Record Added: 10/8/2009 Topic Fairytales, Myths, Folklo Publisher Harper Collins Publishers ISBN 0688098371 Year 1997 Age 4-8 Pages 48 Description printed dustjacket
|
|
"Bearskin", the first story in Howard Pyle's book of literary fairy tales, "The Wonder Clock, is an agreeable tale incorporating several familiar mythic and folkloric elements. As the result of a wise man's prediction that a miner's baby will marry the princess, her father the king orders the baby's death, but the child is set adrift in a basket by a compassionate huntsman. Found and nurtured by a she-bear, Bearskin grows to be immensely brave and strong. He rescues his princess from a dragon and manages, by guile, to marry her.
Betrayed by his own father, the infant son of a lowly miller narrowly escapes death and is lovingly adopted by a faithful she-bear. Raised on her nourishing milk, the boy becomes the strongest man in the land -- and the only one brave enough to battle the kingdom's bloodthirsty three-headed dragon. Yet it is wit, not just courage and might, that the hero must employ to win his true desire: the delicate hand of a princess already betrothed to another.
Nothing could be more delicious than the marvelous quest that ensues -- a tale of romantic valor, stolen glory, and sweet justice. Caldecott Medalist Trina Schart Hyman has created a pictorial drama that is alive with good humor and splendid characters as forever memorable as Howard Pyle's timeless story. Here is a winning revival from the classic book The Wonder Clock that will surely be savored again and again. |
|
