In Shadowland

by Mitsumasa Anno

Chaos descends on Shadowland when the watchman leaves his post to join a little match girl on a snowy street in the real world.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1988

About the author

His name is written as 安野光雅 in Japanese.

Mitsumasa Anno (born March 20, 1926) was a Japanese illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books with few or no words. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1984 for his "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Thomas Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anno's retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Match Girl, from the land where shadows go in gloomy winter. 1976 in Japanese, 1988 in English. ISBN 0531057410.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anno's use of the paper cut technique quickly brings to mind the silkscreen prints of his fellow countryman Sadao Watanabe - they are spectacular. The storyline isn't quite as strong as his detailed travel books, but still conveys a mythic quality about the interaction between our everyday world and the nearby world of shadows.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more palatable retelling of the Little Match Girl. (I was horrified by the fairy tale as a child.) Maybe I can hand this out if I think the parents are pushing the fairy tale on too young a child.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitsumasa Anno retells "The Little Match Girl," adding a man from a place called Shadowland joins the match girl in the real world. The story is weird but the illustrations are beautiful.

[Carin Atkinson]

Shadows