#424 of 1001 · September 28, 2021

Sleeping Beauty Week moves steadily ahead, and next up is a version by Jane Yolen and Ruth Sanderson. Yolen’s graceful prose draws readers irresistibly through the enchantment and dark drama of the story. Sanderson’s oil paintings, created from reference photos of costumed models, shine with rich colors and a striking contrast between light and shadow. A note for folklore enthusiasts: Yolen has adapted the plot from the Brothers Grimm, keeping the heroine’s name Briar Rose and the number of fairies at the royal feast thirteen. The messenger who informs the queen that she is with child, instead of a crab or frog, is a fairy as well. Notably, upon seeing that the princess has pricked her finger, the old spinning woman gives “a high wicked laugh”, suggesting that she is in fact the thirteenth fairy in disguise—a detail not present in the original tale but invented by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky for his 1890 ballet Sleeping Beauty. #sleepingbeauty #sleeping #beauty #fairy #fairies #queen #king #princess #prince #book #books #childrensbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks