Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

by Joan Aiken

The story of Snow White, her evil stepmother, a talented mirror, a woodsman, a prince, and seven small, hard-working men has never been more exciting or revealing than in this beautiful and feisty retelling by beloved children's book author Joan Aiken. Belinda Downes's gorgeous embroidered illustrations bring life, depth, and emotion to this classic story of betrayal and the power of love.

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens

44 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Abigail]

Joan Aiken, the marvelously talented author who penned The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and its sequels, turns to the classic fairy-tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in this lovely picture-book. Her narrative follows the expected track, with our eponymous heroine being born with snow white skin, bark-black hair and berry-red lips - in short, with the beauty that eventually leads her wicked step-mother to plot to have her killed, first by having the court's huntsman execute in her woods, and when that fails, by disguising herself in various roles and seeking Snow White out at the home of the Seven Dwarfs, where she has found refuge...

Faithful to the traditional Brothers Grimm original, for the most part, Aiken's retelling contains all the major plot points, save for the stepmother's attendance at Snow White's wedding feast, but also has some entertaining additions that increased my enjoyment. The mirror's personality here, its hatred of Snow White's stepmother, and its gleefully spiteful replies to her questions, were quite well done. The names given to the dwarfs - Fred and Ted, Mike and Ike, Tim and Sim, and Sacheverell - were also amusing. The accompanying illustrations by Belinda Downes, done in fabric-art form, are absolutely beautiful, and capture the magic and beauty of the tale. Although not the equal of my all-time favorite Snow White retelling, done by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett, this was nevertheless a lovely presentation, one I would recommend to young fairy-tale lover, Joan Aiken fans, or admirers of fabric-art illustrations.

[Becky]

When I saw that Joan Aiken had written the text, I had to see what she had done with it. I loved it. It's clever and witty and age-appropriate, but would be fun for the parents reading it aloud. The pictures were beyond amazing. I can't believe that someone created such beautiful artwork with fabric and thread.

[Sarah]

Not my favorite adaption...too much added detail.

[Judy]

According to this book, the seven dwarfs are brothers named Fred and Ted, Ike and Mike, Tim and Sim, and the youngest Sacheverell, who was called Sachie by all his brothers.

Young Snow White looks older than seven years when the huntsman takes her into the woods, and there's no way she could continue to wear the same clothes for many years. Not only would they have been worn to tatters, she would have outgrown them. These are just a couple of the discrepancies that bothered me while reading.

Whenever an author retells a fairy tale, there should be an Author's Note explaining the 'adaptations' from the original story.

I wanted to read a version other than the familiar Disney tale, but I think this may be "over-adapted." I'll have to read the original version before I finalize my rating.

Update: I read the Grimms' original. Aiken has kept most of the original, picked up some of the Disney storyline, and added quite a bit of her own spin.

Sept 2019: Now, three years later, I don't remember this book at all -- not a good sign. I wonder if I kept it.

[Jennifer]

This was a decent retelling (don't expect the Disney version—this is based off the real thing; it's legit). We were very impressed with the art in the book. The illustrations were all done with embroidery, and as the story opens with Snow White's mother pricking her finger while embroidering, it almost feels like the mother embroidered the rest of the story itself.

[Kat]

Not the best retelling but the embroidery was stunning.

[Fiona]

Gorgeous illustrations

[Chelsea]

This book followed the same plot line as the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Again, I like the popular Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs so I liked this one as well. The pictures of the characters were different in this book, and even thought I did not like them as much I think that could be a great lesson to do a compare and contrast because they are the same story but such different illustrations. Another great lesson that this book would be good for is vocabulary. This book had a lot of good vocabulary in it for young children such as tremble, boughs, gale, outlaws and brooches.

[Kim]

Fairly traditional telling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In this version: Snow White awakens when her coffin is jostled not when she is kissed; the evil queen dies when a shard from her broken mirror pierces her heart; and the magic mirror is returned to the original owner. Beautiful images of embroidered scenes.

themes: fairytales, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, step-mothers, witches

[Sammie Ortiz]

A nice book to a classic tale. The pictures seemed as though they were stitching's which made it seem like a storybook tale. The book is a bit different from the movie but similar enough that the students will enjoy it. The stitching illustrations were my favorite part of this book. They were so creative and made the story more interesting. This book is a good choice for fairytale themes.

[Jamie]

Amazing illustrations. They are all sewn and they are beautiful!

The best telling of the story that I've heard.

[Christina]

Interesting emobroidered illustrations. Great details add interest to the story.

[Gina]

Another book illustrated by Belinda Downes ~ gorgeous!

[Chantae]

Beautiful illustrations!