DNF at 48%

I wouldn't normally DNF a children's book, but The Snow Queen was a little too dark for my monsters, and not something I wanted to continue reading on my own. The children were abducted or spelled to stay against their will, and I didn't think it was appropriate for younger kids.

Age-appropriateness aside, I didn't really like the stories. I think they're all connected somehow, and the broken mirror at the start plays a role in people's behaviors, but it simply didn't grab my attention.

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The text was lovely in Engelbreit's version but I don't know if she adapted that or not. The illustrations were cute, but *not* at all appropriate, in my opinion. I had wanted to find the edition illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko or the one by Naomi Lewis. I will have to find another text, maybe an older one, to compare, as there's no note here. ( )

The Snow Queen was one of the spring books to read for the group, Into the Forest. I remembered the basic story from when I was young, but decided to refresh my memory with a reread. I’m so glad I did.

The version that I read was barely 29 pages long, even with lovely illustrations taking up some of the space. It somehow managed to be charming, surprising, whimsical, lyrical, and a bit suspenseful all at the same time. I read it very slowly, even a few pages a day, just to let the phrases and images tumble about in my brain.

I loved the matter-of-fact way that Gerda conversed with rivers, birds, and reindeer in her search for her missing friend. They were all guileless and helpful, which was not always the case with the humans in the story. Most of the humans were ultimately helpful, but not always guileless. Even so, no one in the story was evil as such. Like the story of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, an external force thrown into the world brings about hard-heartedness and cruelty.

The natural world was firmly part of the fabric of the story. In fact, a few references made me wonder if Hans Christian Andersen was making sly pokes at rationality from time to time, particularly rationality that made one dismiss the mystical wonders of flora and fauna. The clever princess, who reads all the newspapers and then forgets them as proof of her intelligence, is a case in point.

I had put off starting this book until the snow from the last storm melted. I’m glad I did. As I went on a long walk this morning, I saw snowdrops and crocus in brave little bunches. I couldn’t help but smile at them and asked them quietly what their story was.
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The Snow Queen, illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.

I confess that I am not the greatest Mary Engelbreit fan, finding her artwork - which always reminds me of those sickeningly sweet greeting cards I so deplore - rather too cute for my taste. But a friend mentioned her version of The Snow Queen, and as I seem to be reading and reviewing every other retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale, I thought I'd take a look. I shouldn't have.

The narrative here (Engelbreit's own? The work of some other translator? - No such information is given) is somewhat abridged - no fairy-tales from the flowers in the old witch's garden - but still retains the basic seven-chapter format of the original, including the framing story of the goblin's mirror. There are a few odd word choices, and a number of cases in which the tale is subtly altered, smoothing out some of its sharper corners. The crow who assists Gerda doesn't die in the end, he "retires." The narrator specifies that the Snow Queen means harm to the grapes and lemons on Etna and Vesuvius, rather than letting the reader appreciate the irony of her statement that she will "do them good."

These are minor changes, of course, and might not have irritated me quite as much, if I had enjoyed the accompanying illustrations. Unfortunately, I found them ludicrously inappropriate for the tale in question, with Gerda and Kay looking like nothing so much as stiff porcelain figurines. I can't think of an artist whose style is less suited to The Snow Queen. Engelbreit's fans will undoubtedly enjoy this one, but I would recommend that others give it a miss. There are far, far superior editions out there, from Vladyslav Yerko's masterpiece, to the lovely version illustrated by Angela Barrett. ( )