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The Wild Swans
In this beautifully illustrated edition of the classic Hans Andersen fairy tale, The Wild Swans, translator Naomi Lewis tells the beautiful and soulful story of a young girl and her journey to find her lost brothers. Upon discovering that they have been transformed into swans, she sets off on a difficult journey, enduring many hardships on her quest to return them to their human form.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1838
14 people are currently reading
1561 people want to read
About the author
Anne Yvonne Gilbert
54 books27 followersOne of the most prolific and acclaimed illustrators practicing today, Yvonne Gilbert's work runs the gamut from children’s book illustrations and postage stamps to posters and record sleeves. The richness of her imagination reflects her lifelong research and interest in the quality of materials and surfaces, from the familiar glint of an embroidered cloak to the soft, unblemished skin of an infant. Her exceptional sense of composition and design, together with her attention to proportion and detail, results in truly sumptuous visual representations of both real and imaginary worlds.
Born and raised in Northumberland, England, Yvonne Gilbert studied at Newcastle College of Art and Liverpool College of Art. After lecturing full-time for 5 years Yvonne became a free-lance illustrator in 1978 since when she has worked with many of the major publishing houses and design-groups worldwide. Yvonne Gilbert now lives in Toronto, Canada.
Yvonne has designed and illustrated many books including The Iron Wolf by Richard Adams, Goodnight, My Angel by Billy Joel, The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson and more recently contributed to Wizardology, Pirateology and Spyology for Templar Publishing. She has designed and illustrated 3 sets of stamps for the Royal Mail, her 1984 Nativity winning both the "Il Franco Bollo díor" (The Golden Stamp Award) and the "Gran Premio del'Arte Filatelica" (The World’s Most Beautiful Stamp). Yvonne’s provocative and innovative record sleeve for Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax was recently chosen by Q magazine to be one of "the 100 Best Record Sleeves of All Time" and termed a "Design Classic" by BBC Television.
Yvonne’s work has won many major national and international awards and her originals sell in galleries both in the UK and the USA. Her work is held in private collections including those of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the late H.R.H. Princess Margaret, Larry and Barbara Seeborg and Monica Seeborg. Her website (http://www.yvonnegilbert.com ) showcases a small sample of her work, prints of which are for sale.
Born and raised in Northumberland, England, Yvonne Gilbert studied at Newcastle College of Art and Liverpool College of Art. After lecturing full-time for 5 years Yvonne became a free-lance illustrator in 1978 since when she has worked with many of the major publishing houses and design-groups worldwide. Yvonne Gilbert now lives in Toronto, Canada.
Yvonne has designed and illustrated many books including The Iron Wolf by Richard Adams, Goodnight, My Angel by Billy Joel, The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson and more recently contributed to Wizardology, Pirateology and Spyology for Templar Publishing. She has designed and illustrated 3 sets of stamps for the Royal Mail, her 1984 Nativity winning both the "Il Franco Bollo díor" (The Golden Stamp Award) and the "Gran Premio del'Arte Filatelica" (The World’s Most Beautiful Stamp). Yvonne’s provocative and innovative record sleeve for Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax was recently chosen by Q magazine to be one of "the 100 Best Record Sleeves of All Time" and termed a "Design Classic" by BBC Television.
Yvonne’s work has won many major national and international awards and her originals sell in galleries both in the UK and the USA. Her work is held in private collections including those of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the late H.R.H. Princess Margaret, Larry and Barbara Seeborg and Monica Seeborg. Her website (http://www.yvonnegilbert.com ) showcases a small sample of her work, prints of which are for sale.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
February 9, 2017
هانس کریستین اندرسن،
لعنت به تو.
از نقاشی های بی نظیر ایونه گیلبرت برای کتاب، که هر چی گشتم نتونستم کتاب مصورش رو پیدا کنم.
لعنت به تو.
از نقاشی های بی نظیر ایونه گیلبرت برای کتاب، که هر چی گشتم نتونستم کتاب مصورش رو پیدا کنم.
October 20, 2020
What did I just read? 😯
The illustrations are enchanting. Not a big fan of the story and the characters. The illustrations deserve all the love😍
The illustrations are enchanting. Not a big fan of the story and the characters. The illustrations deserve all the love😍
August 15, 2025
I love thisss! I love thisss! I love thisss! I love thisss!
A really unique fairy tale by Anderson! Seriously, this should have been more famous!
A really unique fairy tale by Anderson! Seriously, this should have been more famous!
February 4, 2025
جدای از خود داستانش، نقاشیهای این ورژن خیلی خوب بودند.
بهمن ۱۴۰۳
بهمن ۱۴۰۳
January 24, 2023
✩ 4.5 stars
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[read for my independent studies of folklore & mythology]
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not as whimsical as i remember from my childhood but it was still good
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this magical story has a very special place in my heart <3
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[read for my independent studies of folklore & mythology]
~
not as whimsical as i remember from my childhood but it was still good
~
this magical story has a very special place in my heart <3
Want to read
August 17, 2012one of yvonne gilbert's illustrations (not sure if it's included in the wild swans though) ..
January 24, 2019
The Wild Swans, illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert.
Since the time I was a child, I have always had a deep and abiding love of folk and fairy-tales, and have taken great pleasure over the years, as both a reader and collector, in comparing the different artistic approaches used by various illustrators, when undertaking to interpret the same stories. Sometimes - as with the Isadora, Archipowa and Pinkney versions of The Little Match Girl - I find that a number of different editions all have equal appeal for me. At other times - with Edward Gorey's Rumpelstiltskin , for instance, or Evelyn Andreas' Cinderella - the edition of my youth retains its hold on my imagination, always coming first in my affections. And at still other times - as with Angela Barrett's Snow White - I have stumbled, as an adult, across some new edition that has become my favorite.
But although I have read countless folk and fairy-tale retellings, and keep an ever-growing list of artists whose work in this vein I admire, I do not think - with the exception of Vladyslav Yerko's superb The Snow Queen - that I have ever come across a book which so perfectly captures the wonder and terror, the beauty and cruelty, and the dream-like vividness of the fairy-tale world, as this edition of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans, retold by Naomi Lewis and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, has done.
The narrative flows smoothly, but it is the artwork - Gilbert's beautiful artwork, by turns dreamy and sharp, so poignantly expressive and tender - that make this a fairy-tale masterpiece! The portrait of the wicked stepmother whispering her falsehoods in the king's ear, or kissing the poisoned toads she intends to use against the heroine, evoke true anxiety in the reader, who immediately recognizes that evil is afoot. The beautiful depiction of Elisa reunited with her brothers - all gathered in a group, and lovingly touching one another, as if to make sure that they are truly together again - has the power to move anyone who has ever loved brother or sister. The moment in which the king secretly watches Elisa, wanting to believe no wrong, but beginning to fear the worst, will have the reader wishing that she could but speak! And of course, the scenes in which Elisa goes to meet her death, surrounded by an angry mob, only to find salvation at the last (through speech!) will send shivers down the spine of any person who knows - as we all do, on some level - that justice is not always done.
It is difficult to imagine a more pitch-perfect interpretation of the story, with all its cruelty and injustice, loyalty and love. There is power here, and Anne Yvonne Gilbert had tapped into the heart of it, transforming us from mere readers to witnesses. For that, all true fairy-tale lovers owe her a debt of gratitude.
Since the time I was a child, I have always had a deep and abiding love of folk and fairy-tales, and have taken great pleasure over the years, as both a reader and collector, in comparing the different artistic approaches used by various illustrators, when undertaking to interpret the same stories. Sometimes - as with the Isadora, Archipowa and Pinkney versions of The Little Match Girl - I find that a number of different editions all have equal appeal for me. At other times - with Edward Gorey's Rumpelstiltskin , for instance, or Evelyn Andreas' Cinderella - the edition of my youth retains its hold on my imagination, always coming first in my affections. And at still other times - as with Angela Barrett's Snow White - I have stumbled, as an adult, across some new edition that has become my favorite.
But although I have read countless folk and fairy-tale retellings, and keep an ever-growing list of artists whose work in this vein I admire, I do not think - with the exception of Vladyslav Yerko's superb The Snow Queen - that I have ever come across a book which so perfectly captures the wonder and terror, the beauty and cruelty, and the dream-like vividness of the fairy-tale world, as this edition of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans, retold by Naomi Lewis and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, has done.
The narrative flows smoothly, but it is the artwork - Gilbert's beautiful artwork, by turns dreamy and sharp, so poignantly expressive and tender - that make this a fairy-tale masterpiece! The portrait of the wicked stepmother whispering her falsehoods in the king's ear, or kissing the poisoned toads she intends to use against the heroine, evoke true anxiety in the reader, who immediately recognizes that evil is afoot. The beautiful depiction of Elisa reunited with her brothers - all gathered in a group, and lovingly touching one another, as if to make sure that they are truly together again - has the power to move anyone who has ever loved brother or sister. The moment in which the king secretly watches Elisa, wanting to believe no wrong, but beginning to fear the worst, will have the reader wishing that she could but speak! And of course, the scenes in which Elisa goes to meet her death, surrounded by an angry mob, only to find salvation at the last (through speech!) will send shivers down the spine of any person who knows - as we all do, on some level - that justice is not always done.
It is difficult to imagine a more pitch-perfect interpretation of the story, with all its cruelty and injustice, loyalty and love. There is power here, and Anne Yvonne Gilbert had tapped into the heart of it, transforming us from mere readers to witnesses. For that, all true fairy-tale lovers owe her a debt of gratitude.
December 23, 2016
A princess, eleven brothers, a wicked step-mother and here we go.
The "Queen" banished the princess to a very far, poor pasture and changed her brothers to swans, when the princess turns fifteen, she runs aways and somehow manages to find her brothers.
The only way to break the spell is a difficult and needs a sacrifice that the princess is willing to make.
PS: read the story to know what it is all about ;)
The "Queen" banished the princess to a very far, poor pasture and changed her brothers to swans, when the princess turns fifteen, she runs aways and somehow manages to find her brothers.
The only way to break the spell is a difficult and needs a sacrifice that the princess is willing to make.
PS: read the story to know what it is all about ;)
February 14, 2019
Hans Christian Andersen's Wild Swans have many similarities to Grimm's "The Six Swans" and "The Twelve Brothers" and Andrew Lang's "The Six Swans" in The Yellow Fairy Book. I think Anderson's tale is a much later version because it is set in a Christian Kingdom. There are many references to God. Later Eliza (the protagonist) is accused of witchcraft and killing her babies and is ordered to be burnt alive at the stake. The archbishop and the church really look forward to it. I didn’t like references to God/Christianity. Those beliefs shouldn't get mixed up in fairy tales which depicts the battles of good and evil, where the bad is punished/condemned by nature/karma.
Princess Eliza is one of those few young women you will come across in folklore/fairy tale narrations that is really admirable. She doesn't get saved. She does the saving of her 11 brothers and herself. She is determined, compassionate, patient, strong, courageous, altruistic, perseverant, pure and beautiful. In other words, Eliza is the epitome of perfection. So she has a stepmother who wants to make her ugly (because she was unsuccessful in killing her), and a mother-in-law who wants to see her burned.
Yvonne Gilbert Barefoot's illustrations are magical.
Princess Eliza is one of those few young women you will come across in folklore/fairy tale narrations that is really admirable. She doesn't get saved. She does the saving of her 11 brothers and herself. She is determined, compassionate, patient, strong, courageous, altruistic, perseverant, pure and beautiful. In other words, Eliza is the epitome of perfection. So she has a stepmother who wants to make her ugly (because she was unsuccessful in killing her), and a mother-in-law who wants to see her burned.
Yvonne Gilbert Barefoot's illustrations are magical.
February 20, 2012
This was one of my favourite fairytales when I was little! The evil step-mother strikes again, but children turn out to be smarter and better than her :)
March 31, 2018
I have always loved the story but I never imagined how beautiful the artwork would be when I picked up this book. Reminds me of childhood.
May 6, 2022
Read to my little sister at bedtime 😂😂😁
Read
September 6, 2024I read this because it’s the original source for the retelling which is Six Crimson Cranes (by Elizabeth Lim.) It was fun to see all the similarities to SCC. While obviously a juvenile read, I felt it worthy enough to read to see where the inspiration came for a retelling I really enjoyed.
October 12, 2018
I absolutely adore Hans Christian Andersen’s beautiful mind- his soul has been a special gift to this earth and I believe his stories still create magical ripples all across the world. When reading his stories one can feel the essence of his pure heart and childlike innocence emanating through every word and creating that childlike sense of wonder within ourselves. That is a divine gift.
The illustrations in this bicentennial version took my breath away and I deeply enjoyed every page. This is definitely a book I’ll be adding to my permanent library and saving for my future children. 💜
The illustrations in this bicentennial version took my breath away and I deeply enjoyed every page. This is definitely a book I’ll be adding to my permanent library and saving for my future children. 💜
October 28, 2018
A highly enjoyable and beautifully illustrated version of Andersen's classic.
December 24, 2019
A fairytale of self sacrifice! What a sister/ person will endure to save/ rescue her brothers from an evil curse! Cute story. Hans Christian Anderson, where many fairytales start!
Princess Elise is sent on a quest to rescue her brothers (her choice). She’s threatened by her stepmother (witch), yet she passes since she is a good person. Witch attempts 3 frogs to destroy Elise; make her dumb, ugly, and cruel (this fails because Elise has a heart of pure goodness). Finds her brothers as swans, and must make it right. She seeks out the fairy queen who tells her how to break the spell. By seeing 11 shirts with sleeves out of nettles and hemp; while doing so remaining silent as well.
As she sews the shirts in a cave, a young king happens upon her, thinks his rescuing the beautiful maiden, sweeps her away to his castle, decides to marry her... even though she is said and can’t speak. But he his a good king, and had his huntsman bring the nettles and hemp with him so she can continue in her work of the shirts.
But she runs out of nettles and hemp, has to travel to a church where she “avoids” witches. But the King’s archbishop believes her to be a witch; he convinces the king of this. Elise is put on trial; she looses. During her trial day, her brothers find her, they protect her from the crowd as the swans. And she throws the shirts over them. They miraculously transform back into princes and fight her case.
She falls dead, but roses and blossoms start to bloom, the king places the flowers on her bosom, she lives again. Elise and the king remarry and they live happily ever after.
Moral: self sacrifice. How far will someone go to save the ones they love?
To note: nettles are extremely painful to the touch, it took her almost a year to sew the shirts together.
Princess Elise is sent on a quest to rescue her brothers (her choice). She’s threatened by her stepmother (witch), yet she passes since she is a good person. Witch attempts 3 frogs to destroy Elise; make her dumb, ugly, and cruel (this fails because Elise has a heart of pure goodness). Finds her brothers as swans, and must make it right. She seeks out the fairy queen who tells her how to break the spell. By seeing 11 shirts with sleeves out of nettles and hemp; while doing so remaining silent as well.
As she sews the shirts in a cave, a young king happens upon her, thinks his rescuing the beautiful maiden, sweeps her away to his castle, decides to marry her... even though she is said and can’t speak. But he his a good king, and had his huntsman bring the nettles and hemp with him so she can continue in her work of the shirts.
But she runs out of nettles and hemp, has to travel to a church where she “avoids” witches. But the King’s archbishop believes her to be a witch; he convinces the king of this. Elise is put on trial; she looses. During her trial day, her brothers find her, they protect her from the crowd as the swans. And she throws the shirts over them. They miraculously transform back into princes and fight her case.
She falls dead, but roses and blossoms start to bloom, the king places the flowers on her bosom, she lives again. Elise and the king remarry and they live happily ever after.
Moral: self sacrifice. How far will someone go to save the ones they love?
To note: nettles are extremely painful to the touch, it took her almost a year to sew the shirts together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2024
OMG this was my absolute favorite book as a child, the story is so amazing and magical, how she sacrifice a life of riches just to save her brothers and turned them back into humans, the devastation she felt when she saved her brothers and realized that they were all grown up and now they were ready to take on their lives as young, while she as a young women wasted all of her youth knitting that damn blanket and not speaking just to save her brothers, didn’t really get how sad it was as a kid but I get it not, THIS IS THE BEST FAIRY TALE EVER
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 8, 2021Practically the same story as Grimms' The Six Swans but more detailed and with some minor plot variations (same potential plot hole, though--couldn't the princess write things while she couldn't speak?? I would guess she would be literate as a princess)--the scene in which the swans carry the princess over the sea, for instance, is amazing. How terrifying and exhilarating at once! I love how the brothers take care of their sister as much as they can even while they are swans. She, in her turn, shows the extremities of sacrifice that love can lead us to as well as the rewards of perseverance. A very beautiful and powerful tale. I wish Andersen had written more like this and others that center around princesses and magic.
July 18, 2022
C: CHILDREN: No offensive language, sex or nudity but might contain occasional comedic Violence.
E:Easy: 3rd grade Vocabulary
E:Easy: 3rd grade Vocabulary
January 1, 2023
High rating because it was my favourite book as a child. Read it every night without question
January 12, 2023
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"Actions done for love
Some hear louder than words, but
Eavesdroppers mishear."
"Actions done for love
Some hear louder than words, but
Eavesdroppers mishear."
March 6, 2018
This book was one of the best fairytales that I have ever read. It's about a girl named Elisa who was very beautiful and was the only girl out of 12 children. They lived the royal life that is until their father married a evil queen who did not care for his children. She sent Elisa to another family to live as a peasant, and she talked the king into abandoning his very own sons filling his head with lies, so she then turned his eleven sons into wild swans, and they took off flying out of the window. They tried getting Elisa attention by flying over the home she was sent away to live but she never noticed them. Time went by and Elisa was fifthteen she evil queen tired sending ugly toads into her bath to land on her head making her ugly, but it didn't work,Elisa pure touch turned the toads into pretty roses. So then after that didn't work the evil queen wiped mud on her skin making her unrecognizable to her father and she was kicked out in sent into the woods where she cried and realized it was only mud and cleaned herself off.Her brother then saw her and they were all excited to see each other but they told her that they would turn back into swans every night before the sun sets but in order to survive they must fly over the sea on a rock that sticks out of the water until the sun resets again, so she would place herself into a rope so they could fly her to the rock with them. Then one night a fairy came by and told her in order for her brothers to remain just humans again and break the curse she must make eleven shirts for them made of flax and leaves but should couldn't talk until she was done or her brothers hearts would be pierced and they would die. Elisa ran off into a cave and started her shirts, and just as she was finished with the first shirt a king spotted her and wanted to make her queen he fell in love with her beauty. She remained quiet and didn't even speak to the queen even though she had fallen in love with him as well, he was so kind to her. Then one day she ran out of flax and needles so at night she went out to get some more fearing the evil snakes lamis but she wanted to save her brothers so bad they didn't frighten her but the kings archbishop who followed her told the king she must be a witch because she didn't fear the lamis, the king was so sad, the people grew angry and wanted to tourch her, just as she was finishing up her last shirt she was thrown in the wagon headed to be set to fire to burn but her brothers the swans flown upon the wagon and she quick,placed there shirts she made them on and they returned back into humans for good but her younger brother had one arm that remained a swan wing because she ran out of time to finish his shirt. Then she was able to speak and express her innocence to the people, and the king and Elisa got married and they all lived happily ever after.
The litary of this book was simple but had a few words children may not have heard of, such as lamis, or spiteful, this is a great learning book for children in third who should be experimenting new and wider vocabulary.
I gave this book 5 stars because the story was so unique and a excellent fairytale
The litary of this book was simple but had a few words children may not have heard of, such as lamis, or spiteful, this is a great learning book for children in third who should be experimenting new and wider vocabulary.
I gave this book 5 stars because the story was so unique and a excellent fairytale
July 18, 2012
In the mid-1800s, Andersen wrote many original fairy tales. He has many common themes however to the stories that had been passed down for generations. This story is of a young girl sent away by her evil stepmother. She then must rescue her eleven brothers from the spell that has been placed upon them. In a dream, a fairy came to her and gave her the answer. So after, a king falls in love with her at first sight. This tale is a bit lengthy and has a few passages of irrelevant information, but because the reader feels an emotional attachment to the girl so quickly, attention never waivers. The watercolor illustrations help to support the text, but at times do not have very much contrast, giving them a murky feel.
September 10, 2017
This story is about a princess that has eleven brothers. Their dad married a queen who was not a very good person. The queen turned the princess’ eleven brothers into swans, though they become human throughout the night. The princess is the one who saved her brothers from the spell that was put on them. I had not read this story previously, or even heard of it by word of mouth. This was an interesting story, and I could definitely see myself passing this story down.
December 5, 2020
A well written story and beautiful illustrations.
October 21, 2010
The princess sets out to find her brothers who have not been in her life. As she discovers they are bewitched, she goes above and beyond to set them free. I would use this story as another form of exposure to students. This story is not one I had picked up before.
March 27, 2013
Seems to be a fairy tale that isn't very well known. I like that the princess perseveres in order to save her brothers and has a happy ending. The illustrations seem to show all of the children about the same age, which is kinda weird.
January 6, 2021
Oooooh! What a delight to read such an adventurous, faith-filled, and beautiful fairytale that I’ve never read before! This one was so refreshing. A beautiful princess with eleven handsome prince brothers, and a wicked stepmother that turns them to swans. This story was super interesting and took lots of fun turns that I was not expecting. I loved the heroine, Elisa, her love for her brothers, and her faithful determination to work tirelessly until they were saved.
“She looked at the countless pebbles on the beach and saw how round the water had worn them. Glass, iron, ore, stones, all that had been washed up, had been shaped by the water that was so much softer than even her tender hand. “It rolls on tirelessly, and that is the way it makes such hard things smooth,” she said. “I shall be as untiring. Thank you for your lesson, you clear rolling waves.”
As always, Andersen’s descriptions and imagery were just beautiful. The story was full of morals and our heroine was one who possessed qualities worth emulating and pondering on. On top of it all, the story was lots and lots of fun and very whimsical and magical.✨ loved it!
“She looked at the countless pebbles on the beach and saw how round the water had worn them. Glass, iron, ore, stones, all that had been washed up, had been shaped by the water that was so much softer than even her tender hand. “It rolls on tirelessly, and that is the way it makes such hard things smooth,” she said. “I shall be as untiring. Thank you for your lesson, you clear rolling waves.”
As always, Andersen’s descriptions and imagery were just beautiful. The story was full of morals and our heroine was one who possessed qualities worth emulating and pondering on. On top of it all, the story was lots and lots of fun and very whimsical and magical.✨ loved it!
December 30, 2023
This story is one of the more crazier ones. Vampires, witches, toads, nettles... I might sound like a bad person but if their stepmother never would have ruined their lives they probably would have grown up to be spoiled. "...writing with their diamond pencils on their golden slates, and looking at her wonderful picture book that had cost half a kingdom".
In the story, there are two characters called the king. Their father "King" and Elisa's husband "King". I wish there would have been some difference between them like a name King Philip for example. Because reading the story blind you might come to assume that the girl married her father. Of course it becomes clearly obvious. Granted in the introduction there was stated a diffrence but still a name could have been better. "The most handsome of these was the King of the land..."
Why am I reviewing a fairy tale anyway???
In the story, there are two characters called the king. Their father "King" and Elisa's husband "King". I wish there would have been some difference between them like a name King Philip for example. Because reading the story blind you might come to assume that the girl married her father. Of course it becomes clearly obvious. Granted in the introduction there was stated a diffrence but still a name could have been better. "The most handsome of these was the King of the land..."
Why am I reviewing a fairy tale anyway???
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews