The Snow Princess
Grade 2-4–Inspired by the Russian balletThe Snow Maiden, Sanderson has written a fictional tale of the daughter of Father Frost and Mother Spring. Unmindful of her parents' warnings that she will become mortal if she loves a human, the Snow Princess goes off to learn the ways of people. When she falls in love with a young man and saves him from dying in a snowstorm that she has created, she willingly trades her immortality for love. Despite some dramatic fairy-tale elements, the story is not compelling. Also, there is some unevenness in the double-page oil paintings set in a wooded countryside in winter. Some feature small, sketchy illustrations of people in peasant costume, while a few show the Snow Princess and her young man in larger, realistic portraits that are obviously painted from models. This is not one of Sanderson's best efforts.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.