The Nightingale

by Michael Bedard

A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" in which, despite being neglected by the emperor for a jewel-studded bird, the little nightingale revives the dying ruler with its beautiful song

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

1 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 1992

About the author

Michael Bedard was born and raised in Toronto. His novels include Stained Glass, A Darker Magic, Painted Devil, and Redwork, which received the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year Award for Children. He has also written several acclaimed picture books, including The Clay Ladies, which received the Toronto IODE Book Award. His biography, William Blake: The Gates of Paradise and his picture book Emily attest to his interest in poets and poetry.

Reviews

[boat_tiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEAUTIFUL illustrations and story.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a retelling of a story by Hans Christian Andersen. It was nicely done. Regolo Ricci's illustrations were quite nice.

[Moses and Felix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illustrations are lush, but the story is odd and the very creepy death-ghoul at the end makes this inappropriate, in my mind, for kids under the age of 6.

[jeow]

found on the street by the beaches, pretty illustrations

[David Rosen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A beautiful retelling of an apparently classic Chinese fable. The writing is both lyrical and sharp, and is at times thought-provoking.
The illustrations were well done, however they were not so much to my taste. Visually compelling nonetheless.
I really like this book. Not going down as one of the all-time greats, but certainly one that I'll enjoy returning to.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a super long book to read to young kids and there were some pictures that scared my little girl. I even thought they were creepy.