#427 of 1001 · October 1, 2021

Onward we press through Sleeping Beauty Week, though examining and contrasting this many versions of a single story can feel as difficult as struggling through a snarl of thorny briars. Today we have a handsome adaptation by @adelegeras and Christian Birmingham. Geras adds a good deal of flavor and intrigue to the traditional tale, fleshing out the plot with lyrical descriptive language to create her own singular vision, while Birmingham’s dazzling art brings a lush visual drama to the proceedings. A note for folklore enthusiasts: the wicked fairy takes a place of unusual prominence in this version, with Geras bestowing on her the original name Skura. Here she keeps bats, ravens, and wolves as familiars, and she appears to possess the power to turn into a little gray cat. While she fulfills the villainous role demanded by the fairy tale plot, she receives a good deal of focus and characterization, enough perhaps to be viewed by some readers as the story’s protagonist. #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