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Rapunzel
Trapped in a tower with no door, Rapunzel is allowed to see no one but the sorceress who has imprisoned her-until the day a young prince hears her singing to the forest birds...
- GenresPicture Books
32 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 22, 2025
This rating is for the edition retold and illustrated by Felix Hoffmann.
November 30, 2019
Rapunzel lowered her braid and the witch climbed up to her.
I love the end, which goes to show, no matter if you’re good or bad, you always get what you deserve.
January 29, 2022
It's the original fairy tale of Rapunzel not the Disney fake version. As most know the Brothers Grimm tell very dark tales that teach morals and this book is no different. This story did scare me as a child but was also intrigued. I still think about it when eating romaine lettuce. The pictures are not cartoony, they are by a famous artist in Germany and also dark but sophisticated. I'm a teacher and would recommend for 2nd grade and up if you like classics not a Disney retell.
February 17, 2013
Mommy's review from 10/12/11 -
Julia and I both really liked this Rapunzel version. Rapunzel is one of our fairy-tales so when I noticed this on a library shelf at my local library I brought it home. We spend so much time at our library that we almost read the entire thing there but we ended up having to lave before we finished.
By the time we were able to pick it back up a day or so later at home we both wanted to start from the beginning again. :)
The illustrations are rather bland IMO and Julia wasn't impressed either. The story is where it's at.
Most people who are used to the Rapunzel I grew up with, or even more recently, the Tangled version, won't be familiar with this one. I wasn't. Julia definitely wasn't. So this was new for both of us.
Basically, a husband and wife lived next door to a witch. This witch had a garden full of lettuce, or Rapunzel's, which the man's wife yearned for. Finally the man stole into the garden at night to get some of these delicious Rapunzel's for his wife. The man gets caught by the witch on his second journey to the garden and after explaining his actions the witch lets him take all her wants.... with the rule that he can't come back again. If the witch finds the man again she gets his unborn child.
Well, we can all guess what the selfish wife does. She continues begging her husband for more of the lettuce and again he goes to get it for her. Instead of making it back he gets caught by the witch. She waited for the man and woman's baby to be born, arrived to take the child, and raised Rapunzel as her own.
Rapunzel's sweet singing gets the attention of a prince walking through the woods. Of course, in short time the witch finds out about Rapunzel's escapades and chops off her beautiful hair. The witch tricks the prince and while he's climbing up the braid of hair (that which is no longer attached to his loves head) the witch cuts it and he falls to the hard ground below.
The prince's eyes were both pricked by thorns blinding him. Rapunzel was so distraught when she saw this she leaped out of the window after him. (Rapunzel didn't get hurt of course. She made the 20-off-foot-or-higher fall just fine thank you very much.)
As she held her poor, bloody prince (he's not really bloody in the book - that's just my addition) her tears hit his mangled eyes and they became whole again and he's able to see!
The prince and his magic chica live happily ever after and the wicked old witch is taken away by a big old bird and fed to it's babies like a snack. (Again, not actually shown or anything. My imaginative take on it.) She is shown in the birds beak being carried through the sky but that's it.
Some of the wording is a bit old-timey but Julia didn't seem to mind that, probably because it fit with the story.
I'd have liked to have seen better (IMO) illustrations but the story alone if worth your time.
Julia and I both really liked this Rapunzel version. Rapunzel is one of our fairy-tales so when I noticed this on a library shelf at my local library I brought it home. We spend so much time at our library that we almost read the entire thing there but we ended up having to lave before we finished.
By the time we were able to pick it back up a day or so later at home we both wanted to start from the beginning again. :)
The illustrations are rather bland IMO and Julia wasn't impressed either. The story is where it's at.
Most people who are used to the Rapunzel I grew up with, or even more recently, the Tangled version, won't be familiar with this one. I wasn't. Julia definitely wasn't. So this was new for both of us.
Basically, a husband and wife lived next door to a witch. This witch had a garden full of lettuce, or Rapunzel's, which the man's wife yearned for. Finally the man stole into the garden at night to get some of these delicious Rapunzel's for his wife. The man gets caught by the witch on his second journey to the garden and after explaining his actions the witch lets him take all her wants.... with the rule that he can't come back again. If the witch finds the man again she gets his unborn child.
Well, we can all guess what the selfish wife does. She continues begging her husband for more of the lettuce and again he goes to get it for her. Instead of making it back he gets caught by the witch. She waited for the man and woman's baby to be born, arrived to take the child, and raised Rapunzel as her own.
Rapunzel's sweet singing gets the attention of a prince walking through the woods. Of course, in short time the witch finds out about Rapunzel's escapades and chops off her beautiful hair. The witch tricks the prince and while he's climbing up the braid of hair (that which is no longer attached to his loves head) the witch cuts it and he falls to the hard ground below.
The prince's eyes were both pricked by thorns blinding him. Rapunzel was so distraught when she saw this she leaped out of the window after him. (Rapunzel didn't get hurt of course. She made the 20-off-foot-or-higher fall just fine thank you very much.)
As she held her poor, bloody prince (he's not really bloody in the book - that's just my addition) her tears hit his mangled eyes and they became whole again and he's able to see!
The prince and his magic chica live happily ever after and the wicked old witch is taken away by a big old bird and fed to it's babies like a snack. (Again, not actually shown or anything. My imaginative take on it.) She is shown in the birds beak being carried through the sky but that's it.
Some of the wording is a bit old-timey but Julia didn't seem to mind that, probably because it fit with the story.
I'd have liked to have seen better (IMO) illustrations but the story alone if worth your time.
February 13, 2015
Some good images, but a little bland.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews