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The Wild Swans
34 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 1988
About the author
Angela Barrett
50 books60 followersAngela Barrett studied at the Royal College of Art in England with Quentin Blake and is one of Britain’s most highly acclaimed illustrators. She has won the Smarties Book Prize and the W. H. Smith Illustration Award for her work and has illustrated more than twenty-four books for children, including classic tales, fairy tales, biographies, story collections, and picture books. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 29, 2019
The Wild Swans, illustrated by Angela Barrett.
Adapted from a traditional Danish folktale, De vilde svaner has always been one of my favorite stories from Hans Christian Andersen, and I have vivid memories of reading it over and over again, as a girl. So when I discovered that Angela Barrett - the illustrator responsible for my favorite edition of Snow White - had also done an edition of The Wild Swans, back in the early 1980s, I was immensely excited. When I learned that the translator of this edition was none other than Naomi Lewis - whose subsequent 2005 translation of the same tale was used in the stunningly beautiful Anne Yvonne Gilbert edition - I was even more keen to obtain a copy.
Unfortunately, although this edition has definite narrative and artistic merit, it simply didn't live up to my (wildly high) expectations. Lewis' translation is everything I would expect: faithful and complete. I found myself wondering what, if anything, she changed for her 2005 effort. Barrett's artwork - apparently this was her first picture-book - has moments of true enchantment, but was rather uneven. Her scenery is gorgeous, but her people aren't quite there yet. Still, I could definitely see the seeds of her future brilliance, and while I wouldn't really recommend this one to the reader looking for the best visual interpretation of this tale (Anne Yvonne Gilbert, people!), Angela Barrett fans might be interested in seeing the beginning of her picture-book career.
Adapted from a traditional Danish folktale, De vilde svaner has always been one of my favorite stories from Hans Christian Andersen, and I have vivid memories of reading it over and over again, as a girl. So when I discovered that Angela Barrett - the illustrator responsible for my favorite edition of Snow White - had also done an edition of The Wild Swans, back in the early 1980s, I was immensely excited. When I learned that the translator of this edition was none other than Naomi Lewis - whose subsequent 2005 translation of the same tale was used in the stunningly beautiful Anne Yvonne Gilbert edition - I was even more keen to obtain a copy.
Unfortunately, although this edition has definite narrative and artistic merit, it simply didn't live up to my (wildly high) expectations. Lewis' translation is everything I would expect: faithful and complete. I found myself wondering what, if anything, she changed for her 2005 effort. Barrett's artwork - apparently this was her first picture-book - has moments of true enchantment, but was rather uneven. Her scenery is gorgeous, but her people aren't quite there yet. Still, I could definitely see the seeds of her future brilliance, and while I wouldn't really recommend this one to the reader looking for the best visual interpretation of this tale (Anne Yvonne Gilbert, people!), Angela Barrett fans might be interested in seeing the beginning of her picture-book career.
July 27, 2012
Naomi Lewis' beautiful illustrations make this fairy tale even more wonderful.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews