It probably won’t shock any of my readers to know that I have a deep and abiding affinity for fairy-tale picture books, especially (but not limited to) the “princess” variety. I am, however, extremely choosy about which ones to stock on my shelves. As I’ve written before, the story and the artwork must come together to bring a tale to life, and it’s easy with fairy tales to allow our familiarity with the story to cover for poor images. This same familiarity may also encourage us to allow ugly, dumbed-down works into our children’s hands. With so many bad fairy-tale renditions to choose from, here instead are eight stellar ones, in no particular order. (Some of these illustrators and authors have other work that is equally excellent, and they are worth exploring further.)
Two on the list are Cinderella retellings. This rich fairy tale is both universal and ancient, and I spent a considerable amount of my lunch breaks while working my high-school library job reading every version I could find. Traditional retellings abound, but one that always charmed me was Ella’s Big Chance, by Shirley Hughes. Set in the 1920s, the images have a slight Norman Rockwell feel to them, and Hughes has a knack for catching amusing facial expressions. Even though the ending is slightly unconventional, it is sweet.
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