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Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale
A Caldecott book Honor Title (1938)
King Douda, wise, rich, , strong, and very handsome, decides to marry a princess as beautiful as himself. To help him in his quest, he engages seven brothers, each of whom has a special skill that, by the tale’s end, is used in a most unusual manner. Love triumphs in the end in this whimsically decorated book with neat color line drawings.
King Douda, wise, rich, , strong, and very handsome, decides to marry a princess as beautiful as himself. To help him in his quest, he engages seven brothers, each of whom has a special skill that, by the tale’s end, is used in a most unusual manner. Love triumphs in the end in this whimsically decorated book with neat color line drawings.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1937
About the author
Boris Artzybasheff
60 books5 followersBoris Artzybasheff (Ukrainian: Борис Арцебашев, 25 May 1899, Kharkiv, Ukraine, then in Russian Empire– 16 July 1965) was an American illustrator of Russian-Ukrainian origin active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
February 4, 2019
I have been trying to read this book since I set the goal to read Caldecott books. I couldn’t get this at my library, through ILL or at the Library of Congress, so I ended up buying this book used for some reason. I don’t know why, but this is one I wanted to read. This is a book from the first year the Caldecott award started.
I thought the artwork had this very delicate minimalist quality to it. It almost looks like it was gold foil embossed or something shiny. It uses detailed drawings. Each page spread is a drawing on one page and full page of text on the other.
To me, it reads much like a fairy tale. It is set in Russia, I believe. A King has everything but a wife and so he is unhappy. He wants not just an ordinary wife, she has to be as beautiful as he is. So, he is vain and all about the outside. He meets 7 brothers all with the same name. They grow gorgeous wheat, but each of them has their own talent. So the King gets them all to go across the sea and bring him back this bride he has heard talk of her beauty. So the story is all about how the brothers get the girl.
It all works out easy peasy in the end and the brothers get to go back to farming. It is such a strange tale that of course I like it. It’s not a great bedtime story. It took us 2 nights to read it. It’s a long one.
The kids thought it was ok. The nephew gave it 3 stars while the other gave it only 1 star. The niece didn’t understand why the girl didn’t get a say in who she married. That bothered her. It is weird to think about it in these terms. The girl was essentially kidnapped. She eventually is ok with it, but that didn’t sit well.
I thought the artwork had this very delicate minimalist quality to it. It almost looks like it was gold foil embossed or something shiny. It uses detailed drawings. Each page spread is a drawing on one page and full page of text on the other.
To me, it reads much like a fairy tale. It is set in Russia, I believe. A King has everything but a wife and so he is unhappy. He wants not just an ordinary wife, she has to be as beautiful as he is. So, he is vain and all about the outside. He meets 7 brothers all with the same name. They grow gorgeous wheat, but each of them has their own talent. So the King gets them all to go across the sea and bring him back this bride he has heard talk of her beauty. So the story is all about how the brothers get the girl.
It all works out easy peasy in the end and the brothers get to go back to farming. It is such a strange tale that of course I like it. It’s not a great bedtime story. It took us 2 nights to read it. It’s a long one.
The kids thought it was ok. The nephew gave it 3 stars while the other gave it only 1 star. The niece didn’t understand why the girl didn’t get a say in who she married. That bothered her. It is weird to think about it in these terms. The girl was essentially kidnapped. She eventually is ok with it, but that didn’t sit well.
October 7, 2018
Definitely deserves the Caldecott. The stylized line drawings take advantage of the limited color of the early picture books, instead of fighting or compromising with it. The story is a little long-winded, but so funny, with a dry or subtle wit, presented straight.
"If I go hunting and have some fun, I may lose my sorrow in the fields; in the dark forest I might drop it."
The king who was the father of the bride could not attend the wedding because of "important matters of state which required his direct attention, such as training his army and seeing that his spare army was well groomed."
"If I go hunting and have some fun, I may lose my sorrow in the fields; in the dark forest I might drop it."
The king who was the father of the bride could not attend the wedding because of "important matters of state which required his direct attention, such as training his army and seeing that his spare army was well groomed."
January 10, 2012
1938 Caldecott Honor
This one really cracked me up. The King is sad "because he could not find a worthy maiden for a bride, a princess who would be as good-looking as himself." Too too much for me not to giggle.
I found a funny saying too, "in less time than it takes to braid the hair on a bald man's head."
Somehow, though many things in the story were simply outrageous, it struck me as humorous and so it worked for me.
This one really cracked me up. The King is sad "because he could not find a worthy maiden for a bride, a princess who would be as good-looking as himself." Too too much for me not to giggle.
I found a funny saying too, "in less time than it takes to braid the hair on a bald man's head."
Somehow, though many things in the story were simply outrageous, it struck me as humorous and so it worked for me.
April 9, 2024
It has been noted that early Caldecott Medal winners and Honor books tended to be longer than their later counterparts, with a lot more text and fewer pictures. Because of this, early Caldecott designees are sometimes dismissed as not kid-friendly, but I hesitate to agree with that assessment. Prior to the multimedia explosion of the fourth quarter of the twentieth century, options for kids' entertainment were markedly fewer, and less affordable to obtain. Picture books needed to provide a deeper reserve of quality substance, since they were likely to be reread many times. Kids of the 1930s and '40s didn't miss a beat, learning to appreciate longer, more complex literature at younger ages. Their reading material stretched their minds to higher levels of comprehension and general intelligence, and for that I believe a book like Boris Artzybasheff's Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale should be celebrated as a plateau we might reach again, if we put in the effort. This fable about a powerful young king utilizing the homegrown talents of his loyal subjects is a different breed of narrative from what most Americans are used to, but contains several memorable lines that stand out, and an artistic scheme worthy of the silver Caldecott emblem decorating the cover. Enter, if you please, and you'll find yourself in a story as colorful and unique as they come.
Rich, youthful, extraordinarily handsome King Douda has everything he wants, except a wife of equal beauty and regality with whom to share his empire. But while patrolling the outskirts of his kingdom one day, he happens on seven brothers named Simeon supping beside a glorious field of grain. King Douda desires to have their land's yield for himself, but more important, he feels he must own the rights to the services of the seven Simeons, who each possess a skill beyond the king's wildest dreams. As King Douda excitedly toys with the brothers' fairly supernatural abilities, testing them out for his own amusement, it occurs to him that he should use their talents to gain the wife he wants. Word from far-off lands suggests that a king with an enormously excessive military has a daughter, Princess Helena, whose comeliness rivals that of King Douda. Their realm lies ten years away by boat, though, and her proud father would never peaceably relinquish his daughter to a foreign regent.
"A craft is not a heavy burden, but it is good to know one against a rainy day."
—Seven Simeons, P. 7
The seven Simeons are more than a match for the might of the far-away king, however. At the command of King Douda, the Simeons piece together a plan to snatch Princess Helena without her father becoming aware until it's too late, but further challenges are in store for the remarkable siblings if they're going to make it back home with the gorgeous princess in tow. To reconcile the warring wants and needs of so many invested parties would be a tremendous feat, but the Simeons will try, for their king. A Happily Ever After or a tragic ending worthy of Shakespeare could be in the cards, but if it's the former, the seven Simeons are the ones to thank. A band of patriotic subjects can work wonders without cease for a leader they would give their lives to please.
I'm familiar with Boris Artzybasheff chiefly from his illustrating contributions to the junior novels of 1928 Newbery Medalist Dhan Gopal Mukerji. His artwork in Seven Simeons is good, too, but the tale relies mostly on the quality of his writing, and he acquits himself more than equitably on that count. There's the wise observation, for example, of a mariner, speaking of the princess King Douda seeks: "girlish beauty is not like the taxpayer's duty: it's here today but gone tomorrow." Then there's the following line, which describes the king's mental process as he attacks the problem of how to win the hand of a princess who lives ten years away behind an iron military curtain, running into issue after seemingly insurmountable issue as he reasons through the conundrum: "And his thoughts were like entangled black threads. He could never find the end to them." I love that line. It speaks powerfully and succinctly to the knots that tangle up my own mind when I want something so very badly and the stakes couldn't be higher. It makes the king an unexpectedly sympathetic figure—momentarily, at least—to all who have felt the same way. For these seasoned wedges of wisdom amidst the story, I would consider giving Seven Simeons two and a half stars. In like manner, it may be the storyteller's traditional humility that lends the narrative its most considerable charm, with the following parting words: "And now, my gentle friends, we are at the tale's end. For what was good in it, praise it; but for the rest forgive the poor story-teller. A wrong word is not like the bird in a cage. If ever a word flies out, no man can jump and catch it. In this I have no doubt!" Yes, that is the proper way to view a story, I do believe. Thank you for the thoughtful concluding statement, Boris Artzybasheff, and thank you for Seven Simeons. I won't soon forget it.
Rich, youthful, extraordinarily handsome King Douda has everything he wants, except a wife of equal beauty and regality with whom to share his empire. But while patrolling the outskirts of his kingdom one day, he happens on seven brothers named Simeon supping beside a glorious field of grain. King Douda desires to have their land's yield for himself, but more important, he feels he must own the rights to the services of the seven Simeons, who each possess a skill beyond the king's wildest dreams. As King Douda excitedly toys with the brothers' fairly supernatural abilities, testing them out for his own amusement, it occurs to him that he should use their talents to gain the wife he wants. Word from far-off lands suggests that a king with an enormously excessive military has a daughter, Princess Helena, whose comeliness rivals that of King Douda. Their realm lies ten years away by boat, though, and her proud father would never peaceably relinquish his daughter to a foreign regent.
"A craft is not a heavy burden, but it is good to know one against a rainy day."
—Seven Simeons, P. 7
The seven Simeons are more than a match for the might of the far-away king, however. At the command of King Douda, the Simeons piece together a plan to snatch Princess Helena without her father becoming aware until it's too late, but further challenges are in store for the remarkable siblings if they're going to make it back home with the gorgeous princess in tow. To reconcile the warring wants and needs of so many invested parties would be a tremendous feat, but the Simeons will try, for their king. A Happily Ever After or a tragic ending worthy of Shakespeare could be in the cards, but if it's the former, the seven Simeons are the ones to thank. A band of patriotic subjects can work wonders without cease for a leader they would give their lives to please.
I'm familiar with Boris Artzybasheff chiefly from his illustrating contributions to the junior novels of 1928 Newbery Medalist Dhan Gopal Mukerji. His artwork in Seven Simeons is good, too, but the tale relies mostly on the quality of his writing, and he acquits himself more than equitably on that count. There's the wise observation, for example, of a mariner, speaking of the princess King Douda seeks: "girlish beauty is not like the taxpayer's duty: it's here today but gone tomorrow." Then there's the following line, which describes the king's mental process as he attacks the problem of how to win the hand of a princess who lives ten years away behind an iron military curtain, running into issue after seemingly insurmountable issue as he reasons through the conundrum: "And his thoughts were like entangled black threads. He could never find the end to them." I love that line. It speaks powerfully and succinctly to the knots that tangle up my own mind when I want something so very badly and the stakes couldn't be higher. It makes the king an unexpectedly sympathetic figure—momentarily, at least—to all who have felt the same way. For these seasoned wedges of wisdom amidst the story, I would consider giving Seven Simeons two and a half stars. In like manner, it may be the storyteller's traditional humility that lends the narrative its most considerable charm, with the following parting words: "And now, my gentle friends, we are at the tale's end. For what was good in it, praise it; but for the rest forgive the poor story-teller. A wrong word is not like the bird in a cage. If ever a word flies out, no man can jump and catch it. In this I have no doubt!" Yes, that is the proper way to view a story, I do believe. Thank you for the thoughtful concluding statement, Boris Artzybasheff, and thank you for Seven Simeons. I won't soon forget it.
February 2, 2019
Handsome, wealthy, and wise, King Douda was the ruler of a powerful kingdom. But he was not happy, for he could not find a princess who was his equal in beauty and virtue - a princess worthy of being his queen... But then one day, riding out with his hunt, Douda happened upon the Seven Simeons, simple peasant brothers with extraordinary gifts.
This retelling of a Russian folktale, in which seven peasants help their king to gain the hand of a beautiful princess, was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1938. Boris Artzybasheff's delicate line drawings, in red, black, green and gold ink, are simply delightful. It is a shame that this lovely picture book is out of print.
This retelling of a Russian folktale, in which seven peasants help their king to gain the hand of a beautiful princess, was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1938. Boris Artzybasheff's delicate line drawings, in red, black, green and gold ink, are simply delightful. It is a shame that this lovely picture book is out of print.
June 23, 2015
A rather wordy telling of a Russian folktale. The illustrations are what really shine in this book. They are very intricately detailed and a pleasure to look at. My favorites are of the Simeons' fast sailing ship as well as the Princess Helena as a bird in flight. The story itself is a bit long winded, but fun nonetheless. However, throughout the story, I was waiting (or hoping) for a clever twist ending, wherein the seven brothers would, in some fashion, stick it to the vain king. But, I was disappointed that the ending was so meager.
In short, the illustrations are the best thing about this book. The story is long in the tooth and the ending a let down. In the end, it is still not only worthy of the Caldecott Honor, but much finer than the original medal winner of that year, Animals of the Bible.
In short, the illustrations are the best thing about this book. The story is long in the tooth and the ending a let down. In the end, it is still not only worthy of the Caldecott Honor, but much finer than the original medal winner of that year, Animals of the Bible.
February 14, 2015
Try to get past the whole kidnapping-I-must-marry-someone-good-looking thing and appreciate the book for it's artwork and snapshot into Russian tales.
January 19, 2018
While wordier than a contemporary children's novel, the text has a wonderful rhyming cadence. The line drawings while love have a delicate lacey quality that requires close inspection to appreciate.
February 18, 2013
First impression? Too many words and not enough illustrations (I've been reading kids books too long). But the story gets going and the stylized illustrations using red, black, gold and green on white - very evocative and expressive, a little reminiscent of royalty in a deck of playing cards - pull their weight. Each of the seven peasant brothers has a skill or power - similar to The Five Chinese Brothers - that hint at how the story will and does unfold. Favorite illustrations are the king and his army leaving the castle, the large tower built by one brother from which another brother looks as far as he can see (and the adjacent jester), and the ship sailing with the seven brothers. While the king looking for a queen "as good-looking as himself" could be an obstacle to enjoying this story (maybe that's how royalty looked at the world), what stood out for me and gave the book its heart was the humility of the peasants. Text-heavy, so probably not the best choice for very young listeners.
July 1, 2015
I used this book in multicultural text set. This is a great example of a Russian folktale. It gives readers a very strong and authentic perspective of how traditional Russian stories and ideals are told. I intend on using this to give my students an insight into the rich culture and tradition that is romanticized through King Douda's pride in himself, the love that the princess has, the reliance that the king has for the brothers and their skills, and the bravery that was needed to achieve his goal (to fulfill his life with a wife). Great illustrations. A little hard to follow, but, overall, a great resource.
February 17, 2012
Caldecott Honor 1938 - Interesting illustrations - more for the intricacy that was probably unique for the time, but the story annoyed me. If they talked one more time about being the most beautiful, etc. I might have thrown the book.
April 18, 2015
Funny in it's ridiculous shallowness. Caldacott honor from the '30's that wouldn't hold the attention of today's children as it is to long.
December 3, 2017
1938 Caldecott Medal Honor book. I can see why the book was a runner up for the Caldecott Medal. The illustrations are beautiful. Honestly, having attempted to read the Caldecott Medal winner for 1938, I cannot believe Seven Simeons was a runner-up. It is a thousand times more beautifully illustrated than the winner.
I give the book 2 stars only because of the illustrations. The story, however, is really deplorable. I am always willing to grant leeway for a story written in a different time and era, but none is given for this story. If anything, my 6 year old learned a lot about consent (in 6 year old terms) while reading this picture book. I could only read a few pages at a time because I had to spend so much time talking about consent.
Basically, Kind Douda is incredibly good looking and he wants to mary someone just as good looking as he thinks he is. He hears about a beautiful princess across the ocean but he has no way to reach her. While he is pondering the unreachable princess, he comes across seven magical brothers, all named Simeon. One brother Douda throws immediately into prison because the magic that brother performs is to break any lock. Obviously, he is a criminal bent on stealing and thieving his way through the kingdom, therefore he is jailed. So that little subplot right there sets me off in a bad way. Yes let's jail people for what they might do!
The brothers learn about the beautiful princess King Douda wishes to marry sight unseen and tell the king they can help him. The jailed brother is released to assist his brothers. While he was jailed because he MIGHT be a thief, if he thieves for the King -- that's okay. The brothers travel to the distant country and steal the princess. Once she realizes she is being abducted, she tries to escape by turning into a beautiful bird (truly, the illustration is stunning) and flying away to her country and her father. One of the brothers SHOOTS her from the sky! She realizes she cannot escape and resigns herself to her fate.
Once she meets Douda and sees how good looking he is, she falls in love with him. Because that is what matters -- how good looking someone is. In the meantime, the princesses father decides to behead his entire army because they allowed the princess to be stolen. The seven brothers returned to the princesses kingdom just in time to save the army by bringing a message to the King from the princess saying she is happy and going to be married to Douda.
Their nefarious deeds done, the brothers all return to their farm with goodwill from King Douda.
Truly, a horrifying book.
I give the book 2 stars only because of the illustrations. The story, however, is really deplorable. I am always willing to grant leeway for a story written in a different time and era, but none is given for this story. If anything, my 6 year old learned a lot about consent (in 6 year old terms) while reading this picture book. I could only read a few pages at a time because I had to spend so much time talking about consent.
Basically, Kind Douda is incredibly good looking and he wants to mary someone just as good looking as he thinks he is. He hears about a beautiful princess across the ocean but he has no way to reach her. While he is pondering the unreachable princess, he comes across seven magical brothers, all named Simeon. One brother Douda throws immediately into prison because the magic that brother performs is to break any lock. Obviously, he is a criminal bent on stealing and thieving his way through the kingdom, therefore he is jailed. So that little subplot right there sets me off in a bad way. Yes let's jail people for what they might do!
The brothers learn about the beautiful princess King Douda wishes to marry sight unseen and tell the king they can help him. The jailed brother is released to assist his brothers. While he was jailed because he MIGHT be a thief, if he thieves for the King -- that's okay. The brothers travel to the distant country and steal the princess. Once she realizes she is being abducted, she tries to escape by turning into a beautiful bird (truly, the illustration is stunning) and flying away to her country and her father. One of the brothers SHOOTS her from the sky! She realizes she cannot escape and resigns herself to her fate.
Once she meets Douda and sees how good looking he is, she falls in love with him. Because that is what matters -- how good looking someone is. In the meantime, the princesses father decides to behead his entire army because they allowed the princess to be stolen. The seven brothers returned to the princesses kingdom just in time to save the army by bringing a message to the King from the princess saying she is happy and going to be married to Douda.
Their nefarious deeds done, the brothers all return to their farm with goodwill from King Douda.
Truly, a horrifying book.
October 15, 2016
Too-long Russian fable about the handsome guy getting the girl.
It's a fable about the most beautiful king ever. He's so good looking it's amazing. He has to find a woman to be his wife who is as good looking as he is. So he asks some sailors, and the sailors say, “We've heard of a beautiful woman who lives ten years away from you.” And he says, “Clearly if I sail there and then sail back she'll be 20 years older and we'll both be ugly by then, so that's silly.”
And then he's out hunting and trying to figure out how to fix this problem, to get this one specific chick, and finds some wheat that's awesome. And the wheat is owned by seven brothers, the Seven Simeons of the title. One of them can build a really tall tower. The second one can climb the tower and see anything in the world. The third one can build a boat that sails super-fast. The fourth one can take that boat, bring it underwater with everybody safely aboard, and bring it back up again whenever he feels like it. The fifth one can shoot anything in the sky. The sixth one can catch anything that that brother shoots. And the seventh one can steal things.
And so the king, although he takes a while to do it, realizes that they can actually help him with his problem. He gets them to build a boat, sail there, steal the girl, and bring her back. She, upon seeing him, falls in love immediately because he's so good looking. Her father, who was keeping her locked away and wanted to kill anyone who wanted to take her, was going to kill all of his army because they failed to prevent her from getting kidnapped. The brothers sail back with a letter from the daughter saying how much she loves the king and he's okay and forgives them. And that's how it ends.
Very wordy. It has a bad message, but it's way too long to read to a kid so I don't expect anyone really would. So I guess it's saved from being a bad book to read to kids by virtue of not really being a book to read to kids.
Message: If you're good looking, you can get away with anything. Or, women are property.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
It's a fable about the most beautiful king ever. He's so good looking it's amazing. He has to find a woman to be his wife who is as good looking as he is. So he asks some sailors, and the sailors say, “We've heard of a beautiful woman who lives ten years away from you.” And he says, “Clearly if I sail there and then sail back she'll be 20 years older and we'll both be ugly by then, so that's silly.”
And then he's out hunting and trying to figure out how to fix this problem, to get this one specific chick, and finds some wheat that's awesome. And the wheat is owned by seven brothers, the Seven Simeons of the title. One of them can build a really tall tower. The second one can climb the tower and see anything in the world. The third one can build a boat that sails super-fast. The fourth one can take that boat, bring it underwater with everybody safely aboard, and bring it back up again whenever he feels like it. The fifth one can shoot anything in the sky. The sixth one can catch anything that that brother shoots. And the seventh one can steal things.
And so the king, although he takes a while to do it, realizes that they can actually help him with his problem. He gets them to build a boat, sail there, steal the girl, and bring her back. She, upon seeing him, falls in love immediately because he's so good looking. Her father, who was keeping her locked away and wanted to kill anyone who wanted to take her, was going to kill all of his army because they failed to prevent her from getting kidnapped. The brothers sail back with a letter from the daughter saying how much she loves the king and he's okay and forgives them. And that's how it ends.
Very wordy. It has a bad message, but it's way too long to read to a kid so I don't expect anyone really would. So I guess it's saved from being a bad book to read to kids by virtue of not really being a book to read to kids.
Message: If you're good looking, you can get away with anything. Or, women are property.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
November 19, 2012
I know this book won a 1938 Caldecott Honor, and maybe they hadn't quite worked out the kinks yet on the selection process since it was the first year, but this book should've won the award. It is based off a Russian folktale that the author/illustrator retold and illustrated himself in this brilliant line drawing style accented in red, green, gold and black. The drawings are very detailed and remind me filigree or manuscript illustrations, although another reviewer has compared them to Faberge eggs (which I can see as well). For the drawings alone, the man should've won the Caldecott. Even the end pages have an interconnected line drawing of the sun and moon.
His story is interesting too, instead of being just selections from the Bible. It is a folktale about a beautiful king named Douda who wants a bride as good-looking as himself. One day he comes upon a bountiful wheat field while touring his kingdom, which is owned by seven brothers, all named Simeon, who also possess some pretty incredible talents. The king is impressed with them all except the 7th who is a master thief, and he is arrested. But he enlists all the brothers' help in order to help him marry the beautiful Princess Helena, who lives in a faraway island kingdom. The princess falls in love with Douda and they are married. I would love to own this book! Recommended for ages 5-9, 4 stars.
His story is interesting too, instead of being just selections from the Bible. It is a folktale about a beautiful king named Douda who wants a bride as good-looking as himself. One day he comes upon a bountiful wheat field while touring his kingdom, which is owned by seven brothers, all named Simeon, who also possess some pretty incredible talents. The king is impressed with them all except the 7th who is a master thief, and he is arrested. But he enlists all the brothers' help in order to help him marry the beautiful Princess Helena, who lives in a faraway island kingdom. The princess falls in love with Douda and they are married. I would love to own this book! Recommended for ages 5-9, 4 stars.
July 20, 2016
Intricate 4 color line drawings - I especially liked the drawing of the tower which had, as its skeleton, a simple spiral.
This is an old folktale that centers around the idea that a king is so good-looking he can't find a bride who matches him in beauty. Yep. It's all about appearances. He's good, kind, and rich, too, but beauty is what's most important to him in a bride. Of course, when he finds one who IS beautiful enough, she, though stolen from her father and homeland, falls in love with him immediately because he is SO good-looking. That definitely gave me a giggle. But it's a folktale, so of course 95% of the story is completely far fetched. But overall, this was an enjoyable story.
This is an old folktale that centers around the idea that a king is so good-looking he can't find a bride who matches him in beauty. Yep. It's all about appearances. He's good, kind, and rich, too, but beauty is what's most important to him in a bride. Of course, when he finds one who IS beautiful enough, she, though stolen from her father and homeland, falls in love with him immediately because he is SO good-looking. That definitely gave me a giggle. But it's a folktale, so of course 95% of the story is completely far fetched. But overall, this was an enjoyable story.
October 5, 2017
This wordy tale about a king in search of a princess who can match his good looks was unusual, but enjoyable at the same time. I expected the book to be a lesson for the king about the superficiality of good looks, but what emerges instead is a story about seven brothers, each with special talents, who help the king solve his problem of bringing home his desired bride. The illustrations are gorgeous in their original format, and the few colors used to draw them really pop off the page and grab the eye. My husband bought a newer edition of this book in the bookstore after we read the much older library copy, and we were disappointed to discover that the color of the pages, and the ink used for the lines, had been changed. It’s still a nice book, but the original was truly beautiful.
January 12, 2012
Caldecott Honor 1938
Favorite illustration: p. 13 The illustration of the second Simeon in the tower scouting out the island that is home to the King's desired princess.
Favorite line: p. 16 "Here, here you wise men! Your heads are big, your beards are long but all your brains aren't worth a song."
Kid-appeal: My seven year-old groaned when she saw the wordiness of this book. It is really more like a short story with illustrations, as indeed it's very long. Older children, middle grades and up will appreciate the folktale more.
Favorite illustration: p. 13 The illustration of the second Simeon in the tower scouting out the island that is home to the King's desired princess.
Favorite line: p. 16 "Here, here you wise men! Your heads are big, your beards are long but all your brains aren't worth a song."
Kid-appeal: My seven year-old groaned when she saw the wordiness of this book. It is really more like a short story with illustrations, as indeed it's very long. Older children, middle grades and up will appreciate the folktale more.
February 5, 2017
A cute little Russian folktale. It's a bit too wordy for a children's picture book but entertaining nonetheless. There were some clever lines that made me shake my head and smile, and I believe they would even make a kid chuckle.
Because of how wordy it is, I can't imagine it holding the attention of really young children. I would recommend this for kids entering the chapter book stage, however this one should still be read to them. It still qualifies as a good bedtime story book.
Because of how wordy it is, I can't imagine it holding the attention of really young children. I would recommend this for kids entering the chapter book stage, however this one should still be read to them. It still qualifies as a good bedtime story book.
March 9, 2011
I didn't like the king in the story. I was surprised he ended up marrying the princess. It seemed wrong that he got "rewarded" after the way he treated the seventh Simeon, who had the ability to steal anything. I had expected him to be punished for being so vain that he only wanted to marry a princess as beautiful as he was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2014
I enjoyed the detailed folk art style in this book very much. The story seemed like it was going to be offensive here and there, with threatened beheadings and a kidnapped princes, but the heads were not chopped off, the princess was offered her freedom but opted in on the arrangement, and they all lived happily ever after.
February 24, 2018
• 1938 Caldecott Honor Book •
The illustrations are so delicate and light - really wonderful to look at! This is an odd story, but I kind of liked its weirdness and outrageousness. The king is ridiculously shallow, but I enjoyed reading a Russian folktale and the art is really lovely and unique.
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
The illustrations are so delicate and light - really wonderful to look at! This is an odd story, but I kind of liked its weirdness and outrageousness. The king is ridiculously shallow, but I enjoyed reading a Russian folktale and the art is really lovely and unique.
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
November 26, 2018
I actually really liked this book. It was way too ridiculous to be taken seriously so the shallow prince part didn't bother me in the least. Besides, fairy tales are all about "who's the fairest", so that part was no surprise.
This book held the attention of my child: age 8.
Recommended for ages 6-10.
This book held the attention of my child: age 8.
Recommended for ages 6-10.
April 18, 2016
Well, I have to say that this surely deserved the Caledcott Honor it received in 1938 because the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. However, the story itself is rather boring and long-winded. I'm not sure children would enjoy it.
May 30, 2013
1938 Caldecott Honor
Just glancing through it I really liked the illustrations. The story really felt as if someone was truly telling it to me, as if an elder woman was passing it down to the next generation....I'm not sure I like the moral, though....
Just glancing through it I really liked the illustrations. The story really felt as if someone was truly telling it to me, as if an elder woman was passing it down to the next generation....I'm not sure I like the moral, though....
December 29, 2014
A nice setup for a folktale but not a lot of point to it. A Caldecott Honor book, but I guess old ones the words must have been a lot more important. This one was long and wordy. And the art though nice, was strictly decorative.
January 7, 2012
Video Review here: http://liblaura5.blogspot.com/2012/01...
January 21, 2012
Favorite illustration: page 15
January 29, 2012
I must admit that the pictures were gorgeous in this book, but the story didn't do much for me. It was very long and I felt a bit bored with it.
July 5, 2016
This book from 1937 (won a 1938 Caldecott Honor) got me thinking that kids back then must have had much longer attention spans than kids today. This was a pretty wordy book!
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