Rapunzel: The Graphic Novel (Graphic Spin)
From the Graphic Spin series, which adapts classic fairy tales into graphic format, comes this retelling of the long-tressed girl locked into a tower by an evil witch. The text does an adequate job of leading readers through the tale, but it would behoove them to be familiar with the story (if, indeed, there are any who aren’t) before engaging in this bare-bones account. What will attract children to this offering is Timmins’ highly visceral artwork—equal parts frightening and exciting—which captures the original appeal of the Grimm Brothers’ tale. The hollow-eyed and lederhosen-attired characters look as if they have been lifted from an idyllic Bavarian scene and dropped into a nightmarish shadow world dominated by the witch’s evil intent. But the overall scariness is leavened by some dark visual humor and the ultimate happy ending. Although this is for a younger audience than Shannon Hale’s Rapunzel’s Revenge (2008), the two still make an interesting comparison of just how wildly different a story can become when draped in divergent atmospherics. Grades 2-4. --Ian Chipman--This text refers to theLibrary Bindingedition.