A Venetian fairytale concerning two brothers, conceived when their mothers - maid and mistress in the same house - ate the flesh and the peel of a magic apple. Hearing of a beautiful magician's daughter who never smiles, Pome and Peel set out to charm her with their music, eventually convincing her to flee her father's house with them. But a terrible curse follows the girl, and only Peel, unable to speak of his knowledge, knows how to defeat it...

I had never encountered the story of Pome and Peel before, although I understand that it is also contained in Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales. A brief note on the title page informs the reader that this retelling is based upon Nicoletta Pini's Pomo e scorzo, in Fiabe Populari Veneziane. The gorgeous egg and casein tempera paintings are by Laszlo Gal, one of my favorite fairytale illustrators, and ground the story in a lovely Renaissance landscape. Recommended to all fairy and folktale lovers. ( )