real or a statue. Later, you can the watery little thing sleeping peacefully inside the fountain when the prince arrives. I found this element to add a bit of mystery and a sense of old fashioned enchantment that has ancient, classical roots.Another character that lives in the paintings is the German Shepard Dog that you can see clearly sleeping at Beauty's side by her bed. He's introduced earlier, at the side of the fairy, when she flies in with her dragons. There, he's hardly noticeable, but evidently, this handsome dog is left behind to guard the princess. He's even seen in the last full page painting, adding a symbolic element of domesticity and safety, as he sits there and calmly gazes at the reader from his corner. I found him charmingly reminiscent of flemish Renaissance paintings. I think that Mahlon Craft tried to do the same thing with his ancient frog. This frog swims with Beauty's mother, and to repay her for her songs, he fortells the birth of Beauty. I think I missed the frog's real meaning, if there was one. I found him distracting, creating a slow start for the book. The frog only seemed to be added in for the sake of stretching Mr. Kinuko's narrative, of giving the reader the prophecy in the space of a page, not a paragraph. Another strange element that didn't seem to mesh tightly into the rest of Mr. Craft's narrative was the negligence of Beauty's parents on her 16th birthday. They leave her alone as they've gone out to buy her a very special gift. How does that make any sense? They are characterized as having feelings for their daughter and they had been warned that she would be afflicted on this day. How could they have been so callous to have left her? They learned their lesson about ignoring the 13th fairy right away, you'd think that they would take these things more seriously! This is the one place in Mahlon's story that I thoug

This is beautiful! I have been a fan of Craft's fairy tales for quite some time, especially her version of "Cinderella," but this takes the cake. The fairies are one of my favorite parts. They have filmy wings and gossamer gowns but the bad fairy, well, she is neither gossamer nor filmy. If you have seen Craft's "Baba Yaga," Baba Yaga looks a lot like the evil fairy. Aurora is simply perfect. Her blonde curly hair, her perfect face, and her angelic disposition all comprise the ideal fairy tale princess. Craft's paintings demand a second glance, because new details can be found on each page. For example, the reader will see swans throughout the book in the castle's rooms. The retelling, which was written by Craft's husband, is a more extended version but remains with tradition. For example, the frog still tells the queen the good news, there are thirteen fairies and the princess sleeps for 100 years. This book is truly a work of art and should become THE "Sleeping Beauty" for both children's book collectors and fairy tale collectors. Happy Reading!

Although the tale is well-known and almost as popular as Cinderella, there are few picture books of Sleeping Beauty currently in print. The Crafts have helped to fill the void with this lushly written and illustrated version of the classic tale. The tale is romantic and Kinuko Craft's illustrations are her usual high standard, this time with a baroque whimsy that will delight young and old readers. I have seen grown-ups reaching to thumb through the book as often as the children in my library and at the bookstore. If you are not familiar with Craft's illustrations, this book is a perfect introduction while presenting a fairy tale princess in all of her baroque splendor. It's also great if you have been looking for that perfect bedtime fairy tale so rarely seen in this format. ...