Rapunzel: A Grimm's Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

by Brothers Grimm

book data

778 ratings, 4.01 average rating, 92 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		35%
4		35%
3		24%
2		4%
1		0%

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published

August 25th 2005 by North-South (first published 1961)

details

Hardcover, 32 pages

characters

Rapunzel

literary awards

Caldecott Medal (1998)

isbn

0735820139 (isbn13: 9780735820135)

description

Retells the tale of the beautiful girl imprisoned in a lonely tower by a witch.

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 941)

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Jul 29, 2008

Chandra rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: caldecott, fairy-and-folk-tales, great-illustration, picture-books-advanced

I recently re-read this with Izzy and now I feel a little more qualified to give a full review. In his author's note Zelinksky explains that he chose an Italian Renaissance backdrop to honor the one of the earliest known origins of the story - a 17th century Neapolitan folktale. Authors who are retelling a story always get big bonus points from me for including information about the source material. Zelinksy's retelling is very nice and it's an easy book to read aloud - not too long, not too s...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

Feb 28, 2009

Heidi rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: award-winners, childrens, fiction, picture-books

Read in February, 2009

I loved the illustrations in this bool, particularly the use of color. Great details that could easily be overlooked, too. I also liked reading the history of the fairy tale. I did not know it dated as far back, or know of the many changes that had occurred. In fact, only vaguely do I remember ever hearing a version where Rapunzel was pregnant, and that's why the witch cast her out.

This is also one of those fairy tales that, though I love the aspect of long, gorgeous hair, I have a ...more

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Feb 16, 2009

Krysten rated it:

(review of isbn 0613608321)

bookshelves: children-s-lit-books

Read in February, 2009

Evaluation: A gardener feeds his pregnant wife rapunzel from a witch's garden, but gets caught and promises his child to the witch. The witch raises the beautiful girl, named Rapunzel, and locks her in a tower where only she can visit by climbing Rapunzel's hair. One day, a prince hears Rapunzel singing, and figures out that to climb, he must call for her hair to be let down. He does call, and when he climbs up the tower, Rapunzel and the prince soon fall in love and are wed in a secret cerem...more

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Nov 19, 2009

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

Read in November, 2009

Wow. I REALLY disliked this book. Maybe it got the Caldecott Medal for it's beautiful illustrations, but what a wretched story. Seriously. My synopsis: "Mom gets hungry. Dad steals greens from a witch's garden. Witch catches him, but lets Mom eat a green salad, in exchange for the baby. (Say what?!) Baby grows up a bit and Witch locks her in a tower. (Uh, why?!) Prince breaks in. They fall in love. (Really?!) They have a secret marriage/nightly visits/blah, blah, blah. Rapunz...more

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1 comment

Oct 15, 2009

Janna added it (review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: pbgs-choice-3

Read in January, 2009

The illustrations in this book are exceptional. Each page shows a lot of detail. The only thing I knew about Rapunzel was the fact that she had long hair and she lived in a tall tower and then a prince climbed up the tower. I was very surprised by the other aspects of this story. The characters were very flat; the parents at the beginning appeared to have given up their baby without a fuss. I wouldn’t describe the sorcerer as a completely flat character because she was evil at the beginn...more

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Nov 12, 2009

SallySnowtiger rated it:

(review of isbn 0142301930)

bookshelves: traditional-literature

Read in December, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Rapunzel
Grades 1-4
Traditional Literature

The inside cover credits The Brothers Grimm for the origins of this story. The illustrations in this book are absolutely stunning. Paul O. Zelinsky fills the large formatted pages in this book with what looks like Italian Renaissance oil paintings inspired by Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The illustrator captures incredible detail in the characters’ faces, making their every emotion and expression vividly real to life. There is...more Rapunzel
Grades 1-4
Traditional Literature

The inside cover credits The Brothers Grimm for the origins of this story. The illustrations in this book are absolutely stunning. Paul O. Zelinsky fills the large formatted pages in this book with what looks like Italian Renaissance oil paintings inspired by Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The illustrator captures incredible detail in the characters’ faces, making their every emotion and expression vividly real to life. There is a lot of text in this book, and it is fairly small in font considering it is a picture book. Some the words used, such as “plummeted,” “wretched,” and “luxuriant,” might make this story difficult for 1st and 2nd graders to follow. This is not your average children’s fairy tale picture book, especially if they are accustomed to Disney cartoon style illustrations that depict characters with friendly rounded features, and brightly animated everything. Zelinsky uses true to life colors, the characters are dressed in Renaissance clothes, their features are angular and emotions such as fear and anger and are captured in great detail in their facial expressions. One image shows the stepmother with frighteningly wide eyes and angry expression holding a pair of scissors in one hand and Rapunzel’s hair in a firm grip in the other, as Rapunzel appears to be helplessly crying holding her head in her hands. This is taking place up in the tower over a breathtaking view of mountainous, but deserted looking land below which renders feelings of fear, danger and isolation.
This image comes just before the point in the story where true to the original Grimms’ version Rapunzel says: “If you, please, stepmother, help me with my dress. It is growing so tight around my waist, it doesn’t want to fit me anymore.” Which suggests that Rapunzel was doing a little more than having a little chat over milk and cookies with the prince. Unless the children have a highly refined, sophisticated eye for Renaissance art, great concentration skills, an advanced vocabulary and understanding of metaphors and subtext, I would say this book might not have a high level of child appeal for most children below 3rd or 4th grade.

Language Arts/Social Studies/Art/Fine Arts/Science
Grades 1-4
Read aloud this version and “Sugar Cane A Caribbean Rapunzel” by Patricia Storace and have the students write a paper that compares and contrasts the two versions of this tale. For Social Studies the students can learn about different cultures based on the German and Caribbean versions of the story. For Art students can learn about Renaissance art history by studying paintings by Botticelli and see the similarities in style to the paintings in Zelinsky’s Rapunzel. There is also a 14-minute film version of Zelinsky’s Rapunzel, the video says it is for grades K-4 and includes activity ideas that I think children would enjoy. It suggests having the children dramatize the story and paint a backdrop for their dramatization on large cardboard. Science can include discussing gardens with the students, and ask them to describe what their fantasy garden would look like as an introduction to science units on planting. 3rd –4th graders can start learning about plants in more detail and plant life cycles.
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Mar 01, 2010

Kayla Pollema rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: pbgs2

This book tells the classic fairy tale of Rupunzel but the setting has changed to a Tuscan setting.
Unlike many of the books we read the setting was purely created by the author. The page before the title page explains that the illustrator wanted to warm the story with the colors and setting of France and Italy. The setting that the author creates is what makes this story different from the other stories of Rupunzel. On a side note the illustrator uses space very well. The illustrator ...more

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Oct 10, 2009

Chris Webber rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: children---juvenile

Read in October, 2009

What an interesting, and beautifully illustrated, rendition of the classic story of Rapunzel! In this verion, when her mother is pregnant with her, the mother has cravings for an herb Rapunzel that grows in the sorceress’ garden. I liked that little quirky connector.

Also, when the prince discovers how to get into the tower by climbing up Rapunzel’s hair, they fall and love and she gets pregnant but she doesn’t know she is pregnant because the only person she has ever seen bes...more

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Nov 03, 2009

Scarlett Sims rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: children-s, fantasy, for-school, picture-book

Read in November, 2009

We all know I love fairy tales! There were several things I really liked about this version of Rapunzel. One was the art. I felt that the illustrations were really beautiful and in the author's note, he explains that he was trying to evoke renaissance art which I think he did really well. He also gives some background on the Rapunzel story, discussing a few different versions of it, how the Grimms changed it, and why he chose to incorporate the elements he did. I feel that is a useful tool ...more

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Nov 11, 2009

Dayna rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

The illustrations are beautiful and the story is well told. I especially like that the author includes a brief history of the fairy tale itself at the end. He uses an Italian Renaissance style for the illustrations, apparently because the first print version (c. 1632) of the Rapunzel story was actually Italian (Petrosinella, from the Italian word for parsley). Then it was adapted by a French author (Persinette, from the French word for parsley) before being adapted again by the Brothers Grimm, w...more

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Mar 05, 2008

Tekoteiti added it (review of isbn 0816775060)

Read in March, 2008

I learned that real love comes from the heart.

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Nov 16, 2008

Loretta Kramer rated it:

(review of isbn 0613608321)

Read in November, 2008

Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm story where a beautiful young girl is kept in a high tower in the forest by a sorceress. The sorceress comes into possession of the child after she discovers the father-to-be stealing the rapunzel herb from the her garden to give to his pregnant wife and she strikes a deal with him that he can have the rapunzel herb in exchange for their newborn child. The story continues with the young girl, Rapunzel, living her life in seclusi...more Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm story where a beautiful young girl is kept in a high tower in the forest by a sorceress. The sorceress comes into possession of the child after she discovers the father-to-be stealing the rapunzel herb from the her garden to give to his pregnant wife and she strikes a deal with him that he can have the rapunzel herb in exchange for their newborn child. The story continues with the young girl, Rapunzel, living her life in seclusion in a high tower in the forest and growing her hair to extraordinary lengths and falling in love with a prince, who is kept secret from the sorceress.

Rapunzel is a fairy tale that without pictures or illustrations is a retelling of the princess meets prince story and they live happily ever after. However, in Paul O. Zelinsky’s retelling of the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel, the illustrations bring this story to life. Zelinsky uses an Italian Renaissance style of painting that is beautiful and captivating. The face of the sorceress is frightening with bulging eyes and with scissors in hand ready to sheer Rapunzel’s hair because of her deceitfulness. Later in the story Rapunzel’s beautiful cherub faced children craning to see their father’s face for the first time.

In a Common Sense review by Amy Brotman, she writes “Spectacular oil paintings, rich with color and light, dive below surface appearances to convey deep feelings and relationships. In one picture, the sorceress appears with her turquoise cape billowing, her cheeks sucked in, and her bulging eyes aglow,” which mirrors my reaction to the beautiful oil paintings by Zelinsky. He downplays his talent when he writes, “I have been humbled by my own attempts to achieve effects that any Renaissance painter’s apprentice could have tossed off as though it were nothing.” In another review from Suite 101.com, Melissa Howard writes, “Many of Zelinsky’s illustrations for the book are stories unto themselves. A child who cannot read could happily study the details of the beautiful child Rapunzel dancing before her adopted mother and the ever-present peacock or they can wonder at the joyful reunion between Rapunzel and her prince with its audience of the two small children, a toad, and a cat.”

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Oct 02, 2008

Megan rated it:

(review of isbn 0613608321)

Read in October, 2008

Summary: When Rapunzel is born, she is taken from her parents and raised by a sorceress. She has long, flowing hair that she lets down so that the sorceress can climb up the tower where she lives. When the sorceress discovers that Rapunzel has been seeing the prince, she banishes her and sends the prince away blind. They are reunited at the end and the prince gets his sight back. They live happily ever after.
Genre: Fairy Tale/Picture Book
Audience: K-6
Reading Level: Transitiona...more

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May 05, 2008

Stefani rated it:

(review of isbn 0613608321)

bookshelves: caldecott, read-picture

Read in May, 2008

A re-telling of the fairytale of Rapunzel, Zelinsky brings the story to life through the style of Italian Renaissance paintings. A child is given up as payment to a sorceress who raises her as her own, only to lock her in a door-less tower in the middle of the woods. Rapunzel grows into a beautiful woman, while growing her flowing hair to be the only entrance into her tower. Her secret love with the prince causes her to be banished to the wilderness by the sorceress, who then seeks revenge on th...more

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Oct 15, 2009

Ashley Fischer added it (review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: pbgs-3

This story of Rapunzel always seems to be enjoyable. The pictures were great. They weren’t of the 21st century which may discourage children from reading the book or enjoying the pictures. However, the oil paintings have great detail. The illustrator used texture to give the viewer more sense of a visual image. The illustrator used lines and positioning of characters in the pictures to move the viewer’s eyes to certain things in the picture and to help move the viewer’s eyes around the pic...more

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Feb 11, 2010

CH_Kathleen rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: folktales, traditional-lit

Paul Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel takes shape from both the Grimms folktale and earlier versions of the tale. It is a wonderful retelling of the story and begins with how Rapunzel was given her name. The Italian Rennaissance art is beautiful and fits well with the story, especially for depicting the beauty of Rapunzel. The book does not show any cultural diversity, but would be wonderful to read to students when introducing the story of Rapunzel.

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2 comments

May 29, 2009

Debra added it (review of isbn 0525456074)

Read in May, 2009

I loved the illustrations, particularly that of the cat. Although the feline was not part of the text, he (or she) was in the background of many of the illustrations. That's just like a cat! Kids may enjoy looking for the cat throughout the book.

Now that my status as a cat person is evident, I'll provide a review of the text: I enjoyed this version of Rapunzel and appreciated the author's two-page note regarding the background of the story.

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Apr 30, 2009

Tawnya Yardley rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

I'd read this book as a child and was excited to see it again. Just as I remembered the plot of the story captured and held my imagination since it was so original. There was a lot of suspense and kept my attention. The pictures are beautiful too. If you have a moment, be sure to read this book, it's a work of traditional literature that should continue to be passed on for generations to come.

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Jul 13, 2009

Greg rated it:

(review of isbn 0142301930)

bookshelves: books-for-kids

Read in July, 2009

Maybe because my teacher said something in class, but I was expecting something different from this book. I thought maybe it would be 'de-constructing' the fairy tale in someway, but instead it was just sort of putting it together in a mismash of various versions, some Grimm, some earlier traditions. The illustrations were interesting, and the abundance of cats in the pictures were nice.

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May 21, 2009

Morgan rated it:

(review of isbn 0525456074)

bookshelves: caldecott, fairy-folk-tale, juvenile, picture-book

Read in March, 2009

Zelinski's Rapunzel is an excellent retelling of the Rapunzel tale and it does trace back to its Italian origins. I appreicate the inclusion of the pregnancy and the return to some of the harshness that were part of the Grimm's tales. I enjoyed reading this with my children and sharing this fairy tale. The illustrations are exceptional which unto itself makes this book a worthy read.

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