The Sorcerer's Apprentice

by Nancy Willard, Leo Dillon (Illustrator), Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

From the Newbery Award-winning author of more than 20 books comes a lyrical, rhyming tale of a little girl who becomes the apprentice of a fierce old magician. Features watercolor and gold leaf illustrations by the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrators of Ashanti to Zulu.

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Poetry, Classics, Art

1 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1993

About the author

NANCY WILLARD was an award-winning children's author, poet, and essayist who received the Newbery Medal in 1982 for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She wrote dozens of volumes of children's fiction and poetry, including The Flying Bed, Sweep Dreams, and Cinderella's Dress. She also authored two novels for adults, Things Invisible to See and Sister Water, and twelve books of poetry, including Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems. She lived with her husband, photographer Eric Lindbloom, and taught at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic tale of the sorcerer's apprentice who attempts to use his master's magical tools, only to discover that he does not have the knowledge or skill to control them, has been retold many times, from Goethe's 1797 poem Der Zauberlehrling, to Walt Disney's 1940 animated film, Fantasia. This adaptation from children's poet Nancy Williams, and Caldecott Medal-winning illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon - who previously collaborated on the marvelous Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch - takes the story in new directions, making the apprentice into a seamstress named Sylvia, come to the sorcerer's house to sew clothing for his many strange creatures.

I enjoyed Willard's poetic text here, but it was the Dillons' artwork that really made the book for me! Beautiful but disturbing - as their best work always is - with countless quirky little details that will draw the reader in, the Dillons' paintings are endlessly fascinating. I loved the ravenous-looking sewing machine, with its toothy grip, and the many little mechanical monsters that spring from its body, when Sylvia tries to chop it up. This artwork is simply magical - a fitting accompaniment to such an enchanted tale! Highly recommended to all young fairy-tale lovers, and to fans of the Dillons.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most beautiful illustrations paired with rhyming text. What more can I say?

First read 1 March 2012
Reread 24 January 2016

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course this is a classic story, and it's familiar. What is unique about this version is that the art is amazingly superb.
The sewing machine was amusing, and I loved the animal characters.
An advanced first grader shouldn't have any problems with this, and if they do they need more reading practice.
Have fun reading kids!

[Oliur Rahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins with an old sorcerer who leaves his workshop for a day leaving his apprentice in charge with his simple chores to perform. Bored of fetching water, the apprentice enchants a broom to do the work for him. The floor is soon awash with water, and the apprentice realizes that he cannot stop the broom because he was not fully trained to put the spell on to begin with.

Unable to control the enchanted broom, the apprentice splits it in two with an axe, but to his surprise, each of the pieces becomes a new broom and takes up a pail and continues fetching water. By the end of the day the sorcerer returns and saves the day.

A lovely story with a strong message to read to the children. We do not touch anything that does not belong to us and we always to as we are told by our parents and teachers.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing illustrations-- truly an age of gold. Look at most children's books today and you'll see a bunch of boring flat-toned drawings completed on photoshop in about 20 minutes---but not here. These paintings are rich and lavish, gorgeously conceived, brilliantly designed, and perfectly executed. You can tell they're the kind of thing it took their creator about 10-20 hours to finish (per illustration!)

As far as Nancy Willard's verse, I thought it was very nice. "A Visit to William Blake's Inn," another piece of children's verse which Willard wrote 12 years earlier, sways too nonsensical, the rhymes weak, stupid, and rather annoying--much like Blake himself. There is hardly any of that in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." The verse is much more developed, more careful, more practiced. Willard starts off rocky but by the middle of this short picture book, it is very clear that she has cultivated a kind of freshness.

It is no masterpiece of English literature, but it will be thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who takes the twenty-ish minutes needed to swallow this book start-to-finish

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvia wants to learn magic. But on her first day as an apprentice, Tottibo, the magician tells her she must make clothes for all the creatures in his car - gryphons, spiders, panthers, dragons. There are so many! When Tottibo goes to take a nap, Sylvia tries a magic potion to make the sewing machine go faster. But it goes out of control and stitches everything in its path.

Neat stuff going on in the borders of the pages!

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautiful children's books that I grew up with.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went shopping in the kid’s book section of the library book nook, can you tell?

[skcocnaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rhyming was awkward. I disliked the story. The only reason it gets 2 stars is because the art is decent.

[Juliana Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed the story and beautiful illustrations

[boat_tiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING illustrations, cute story.

[Lindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willard's trademark rollicking rhymes and the Dillards' magical illustrations -- what's not to love?

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟Dillon illustrations are fantastic but Aida still is the best of their work.

[Abbey Pignatari · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 (audiobook)

This is a fun, classic story that teaches a valuable lesson about learning before acting. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a classic read that everyone should experience!

[Jen Wehage-Barrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Nancy Willard

Target Audience: Age 7 – 12

The classic tale of a powerful wizard and his awkward apprentice is retold in rhyme with a red haired Sylvia who comes to the old magician Tottibo’s peculiar house to learn from him. Her first task is to sew clothes for his numerous creatures of various physiques; dragons, gryphons, panthers, spiders. Although eager to learn spells and magic, Sylvia is warned by Tottibo of the chaos of mistakes in judgment and phrasing in magic. The aggravation of the sewing task and ridicule from objects was too much for Sylvia, who hastily uses magic on the sewing machine expecting it to speed to clothes making process. Her naiveté causes a great pandemonium. Tottibo awakens, reverses the spell, and over time teaches Sylvia the way of a proper sorcerer. The text is mostly in rhyme and introduces vocabulary that would likely need explanation to a young reader. Each page of text is accompanied by a corresponding illustration that depicts all of the elements of the text. Pictures are drawn with fluidity, bright colors, and intriguing detail. I would recommend this story to an imaginative reader.

[Kelly Wiegand · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kelly Wiegand
February 9, 2015
EDL54500 Library Materials for Children and Youth

Title: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Author: Nancy Willard

Plot: A young girl becomes an assistant to a powerful sorcerer. When he gives her a task, she jumps to use magic before she is properly trained and the situation spirals out of control.

Setting: Mount Dragon Eyes

Characters: Sylvia; Tottibo

Point-of-View: Third-Person

Themes: Responsibility; Integrity

Style: Folk Tale; Poetry

Copyright: 1993

Reflection: This story was a neat read. It had a variety of lessons to teach the reader and was a fun read because it rhymed. The pictures were beautiful and detailed. This book may be helpful in teaching character traits.

[Andrew Stockle · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Sorcerers Apprentice” is a tale about a young woman named Sylvia who is learning how to cast spells from a great sorcerer. One day while the sorcerer is napping, Sylvia takes the opportunity to try her luck. She attempts to cast a spell; however, the spell goes horribly wrong and the sorcerer then has to undo her mishaps. This book is written in rhyme with very old classic style pictures. The text and all the pictures are framed by a cream colored box. This book would be appropriate for an older audience (4th-8th grade). I would use this book as an example of poetry, as the majority is written in rhyming words.

[♥♣Mary♦♠ If She So Pleases · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice addition to any collection.
✨✨✨✨✨

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Willard is way, way up there on my list of wonderful (and unusual) children's literature authors, and I'm a huge, huge fan of the Dillons. I'm not surprised, therefore, that I like their collaboration. In this version of this famous tale, the apprentice is a girl. But the essentials are there: the apprentice tries to use magic she's not ready to use and near catastrophe results. Willard's poetry is marvelous and the Dillons' illustrations invite repeated close inspection.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice interpretation of the tale "The Magician's Assistant" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It's written in rhyme, which reads really nicely, and it's illustrated by the Dillon's so the pictures are AMAZING! I'm just not crazy about the tale - I always think of the Disney Fantasia movie which I don't really care for.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sylvia, the new apprentice to the great magician Tottibo, steals one of his spells to complete an impossible task and accidentally creates chaos.

Lower grades - K-3
Topic - Subtopic: Behavior-Stealing; Fantasy/Imagination-Misc./Other; Mysteries-Magic

[Dani Kappel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very good, it's told completely in verse which is impressive. It's a little text heavy but good for vocabulary, narrative skill, and phonological awareness. I'd recommend it for ages 4-6.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to give this book three stars, but the artwork was so stunning that I had to give it four stars.

The story is good -- I loved that the apprentice is a female -- I liked the rhyme, but, as a whole, the book dragged on a bit.

[Deva Fagan]

Read this earlier this year, but forgot to add it. Loved the illustrations!

[elise rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome art!

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the rich illustrations and lyrically rhyming, unusual fairy-tale!