What do you think?
Rate this book
Schneewittchen
A stunningly illustrated version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, SNOW WHITE. The tale of the beautiful princess whose lips were red as blood, skin was white as snow, and hair was as black as ebony.
Hardcover
About the author
Quentin Gréban
154 books31 followersQuentin Gréban was born in 1977 in Brussels (Belgium) where he still lives today. He studied illustration at the Saint Luc Institute in Brussels. Since 1999 Quentin has published more than 25 children’s books in several French‚ Belgian‚ German and Greek publishing houses. His books are translated in many countries (Germany‚ Denmark‚ Hungary‚ England‚ Canada‚ Greece‚ Korea‚ United States…) He received the Saint–Exupéry award in 2000 for «Les contes de l’Alphabet» (Editions du Jasmin). His work has been selected in 1999‚ 2001 and 2008 in the Annual of the Bologna Children’s Bookfair (Italy).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 23, 2017
Chắc tới chết cũng chẳng bao giờ hết thích truyện cổ tích được, đặc biệt là câu chuyện "Nàng Bạch Tuyết và bảy chú lùn" :)))
"Gương kia ngự ở trên tường
Nước ta ai đẹp được dường như ta?
"Xưa kia bà đẹp nhất trần
Ngày nay Bạch Tuyết muôn phần đẹp hơn."
Mua cuốn này chủ yếu là để ngắm hình vẽ minh họa và lấy tay sờ giấy rồi đưa lên mũi ngửi thôi, chứ câu chuyện cổ tích trứ danh thì mình đã thuộc nằm lòng từ lâu rồi :D Mà công nhận hình vẽ đẹp quá, nhìn muốn xuýt xoa luôn ý. Đã thích nét vẽ của Quentin Gréban từ dạo đọc Hoàng Đế Và Họa Mi, nên là khi thấy Tiki giảm giá mạnh cuốn "Nàng Bạch Tuyết và bảy chú lùn" thì mình quyết định mua, để dành cho con mình sau này đọc (nếu sau này mình có con :D).
Điểm trừ duy nhất là hình vẽ hoàng tử, nhìn chả giống hoàng tử tí nào mà giống lính cưỡi ngựa của Nữ hoàng Anh Elizabeth II hơn. Chàng vận áo đỏ, đội cái mũ y chang mấy ông cảnh sát ở Scotland Yard hồi xưa ấy. Mặt lại còn già chát nữa chớ, không có kiểu khôi ngô tuấn tú như trong phim Disney ư ư ư...
"Gương kia ngự ở trên tường
Nước ta ai đẹp được dường như ta?
"Xưa kia bà đẹp nhất trần
Ngày nay Bạch Tuyết muôn phần đẹp hơn."
Mua cuốn này chủ yếu là để ngắm hình vẽ minh họa và lấy tay sờ giấy rồi đưa lên mũi ngửi thôi, chứ câu chuyện cổ tích trứ danh thì mình đã thuộc nằm lòng từ lâu rồi :D Mà công nhận hình vẽ đẹp quá, nhìn muốn xuýt xoa luôn ý. Đã thích nét vẽ của Quentin Gréban từ dạo đọc Hoàng Đế Và Họa Mi, nên là khi thấy Tiki giảm giá mạnh cuốn "Nàng Bạch Tuyết và bảy chú lùn" thì mình quyết định mua, để dành cho con mình sau này đọc (nếu sau này mình có con :D).
Điểm trừ duy nhất là hình vẽ hoàng tử, nhìn chả giống hoàng tử tí nào mà giống lính cưỡi ngựa của Nữ hoàng Anh Elizabeth II hơn. Chàng vận áo đỏ, đội cái mũ y chang mấy ông cảnh sát ở Scotland Yard hồi xưa ấy. Mặt lại còn già chát nữa chớ, không có kiểu khôi ngô tuấn tú như trong phim Disney ư ư ư...
May 14, 2013
The story of Snow White is probably the stupidest fairy tale there is. In the first place, the title character does almost nothing in the whole story. The entire plot is acted out by the people around her, and she is just the catalyst for their actions. In the second place, no matter what age she is in any adaptation, it’s always creepily young; in the third place, the prince just happens upon her DEAD IN A COFFIN and decides that she’s the one he wants to marry (their seconds-long meeting at the beginning of the Disney movie is not part of the original story). In the fourth place, it’s fairly ridiculous that a woman would be so jealous of her seven-year-old stepdaughter’s beauty that she would have her killed and eat her heart. So the whole situation is bad news all around.
However. I have never before read an adaptation of the story that made me so acutely aware of just how awful the story is. The picture book that holds this high honor is the adaptation illustrated by Quentin Greban.
Page one: several lines about a good queen who sat by her window, pricking her finger and wishing she had a child with “skin white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as this ebony embroidery frame,” which is not a totally normal thing to do in the first place, but whatever, okay, good queen. Wish granted. (Then the queen dies, and there’s this one sentence: “After a year had passed, the king took another wife.” Remember that for later.)
So the new queen does her “mirror mirror” business. “Every day she stood before it and asked, ‘Looking glass upon the wall, who is fairest of us all?” And then one day it’s not her, so she sends Snow White to be killed.
In this adaptation, no mention is made of Snow White’s age, although you can tell she’s quite young in the illustrations. She’s fourteen in the Disney movie, but I think she looks several years younger here.
She wanders through the forest, she comes across the little house, and she goes inside, where everything is “small but very neat and clean.” She’s exhausted but none of the beds fit right, so she tries them all until she gets to the last one and falls asleep; then the dwarfs come home, and we have a Goldilocks moment. But when they find Snow White asleep in the last bed, she’s so beautiful that they’re too full of joy to wake her. (Gag.)
In the morning, the dwarfs hear her story and tell her that if she’ll keep house for them, she can live with them. My question is this: Why do they need a child to keep house for them in exchange for their not turning her out to be killed by her stepmother? Remember how “very neat and clean” everything was when she got there? At this point I have to give it to Disney for, if not changing that dumb plot point, at least making the dwarfs filthy eccentrics so it makes sense.
The dwarfs tell Snow White that she must never let anyone into the house while they’re gone all day. If we’re picturing “marriageable” Snow White, it occurs to me that this is actually creepy and/or abusive behavior, as the dwarfs are essentially imprisoning Snow White in their house. If she’s seven years old, that makes some sense, because there’s the whole thing with the evil queen out to have her murdered, and she’s just a child. But I really feel like we have to make a choice here: Either she’s old enough to get married and open the door if she damn well wants to, or she’s young enough to be taken in by kind strangers who don’t make her become their maid in exchange.
Anyway: The queen finds out she’s alive. She brings the corset and the poisoned comb. Snow White keeps stupidly accepting gifts from strange women in forests, dying, and being saved by the dwarfs. Then the queen brings the apple, and Snow White dies for real. Now here is one of my favorite pages.
So…Yes. That is, in fact, a hand mirror. And it has been a hand mirror the entire time, ever since the mirror is first depicted. Even as the queen is saying, “looking glass UPON THE WALL,” she is holding the mirror in her hand. Dear Quentin Greban:
W. T. F.
So the dwarfs put dead Snow White in a glass coffin (why?), but she’s still so beautiful that they can’t bear to put her in the ground (ugh). Instead they put the coffin in the woods and take turns keeping watch (again… why?). But do you know what they’ve written on the coffin? “This is Snow White, Daughter of a King.” If you’ll remember the beginning of my post, I pointed out that several lines are devoted to the queen, the one who wished for a very-specifically-designed daughter, gave birth to her, and then died. The king gets one sentence, and it is for the sole purpose of introducing the new queen, who then drives the rest of the story. So now, I ask you—why did that epitaph not read “This is Snow White, Daughter of a Queen”? (Just kidding, I’m not really asking. You know why, and so do I.)
One day a random prince rides by, sees Snow White’s corpse in the woods, and falls in love with it. Because he is a very normal prince, he first tries to BUY the corpse from the dwarfs. They refuse, saying they couldn’t part with it for any amount of gold, so he asks them to instead do it out of kindness—because after two seconds of looking at her dead body, he loves her “more than anything in this world and cannot live without looking upon her.” The dwarfs cave. And now I’m actually going to need to a minute to digest the utter absurdity of the words I just typed.
…
…
…
Okay.
When the prince’s servants trip while carrying the coffin away, the piece of apple is thrown from Snow White’s lips, and she wakes up. “Where am I?” she asks. And then this happens:
So, to sum up…
Snow White: Where am I?
Total Stranger: You are near me. Isn’t that great? You’ve actually never seen me before in your life, so maybe you don’t know that you’re supposed to be comforted by waking up from your death in the arms of a strange man. But it’s good news, I promise. What’s happened is that you died, and I fell in love with your dead body. These dwarfs were just about to give you up to a guy they’ve never met because I told them I couldn’t live without having your corpse around to look at all the time. And now that you’re awake, you’re going to marry me. Sound good?
Snow White:
And the next line is, “Their wedding was held with great splendor."
All right, well, great. Who needs a consenting bride anyway?
They invite the wicked queen to the wedding, give her a pair of red-hot iron shoes, and make her dance until she dies. And then they all live happily ever after. Good riddance, I say, to this book and the whole stupid story.
I read a second adaptation after this, by Charles Santore, that I just want to mention briefly. Storywise, it’s the same, with one or two small improvements (like that Snow White actually does consent to the marriage, and the mirror on the wall is actually on the wall). But there’s one plot point I couldn’t ignore.
I mentioned earlier that the Greban adaptation doesn’t specify her age, and she’s obviously the same age at the end of the book that she was at the beginning. In the Santore adaptation, however, Snow White is seven years old when she dies, and lies in the coffin for many years. In one way this is reassuring, as the Snow White who gets married is obviously no longer a small child. But I find the inclusion of this plot point, whether it’s from the original story or has been added later (I don’t know), highly suspect. Because guys—not only is she wearing the same (thin white) dress that fit her when she was seven…
She hit puberty in that coffin.
That is just absurd. Not that there’s any part of this entire fairy tale that is NOT absurd… But please. There are limits.
http://mirishorten.tumblr.com/post/11...
However. I have never before read an adaptation of the story that made me so acutely aware of just how awful the story is. The picture book that holds this high honor is the adaptation illustrated by Quentin Greban.
Page one: several lines about a good queen who sat by her window, pricking her finger and wishing she had a child with “skin white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as this ebony embroidery frame,” which is not a totally normal thing to do in the first place, but whatever, okay, good queen. Wish granted. (Then the queen dies, and there’s this one sentence: “After a year had passed, the king took another wife.” Remember that for later.)
So the new queen does her “mirror mirror” business. “Every day she stood before it and asked, ‘Looking glass upon the wall, who is fairest of us all?” And then one day it’s not her, so she sends Snow White to be killed.
In this adaptation, no mention is made of Snow White’s age, although you can tell she’s quite young in the illustrations. She’s fourteen in the Disney movie, but I think she looks several years younger here.
She wanders through the forest, she comes across the little house, and she goes inside, where everything is “small but very neat and clean.” She’s exhausted but none of the beds fit right, so she tries them all until she gets to the last one and falls asleep; then the dwarfs come home, and we have a Goldilocks moment. But when they find Snow White asleep in the last bed, she’s so beautiful that they’re too full of joy to wake her. (Gag.)
In the morning, the dwarfs hear her story and tell her that if she’ll keep house for them, she can live with them. My question is this: Why do they need a child to keep house for them in exchange for their not turning her out to be killed by her stepmother? Remember how “very neat and clean” everything was when she got there? At this point I have to give it to Disney for, if not changing that dumb plot point, at least making the dwarfs filthy eccentrics so it makes sense.
The dwarfs tell Snow White that she must never let anyone into the house while they’re gone all day. If we’re picturing “marriageable” Snow White, it occurs to me that this is actually creepy and/or abusive behavior, as the dwarfs are essentially imprisoning Snow White in their house. If she’s seven years old, that makes some sense, because there’s the whole thing with the evil queen out to have her murdered, and she’s just a child. But I really feel like we have to make a choice here: Either she’s old enough to get married and open the door if she damn well wants to, or she’s young enough to be taken in by kind strangers who don’t make her become their maid in exchange.
Anyway: The queen finds out she’s alive. She brings the corset and the poisoned comb. Snow White keeps stupidly accepting gifts from strange women in forests, dying, and being saved by the dwarfs. Then the queen brings the apple, and Snow White dies for real. Now here is one of my favorite pages.
So…Yes. That is, in fact, a hand mirror. And it has been a hand mirror the entire time, ever since the mirror is first depicted. Even as the queen is saying, “looking glass UPON THE WALL,” she is holding the mirror in her hand. Dear Quentin Greban:
W. T. F.
So the dwarfs put dead Snow White in a glass coffin (why?), but she’s still so beautiful that they can’t bear to put her in the ground (ugh). Instead they put the coffin in the woods and take turns keeping watch (again… why?). But do you know what they’ve written on the coffin? “This is Snow White, Daughter of a King.” If you’ll remember the beginning of my post, I pointed out that several lines are devoted to the queen, the one who wished for a very-specifically-designed daughter, gave birth to her, and then died. The king gets one sentence, and it is for the sole purpose of introducing the new queen, who then drives the rest of the story. So now, I ask you—why did that epitaph not read “This is Snow White, Daughter of a Queen”? (Just kidding, I’m not really asking. You know why, and so do I.)
One day a random prince rides by, sees Snow White’s corpse in the woods, and falls in love with it. Because he is a very normal prince, he first tries to BUY the corpse from the dwarfs. They refuse, saying they couldn’t part with it for any amount of gold, so he asks them to instead do it out of kindness—because after two seconds of looking at her dead body, he loves her “more than anything in this world and cannot live without looking upon her.” The dwarfs cave. And now I’m actually going to need to a minute to digest the utter absurdity of the words I just typed.
…
…
…
Okay.
When the prince’s servants trip while carrying the coffin away, the piece of apple is thrown from Snow White’s lips, and she wakes up. “Where am I?” she asks. And then this happens:
So, to sum up…
Snow White: Where am I?
Total Stranger: You are near me. Isn’t that great? You’ve actually never seen me before in your life, so maybe you don’t know that you’re supposed to be comforted by waking up from your death in the arms of a strange man. But it’s good news, I promise. What’s happened is that you died, and I fell in love with your dead body. These dwarfs were just about to give you up to a guy they’ve never met because I told them I couldn’t live without having your corpse around to look at all the time. And now that you’re awake, you’re going to marry me. Sound good?
Snow White:
And the next line is, “Their wedding was held with great splendor."
All right, well, great. Who needs a consenting bride anyway?
They invite the wicked queen to the wedding, give her a pair of red-hot iron shoes, and make her dance until she dies. And then they all live happily ever after. Good riddance, I say, to this book and the whole stupid story.
I read a second adaptation after this, by Charles Santore, that I just want to mention briefly. Storywise, it’s the same, with one or two small improvements (like that Snow White actually does consent to the marriage, and the mirror on the wall is actually on the wall). But there’s one plot point I couldn’t ignore.
I mentioned earlier that the Greban adaptation doesn’t specify her age, and she’s obviously the same age at the end of the book that she was at the beginning. In the Santore adaptation, however, Snow White is seven years old when she dies, and lies in the coffin for many years. In one way this is reassuring, as the Snow White who gets married is obviously no longer a small child. But I find the inclusion of this plot point, whether it’s from the original story or has been added later (I don’t know), highly suspect. Because guys—not only is she wearing the same (thin white) dress that fit her when she was seven…
She hit puberty in that coffin.
That is just absurd. Not that there’s any part of this entire fairy tale that is NOT absurd… But please. There are limits.
http://mirishorten.tumblr.com/post/11...
June 27, 2021
My favorite fairy tale with very beautiful pictures that brings this fairy tale to life.
May 25, 2025
This rating is for the Grimm Brother’s edition illustrated by Quentin Gréban.
January 26, 2014
(3.5)
Snow White is a child princess who is despised by her queen stepmother for her beauty. The Queen decides to respond by ordering her death, but Snow White finds refuge by seven little men who live in the forest. When the Queen discovers Snow White is alive, she retaliates in various methods in order to ensure her own status as the fairest in the land.
I was originally going to read this edition as my Disney vs. source material comparison, but then I came across the Caldecott version illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert, so I decided to read that one, and then I thought, why not both? It might be interesting to compare two different illustrators' take on the same classic fairy tale. The story in this edition was basically identical, with different wording and a couple of other slight changes, but the illustration style is definitely different. My first impression was that it didn't seem to take place in any fairy tale I'd ever seen, they seemed at times almost contemporary, but then I realized it doesn't really matter -- this is a fairy tale, and it can take place at pretty much any place and time (though some of the happenings would seem odd if presented just so in a modern setting... Snow White IS pretty young, and she and the prince DO get married within barely seconds of meeting). In any case, Snow White is cute, if not what I would call the fairest in the land, the dwarfs are amusing and fairly unique, and the Queen has some humorous elements to balance out her vicious nature. It was an interesting decision to leave some of the rough pencil construction lines in the illustrations after painting over them, but I can get behind a little sketchiness in this style.
I liked this version a little better than the other one, if only because of a little more appeal and consistency in (and a larger number of) the illustrations. It's just always amusing to me how the final word in this story is the Queen's gruesome comeuppance. No happily ever after, no magical kiss, just those fatal red-hot iron shoes. Tsk, Queen.
Snow White is a child princess who is despised by her queen stepmother for her beauty. The Queen decides to respond by ordering her death, but Snow White finds refuge by seven little men who live in the forest. When the Queen discovers Snow White is alive, she retaliates in various methods in order to ensure her own status as the fairest in the land.
I was originally going to read this edition as my Disney vs. source material comparison, but then I came across the Caldecott version illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert, so I decided to read that one, and then I thought, why not both? It might be interesting to compare two different illustrators' take on the same classic fairy tale. The story in this edition was basically identical, with different wording and a couple of other slight changes, but the illustration style is definitely different. My first impression was that it didn't seem to take place in any fairy tale I'd ever seen, they seemed at times almost contemporary, but then I realized it doesn't really matter -- this is a fairy tale, and it can take place at pretty much any place and time (though some of the happenings would seem odd if presented just so in a modern setting... Snow White IS pretty young, and she and the prince DO get married within barely seconds of meeting). In any case, Snow White is cute, if not what I would call the fairest in the land, the dwarfs are amusing and fairly unique, and the Queen has some humorous elements to balance out her vicious nature. It was an interesting decision to leave some of the rough pencil construction lines in the illustrations after painting over them, but I can get behind a little sketchiness in this style.
I liked this version a little better than the other one, if only because of a little more appeal and consistency in (and a larger number of) the illustrations. It's just always amusing to me how the final word in this story is the Queen's gruesome comeuppance. No happily ever after, no magical kiss, just those fatal red-hot iron shoes. Tsk, Queen.
March 22, 2011
This is a beautifully done retelling of the classic fairy tale, Snow White. Although the story is one I would typically recommend for little ones, this telling is quite detailed and a little darker than other versions I've read. The illustrations are wonderful, they remind me of the Japanese art done in manga. The story follows the same premise as the original but there were some additional elements I had never heard before. For example, in this version the Queen tried to kill Snow White three times, once with a comb, another time with an lace bodice, and finally with the apple. Also, in this version the prince’s kiss is not what woke Snow White but instead her coffin was jostled as it was moved and a piece of apple fell from her mouth. Finally, in this version the Queen was made to dance in iron hot shoes at Snow White’s wedding until she died. I would recommend this for older elementary students because it is text heavy with more advanced vocabulary and a little darker than other versions. I also think the illustrations would appeal more to older students. Highly Recommended Grades 3 - 6.
April 15, 2012
Yes, that does look like Santa Claus on the cover, doesn't it? This story of Snow White melds a little bit with Goldilocks when the dwarfs return and find some of each of their dinners eaten and all of their beds slept in. The illustrations are good with Snow White looking rather modern and the dwarves bedroom exceptionally cosy. Children who know Disney will be familiar with this story, but if you are using it for a read-aloud I would change the last lines which are as grim as the Grimm brothers intended. "As punishment for her wicked ways, a pair of red-hot iron shoes were brought forth, and she was made to put them on and dance in them until she fell down dead." That is guaranteed to cause nightmares in any young listener.
February 8, 2010
I really enjoy fairy tales and often read many versions of the same ole tales just for kicks. These illustrations are very beautiful and one can tell the artist is from Belgium (they all have a smiliar look)ther is one page in particular bother me, when the evil queen asks her mirror the most important question of all "looking glass upon the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" the flaw .... the illusration shows the queen looking into a hand held mirror. This happens throughout the book. Bummer! Yet, the illustrations are worth a look for they are soft and very beautiful.
September 16, 2011
Genre: Traditional/Fable
Copyright: 2009
Thoughts: Nice illustrations, I like having a different image of Snow White other than the Disney version (although there's nothing wrong with that one). Some differences in the story - the queen tries to kill her by over tightening her bodice. The prince doesn't kiss her to save her - the guards carrying the coffin stumble and the apple piece falls from her mouth. Also, the queen is killed with red hot iron shoes at Snow White's wedding.
Copyright: 2009
Thoughts: Nice illustrations, I like having a different image of Snow White other than the Disney version (although there's nothing wrong with that one). Some differences in the story - the queen tries to kill her by over tightening her bodice. The prince doesn't kiss her to save her - the guards carrying the coffin stumble and the apple piece falls from her mouth. Also, the queen is killed with red hot iron shoes at Snow White's wedding.
November 27, 2011
This is a more traditional version of this story than the Disney version. IT has more of the European style of the fairy tale than the american version. The illustrations are colorful and match the storyline well. The illustrator is Quentin Greban and he does a masterful job related the illustrations to the story. I liked this version a lot and hope to add it to my collection.
February 22, 2013
The basic story of snow white without being "disney-fied". The idea of 3 was very apparent with the evil queen trying to kill Snow White. The idea of Snow White being dead lasts a couple pages and children may struggle with that. The story is told well and the pictures are great. Older children may would love this book.
February 24, 2014
I think this is my current favorite version of Snow White. The pictures do a great job of converting the story without lingering in the gory bits. And I like that Snow White is visibly still a child when she goes to live with the dwarves which makes her silliness in continuing to trust strangers more understandable.
May 29, 2013
This is my first exposure to the real Grimm Brothers Snow White. (Snow White is really so stupid! How could she fall for the same trick three times?!!) I'd like to find a little better illustrated version.
April 20, 2012
I read the version illustrated by Quentin Greban - I loved his illustrations! The story was the usual version.
February 22, 2013
folklore that is fun to do readers theater
February 22, 2013
illustrations ok, ending a bit violent with hot iron shoes.
July 11, 2013
Recommended Ages: grades 2 and up
June 7, 2014
These illustrations were cute, but not my favorite. I wasn't a big fan, I thought the dwarfs looked a bit too much like lawn gnomes.
September 29, 2017
wonderfully illustrated by one of the most talented artist, Quentin Greban. Beautiful, beautiful beautiful !
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews