Shadow Play

by Paul Fleischman, Eric Beddows (Illustrator)

A puzzle version of the classic fairy tale about a beautiful young girl whose love breaks an evil spell that had transformed a handsome prince into a hideous beast, is set against the backdrop of a shadow-puppet production

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

33 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California. The son of well-known children's novelist Sid Fleischman, Paul was in the unique position of having his famous father's books read out loud to him by the author as they were being written. This experience continued throughout his childhood.
Paul followed in his father's footsteps as an author of books for young readers, and in 1982 he released the book "Graven Images", which was awarded a Newbery Honor citation.
In 1988, Paul Fleischman came out with "Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices", an unusually unique collection of poetry from the perspective of insects. This book was awarded the 1989 John Newbery Medal. Factoring in Sid Fleischman's win of the John Newbery Medal in 1987 for his book "The Whipping Boy", Paul and Sid Fleischman became to this day the only father and son authors to both win the John Newbery Medal.

Reviews

[Slee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lovely picture book encourages children to think about what they're seeing and that it might not be what they expect.

[Rebecca Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book about two children who go to a circus. They have only enough money left to see a shadow play, where Beauty and the beast is told through puppets behind a screen and they see only the shadows. Instead of a beast the circus bull comes on stage and is tamed by a little girl. When the show is over the children go behind the screen and see that it was only a puppet of a bull and not the real thing. While I loved the concept and the illustrations, which were grayscale and silhouettes, I felt like it was a little jumpy. Good for a alternative fairy tale storytime.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Teaching us that appearances are as thin and deceptive-as shadows" ~ Paul Fleischman

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtakingly beautiful artwork.