What do you think?
Rate this book
Swan Lake
A prince's love for a swan queen overcomes an evil sorcerer's spell in this fairy tale adaptation of the classic ballet.
Hardcover
First published March 1, 1989
3 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 23, 2019
Any reader who enjoys picture books, and is interested in the ballet or in folk/fairy tales, will enjoy Fonteyn's Swan Lake.
May 13, 2018
This beautiful tragic ballet story is very nicely depicted through the art of Trina Schart Hyman ; I'm very glad that the author remained true to the story of Swan Lake.
April 25, 2016
Ms. Fonteyn was one of the world’s most famous and gifted prima ballerinas. Such talents don’t necessarily translate to writing a children’s book.
While she keeps the story of the ballet simple, there are awkward moments as if she couldn’t find a way to keep a line interesting and informative. Surely there are more exciting ways of conveying the terror of ballroom guests who find an evil magician in their midst than writing: “In panic the guests ran this way and that.” She is often scant on description, too, without bothering to fill in details about a dark forest at moonlight or the inside of a castle teeming with excited partygoers.
But what the book lacks in narrative is more than compensated for by Ms. Hyman’s sumptuous illustrations. Grounding her characters in the realism that commonly informs her work, her swan maidens aren’t impossibly dainty ladies in toe shoes but disheveled, frightened girls running about barefoot in the forest. Siegfried himself is first seen enjoying herself amidst the revelry of villagers, flirtatious minstrels, dancing maidens and people consuming food and wine. Then Ms. Hyman shows the Princess and her ladies-in-waiting leaving in a huff after the prince angers his mother; there is no missing the somberness of Siegfried and his guests after his mother crashes the party.
Little illustrations at the bottoms and tops of various pages provide their own details to the ongoing story as well as different sights of the mysterious lake. If you’re a fan of Ms. Hyman’s body of work, this slim picture book is a keeper.
While she keeps the story of the ballet simple, there are awkward moments as if she couldn’t find a way to keep a line interesting and informative. Surely there are more exciting ways of conveying the terror of ballroom guests who find an evil magician in their midst than writing: “In panic the guests ran this way and that.” She is often scant on description, too, without bothering to fill in details about a dark forest at moonlight or the inside of a castle teeming with excited partygoers.
But what the book lacks in narrative is more than compensated for by Ms. Hyman’s sumptuous illustrations. Grounding her characters in the realism that commonly informs her work, her swan maidens aren’t impossibly dainty ladies in toe shoes but disheveled, frightened girls running about barefoot in the forest. Siegfried himself is first seen enjoying herself amidst the revelry of villagers, flirtatious minstrels, dancing maidens and people consuming food and wine. Then Ms. Hyman shows the Princess and her ladies-in-waiting leaving in a huff after the prince angers his mother; there is no missing the somberness of Siegfried and his guests after his mother crashes the party.
Little illustrations at the bottoms and tops of various pages provide their own details to the ongoing story as well as different sights of the mysterious lake. If you’re a fan of Ms. Hyman’s body of work, this slim picture book is a keeper.
Read
April 19, 2025I came across this particular rendition of the Swan Lake tale quite by accident (more on that later). This version is retold by the English ballerina Margot Fonteyn after a lifetime of playing the duel roles of Odette and Odile. There a videos of this women preforming this role at 46, and which she described in her own words as "the greatest challenge in my repertoire . . . the only role I never felt strong enough to perform twice in the same day." You have to respect her take on the story for the history alone.
I was honestly surprised by the level of detail she went into in some sections—while being appropriately vague, and lacking explanation in others. Perfectly fitting for a fairytale.
I found myself most interested in the story's end note where Fonteyn ruminates on the ballet's concern with "reality and illusion, truth and deception, good and evil" (I'll admin the last one's far less intriguing to me than the first two). Those ideas, and the framework that the story presents for them to play out on makes me wish there were more re-imaginings of this story, or at the very least that there were more that utilised it as a motif.
Though, Trina Schart Hyman is the entirety of what lead me to this version of the story. Her illustration are always dreamy, romantic. An idealised version of a mythical, fairytale world. She was a perfect fit for illustrating this one.
Today, she's probably most well known for her beautiful rendition of Little Red Riding Hood. So many of her works have become difficult to find—this one included—granted she illustrated some 150 titles in her life, but there's something poignant in the thought that someone so noteworthy in the annuals of children's literature, and art, slipping away into something similar to the legends she illustrated.
Literature is incredibly insubstantial unless people speak on, and share it. It fills you with a sweet sadness, the kind that makes something precious, yet unbearable.
I was honestly surprised by the level of detail she went into in some sections—while being appropriately vague, and lacking explanation in others. Perfectly fitting for a fairytale.
I found myself most interested in the story's end note where Fonteyn ruminates on the ballet's concern with "reality and illusion, truth and deception, good and evil" (I'll admin the last one's far less intriguing to me than the first two). Those ideas, and the framework that the story presents for them to play out on makes me wish there were more re-imaginings of this story, or at the very least that there were more that utilised it as a motif.
Though, Trina Schart Hyman is the entirety of what lead me to this version of the story. Her illustration are always dreamy, romantic. An idealised version of a mythical, fairytale world. She was a perfect fit for illustrating this one.
Today, she's probably most well known for her beautiful rendition of Little Red Riding Hood. So many of her works have become difficult to find—this one included—granted she illustrated some 150 titles in her life, but there's something poignant in the thought that someone so noteworthy in the annuals of children's literature, and art, slipping away into something similar to the legends she illustrated.
Literature is incredibly insubstantial unless people speak on, and share it. It fills you with a sweet sadness, the kind that makes something precious, yet unbearable.
April 21, 2010
Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman
Ages: 5-8
Plot: Prince Siegfried must choose a woman to marry, but he cannot find a woman to love. Until one night, standing beside a lake he witness a wonderful transformation of a swan into a beautiful princess. Prince Siegfried vows to break the woman's enchantment and marry her.
Assessment: The narration by Margot Fonteyn helps to translate the ballet from the stage to paper. She effectively relates the wonder of Prince Siegfried towards Odette, and the Swan Princess' despair over her plight.
The smooth flowing lines of the Princess' and the maidens' dresses add a lightness and grace that almost gives the reader the impression they could blow off the page if the wind were too strong. The darkness of the night backgrounds help to make Odette shimmer with a feeling of magic and beauty.
Note: I remember reading this when I was young and even though I didn't really understand the story I was fascinated by the illustrations!!
Ages: 5-8
Plot: Prince Siegfried must choose a woman to marry, but he cannot find a woman to love. Until one night, standing beside a lake he witness a wonderful transformation of a swan into a beautiful princess. Prince Siegfried vows to break the woman's enchantment and marry her.
Assessment: The narration by Margot Fonteyn helps to translate the ballet from the stage to paper. She effectively relates the wonder of Prince Siegfried towards Odette, and the Swan Princess' despair over her plight.
The smooth flowing lines of the Princess' and the maidens' dresses add a lightness and grace that almost gives the reader the impression they could blow off the page if the wind were too strong. The darkness of the night backgrounds help to make Odette shimmer with a feeling of magic and beauty.
Note: I remember reading this when I was young and even though I didn't really understand the story I was fascinated by the illustrations!!
February 23, 2020
Review: Cincinnati Ballet, "Swan Lake", choreographed by Kirk Peterson dates of observations 2/11-14.
In "Next Week, Swan Lake," Selma Jean Cohen asks, "But what, precisely, are you going to see?" After all, there is neither a Platonic Form of "Swan Lake' nor a publically accessible 'meter stick' type "Swan Lake" archived somewhere in say Paris, St Petersburg, or Moscow.(Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein) And, as testimony to the "evanescence and lubricity" ("Nature", Emerson) of this ballet, Kirk Peterson, the choreographer of this meditation on "Swan Lake", told of 50 years worth of research for this event. So, if the ever elusive "Swan Lake" paradoxically embodies the ungraspable, then whether we are either 'at' or better still 'in' "Swan Lake" just, "Where do we find ourselves?" ("Experience", Emerson)
Last week. "Swan Lake." Where I found myself in Cincinnati's massive Music Hall shortly after the ballet's load in. It was tech week. (Please forgive(or not)this shameless personal intrusion. But after years of an Odyesseus-like absence, I returned to a ballet company and found myself privileged to be wondering around like an old dog off its chain. If I could have in celebration danced Odette's entrechats or Beno's grand jetes in manage I would have.) It was Tuesday late AM, and the company, there for class, filled the capacious Wilks rehearsal space on the second floor of the Hall. The company was twice the size to the one I remembered. There was now a Cincinnati Ballet II and a large number of dancers in the Professional Training Division. As I watched the class the thought struck me that "Here, but here on these stretched Marley bands of time, they barre their way to their lives to come" and also noted that together they formed a magnificent instrument.
In my long familiarity with the works of Kirk Peterson, I found myself expecting, no, knowing to find narrative clarity and a legibility in the choice and order of movement that enables that clarity. Additionally, while he shares with many choreographers a sensitivity to music, his link of sight and sound, however, will a priory defeat any attempt of mine to name it. I am reduced then to saying such things as that, "His work provides exemplars for rather than examples of how dance meets the music." And further, while this review still dwells in the realm of "imponderable evidence and fine shades of behavior " (Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein) category, I also note that whether his works are narrative or non-narrative the dancers always "arrive on stage with a history". (This was said about the works of Fokine, I can't remember where.) Expressed in Romantic terms: the dancers live their roles by craft and artistry and hence inform the ballet with life. This is importantly true particularly in Act IV.
That principal dancers, Cervilio Migeul Amador, and first soloist, Edward Gonzalez Kay informed their roles as Siegfried with contemplative nobility and agonizing remorse, and they did so with the precision demanded by the carefully researched and re-installed elements (such as the mime and the flash of Odette's beating foot) seen by audiences of decades past. Amador and Kay danced powerfully and brought their Siegfried to life.
And the Odette/ Odiles, Melissa Gelfin partnered by Amador, and Sirui Liu partnered by Kaye were absolutely fearless in their delivery. Each instantly, seamlessly transformed from the vulnerable Odette to the viperous Odile. And by virtue of their robust performances it dawned on me that Odile is not of this earth. Here, in addition to Odile's otherworldly 32 fouettes, there lies in her next entrance a ferociousness that unmistakably fills the snap and strike gestures of her arms and the sharp angularity of her moving legs with an malicious intent. These gestures are neither expressions of love nor mere bravura display, but rather a barely concealed and demonic attack on Siegfried.
So, what does Odile as a proxy cygnet cygnet-fy? Perhaps this: that Rothbart better than Lady Macbeth conjured a spirit that does in fact tend "to mortal thoughts" and did (in a fashion) "unsex" Siegfried. And here at the end of Act III's vertiginous pitch and moment of dizzying time Siegfried finds himself; and, that founding banks on his commitment to Odette. It was a commitment to the redemptive power of love, a commitment that would deliver Odette from her cursed cage of ontological oscillations and thus free her to at least a modicum of self determination. Alas, seduced through Odile's craven cozenage Siegfried "pawned" by dubious pledge his commitment away; and, to redeem that 'pawned' commitment in Act IV he elects to die.
And the gentle, breathless Odette finds herself in Act IV soaked in the tears brought by the comfortless gloom of her ontological trials. She tells her subjects, her friends, of Rothbart's inscrutable malice and Siegfried's fateful turn. There too, she confesses her want for death. Altered then to her desperate passion, the already tall brace of soloist swans arrest Odette's flight to self destruction. And soon in a Valkyrie -like gesture they manifest their protective intent: on point the two great swans tower toward heaven and with softly curved arms cover their Queen.
A storm breaks. We hear it in the music. We see it the agitation of the swans. We do not see it, however, in the lighting. Trad Burns, the lighting designer, notes that the transparent artificiality of such stage lightening would blow down the seriousness of the scene. "The swans," he said, "Are the storm." He is right. For this viewer, that observation lit up how the Stoic conception of "sympathia" links to Romanticism's want to (re)animate the world. And what is that? Well, here now think Disney. (I am not using 'Disney' pejoratively.) Then mix that with John Ruskin's dismissive "pathetic fallacy." Mixed here means marbled rather than dissolved into each other and works to shape a picture of what the Stoic term "sympathia" means. Or if you would rather: picture the interconnections of life found in the movie "Avatar." In "Swan Lake" the re-animation ideal means that the swans constitute their world rather than represent a world outside it. Hence, the Act IV storm in "Swan Lake" makes outward and visible the swans' agitation, anger, and their want that justice be brought on Rothbart and Siegfried (call it revenge) as well as being a harbinger of a guilt ridden Siegfried's entrance. The swans then, and I include Siegfried and the off stage Rothbart, are the storm. So, what does this mean? Where do we find ourselves?
If we accept the not unreasonable question presented in "Swan Lake" as: How does one tell the difference between good and evil when they look alike? Wait, the audience can (dramatic irony, right?). Siegfried's blindness suggests a debilitating skepticism that denies his trust in "seeing". In the works of Kirk Peterson, however, particularly in this "Swan Lake", we find that we can trust what we see. And what we see weaves with the trust we must have in our shared language and other mediums we use to 'speak' with. The Act II pas de deux with Odette and Siegfried embodies this idea of trust and acceptance and acknowledgement. (I avoid use of the word "love" because it too often implies ownership, occupation, and other forms of oppression.) In fact, I will go so far as to say that here, but here in this pas the concept of beauty (along with all of its ethical implications) , and oblivious to Beauty's native lubricity, achieves a Paris Archive-like (this is where to find THE meter stick) foundation. All of this worked because of the excellence manifest in the choreography, the Cincinnati Ballet , the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Carmon Deleone, and the crew of the Music Hall.
In "Next Week, Swan Lake," Selma Jean Cohen asks, "But what, precisely, are you going to see?" After all, there is neither a Platonic Form of "Swan Lake' nor a publically accessible 'meter stick' type "Swan Lake" archived somewhere in say Paris, St Petersburg, or Moscow.(Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein) And, as testimony to the "evanescence and lubricity" ("Nature", Emerson) of this ballet, Kirk Peterson, the choreographer of this meditation on "Swan Lake", told of 50 years worth of research for this event. So, if the ever elusive "Swan Lake" paradoxically embodies the ungraspable, then whether we are either 'at' or better still 'in' "Swan Lake" just, "Where do we find ourselves?" ("Experience", Emerson)
Last week. "Swan Lake." Where I found myself in Cincinnati's massive Music Hall shortly after the ballet's load in. It was tech week. (Please forgive(or not)this shameless personal intrusion. But after years of an Odyesseus-like absence, I returned to a ballet company and found myself privileged to be wondering around like an old dog off its chain. If I could have in celebration danced Odette's entrechats or Beno's grand jetes in manage I would have.) It was Tuesday late AM, and the company, there for class, filled the capacious Wilks rehearsal space on the second floor of the Hall. The company was twice the size to the one I remembered. There was now a Cincinnati Ballet II and a large number of dancers in the Professional Training Division. As I watched the class the thought struck me that "Here, but here on these stretched Marley bands of time, they barre their way to their lives to come" and also noted that together they formed a magnificent instrument.
In my long familiarity with the works of Kirk Peterson, I found myself expecting, no, knowing to find narrative clarity and a legibility in the choice and order of movement that enables that clarity. Additionally, while he shares with many choreographers a sensitivity to music, his link of sight and sound, however, will a priory defeat any attempt of mine to name it. I am reduced then to saying such things as that, "His work provides exemplars for rather than examples of how dance meets the music." And further, while this review still dwells in the realm of "imponderable evidence and fine shades of behavior " (Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein) category, I also note that whether his works are narrative or non-narrative the dancers always "arrive on stage with a history". (This was said about the works of Fokine, I can't remember where.) Expressed in Romantic terms: the dancers live their roles by craft and artistry and hence inform the ballet with life. This is importantly true particularly in Act IV.
That principal dancers, Cervilio Migeul Amador, and first soloist, Edward Gonzalez Kay informed their roles as Siegfried with contemplative nobility and agonizing remorse, and they did so with the precision demanded by the carefully researched and re-installed elements (such as the mime and the flash of Odette's beating foot) seen by audiences of decades past. Amador and Kay danced powerfully and brought their Siegfried to life.
And the Odette/ Odiles, Melissa Gelfin partnered by Amador, and Sirui Liu partnered by Kaye were absolutely fearless in their delivery. Each instantly, seamlessly transformed from the vulnerable Odette to the viperous Odile. And by virtue of their robust performances it dawned on me that Odile is not of this earth. Here, in addition to Odile's otherworldly 32 fouettes, there lies in her next entrance a ferociousness that unmistakably fills the snap and strike gestures of her arms and the sharp angularity of her moving legs with an malicious intent. These gestures are neither expressions of love nor mere bravura display, but rather a barely concealed and demonic attack on Siegfried.
So, what does Odile as a proxy cygnet cygnet-fy? Perhaps this: that Rothbart better than Lady Macbeth conjured a spirit that does in fact tend "to mortal thoughts" and did (in a fashion) "unsex" Siegfried. And here at the end of Act III's vertiginous pitch and moment of dizzying time Siegfried finds himself; and, that founding banks on his commitment to Odette. It was a commitment to the redemptive power of love, a commitment that would deliver Odette from her cursed cage of ontological oscillations and thus free her to at least a modicum of self determination. Alas, seduced through Odile's craven cozenage Siegfried "pawned" by dubious pledge his commitment away; and, to redeem that 'pawned' commitment in Act IV he elects to die.
And the gentle, breathless Odette finds herself in Act IV soaked in the tears brought by the comfortless gloom of her ontological trials. She tells her subjects, her friends, of Rothbart's inscrutable malice and Siegfried's fateful turn. There too, she confesses her want for death. Altered then to her desperate passion, the already tall brace of soloist swans arrest Odette's flight to self destruction. And soon in a Valkyrie -like gesture they manifest their protective intent: on point the two great swans tower toward heaven and with softly curved arms cover their Queen.
A storm breaks. We hear it in the music. We see it the agitation of the swans. We do not see it, however, in the lighting. Trad Burns, the lighting designer, notes that the transparent artificiality of such stage lightening would blow down the seriousness of the scene. "The swans," he said, "Are the storm." He is right. For this viewer, that observation lit up how the Stoic conception of "sympathia" links to Romanticism's want to (re)animate the world. And what is that? Well, here now think Disney. (I am not using 'Disney' pejoratively.) Then mix that with John Ruskin's dismissive "pathetic fallacy." Mixed here means marbled rather than dissolved into each other and works to shape a picture of what the Stoic term "sympathia" means. Or if you would rather: picture the interconnections of life found in the movie "Avatar." In "Swan Lake" the re-animation ideal means that the swans constitute their world rather than represent a world outside it. Hence, the Act IV storm in "Swan Lake" makes outward and visible the swans' agitation, anger, and their want that justice be brought on Rothbart and Siegfried (call it revenge) as well as being a harbinger of a guilt ridden Siegfried's entrance. The swans then, and I include Siegfried and the off stage Rothbart, are the storm. So, what does this mean? Where do we find ourselves?
If we accept the not unreasonable question presented in "Swan Lake" as: How does one tell the difference between good and evil when they look alike? Wait, the audience can (dramatic irony, right?). Siegfried's blindness suggests a debilitating skepticism that denies his trust in "seeing". In the works of Kirk Peterson, however, particularly in this "Swan Lake", we find that we can trust what we see. And what we see weaves with the trust we must have in our shared language and other mediums we use to 'speak' with. The Act II pas de deux with Odette and Siegfried embodies this idea of trust and acceptance and acknowledgement. (I avoid use of the word "love" because it too often implies ownership, occupation, and other forms of oppression.) In fact, I will go so far as to say that here, but here in this pas the concept of beauty (along with all of its ethical implications) , and oblivious to Beauty's native lubricity, achieves a Paris Archive-like (this is where to find THE meter stick) foundation. All of this worked because of the excellence manifest in the choreography, the Cincinnati Ballet , the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Carmon Deleone, and the crew of the Music Hall.
February 20, 2012
Grades 3rd-5th
Wonderful picture book for older grade schoolers (will have to wait a few years to reintroduce this to my son). The illustrations are beautiful and fit the story well.
It's the story of a Prince who falls in love with the Swan Queen (Odette). Odette and her maidens are cursed to be swans by day and only get to be humans between Midnight and Dawn. The only way the curse can be broken is by a vow of true love. On the night the prince wants to name Odette as his betrothed a mysterious count (the owl magician who is responsible for Odette's curse) shows up with his beautiful daughter Odile whom the prince mistakes for Odette.
Not only is this a wonderful way to introduce the ballet Swan Lake, but Margot Fonteyn's notes at the end also help open a discussion between the duality of Odette and Odile, the good and the evil.
Wonderful picture book for older grade schoolers (will have to wait a few years to reintroduce this to my son). The illustrations are beautiful and fit the story well.
It's the story of a Prince who falls in love with the Swan Queen (Odette). Odette and her maidens are cursed to be swans by day and only get to be humans between Midnight and Dawn. The only way the curse can be broken is by a vow of true love. On the night the prince wants to name Odette as his betrothed a mysterious count (the owl magician who is responsible for Odette's curse) shows up with his beautiful daughter Odile whom the prince mistakes for Odette.
Not only is this a wonderful way to introduce the ballet Swan Lake, but Margot Fonteyn's notes at the end also help open a discussion between the duality of Odette and Odile, the good and the evil.
December 23, 2008
This is a beautifully illustrated story. I loved the story of Swan Lake and it was one of my favorite Ballets. Sadly my copy of this book was chewed up by my sister's dog Tasha (when she was a puppy). The cover is ruined and I was devastated but I still own the book because I love it so much, maybe someday I will get a copy that hasn't been chewed on.
October 23, 2018
As an adult the best part of the book was reading the author’s note about dancing Swan Lake. Her description of the physical and mental toll the role takes on a dancer was fascinating. Her comment that it was the only show she didn’t believe she could dance twice in one day was very telling. The book itself had beautiful illustrations and the story, while tragic, is beautiful.
December 24, 2008
The story of Swan Lake beautifully illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman and retold by famous ballerina Margot Fontaine. Love it! So sad it is out of print.
June 23, 2011
Beautiful book and lovely sad story.
September 5, 2011
I don't think I every really heard the story of Swan Lake before.
October 10, 2012
Notes::
Illustrations are too scary for my little ones
Story is just awful.
Illustrations are too scary for my little ones
Story is just awful.
Read
July 16, 2013Beautiful as all of Hyman's books are.
August 30, 2017
Even though the pictures are very beautiful, this book never engaged me as a child. It was too dark both in story and in illustration. Nice retelling of the Swan Lake story though.
Read
February 20, 2022"..having danced SWAN LAKE many hundreds of times-- the two swan acts at sixteen and the full ballet from when I was eighteen--I think one should be aware not only of the duality of the Odette-Odile roles, or good and evil, but also the dualtiy within each role. Both are enigmatic characters; neither is what she seems. Odette is bird as well as woman. Odile is reality as well as illusion.
When I was young, there were one or two more human touches in Odette's scenes. She was a woman with a swan's mannerisms. Now, Swan Queens seem sometimes to forget that point as their interpretations become more "swannish." In consequence, Odette's womanliness is diminished and the dimensions of her duality destroyed.
I always found Swan Lake the greatest challenge in my repertoire and there the one that gave me the greatest satisfaction when it went well. The choreography is exacting-- the dancers' faults more exposed than in any other ballet...Swan Lake is the only ballet I never felt strong enough to perform twice in the same day."
The above is from Fonteyn's afterword to SWAN LAKE, and the part of the book I found most rewarding. That's not intended as faint praise for the rest of the book. It's a lovely oversized picture book and the story of Swan Lake "is told by" Fonteyn and illustrated by the distinctive Trina Schart Hyman. I suspect there was a ghostwriter involved here because the language and prose appears very much like other illustrated fairy tales of the period, particularly those illustrated by Hyman and her contemporaries. The book will appeal to any child who enjoys fairy tales or illustrated versions of famous tales (Hyman illustrated dozens of stories, everything from King Arthur to Snow White, Dickens to Sleeping Beauty). In fact it's a bit troubling to see that only Fonteyn's name appears on the Goodreads listing when Hyman is clearly just as central to this project. In any event, a book like this is a lovely way to introduce a child to the ballet or to give a ballet-loving child another way to enjoy the art of dance and storytelling. Fonteyn's afterward was the most moving and surprising part of reading this edition of Swan Lake.
When I was young, there were one or two more human touches in Odette's scenes. She was a woman with a swan's mannerisms. Now, Swan Queens seem sometimes to forget that point as their interpretations become more "swannish." In consequence, Odette's womanliness is diminished and the dimensions of her duality destroyed.
I always found Swan Lake the greatest challenge in my repertoire and there the one that gave me the greatest satisfaction when it went well. The choreography is exacting-- the dancers' faults more exposed than in any other ballet...Swan Lake is the only ballet I never felt strong enough to perform twice in the same day."
The above is from Fonteyn's afterword to SWAN LAKE, and the part of the book I found most rewarding. That's not intended as faint praise for the rest of the book. It's a lovely oversized picture book and the story of Swan Lake "is told by" Fonteyn and illustrated by the distinctive Trina Schart Hyman. I suspect there was a ghostwriter involved here because the language and prose appears very much like other illustrated fairy tales of the period, particularly those illustrated by Hyman and her contemporaries. The book will appeal to any child who enjoys fairy tales or illustrated versions of famous tales (Hyman illustrated dozens of stories, everything from King Arthur to Snow White, Dickens to Sleeping Beauty). In fact it's a bit troubling to see that only Fonteyn's name appears on the Goodreads listing when Hyman is clearly just as central to this project. In any event, a book like this is a lovely way to introduce a child to the ballet or to give a ballet-loving child another way to enjoy the art of dance and storytelling. Fonteyn's afterward was the most moving and surprising part of reading this edition of Swan Lake.
October 17, 2024
Favorite section of this edition of the story of Swan Lake:
The final two pages of this book are devoted to “Storyteller’s Note on the Ballet.”
It’s a gem of history on this particular ballet. Since the plot is based on legends, it’s interesting to learn how the story and the ballet were created.
One more note of interest: a real ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, tells this version of Swan Lake - how wonderful!
Most of all, I’m interested in the composer’s involvement in the ballet.
What a splendid book to include in my music library for all my young piano students!
The final two pages of this book are devoted to “Storyteller’s Note on the Ballet.”
It’s a gem of history on this particular ballet. Since the plot is based on legends, it’s interesting to learn how the story and the ballet were created.
One more note of interest: a real ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, tells this version of Swan Lake - how wonderful!
Most of all, I’m interested in the composer’s involvement in the ballet.
What a splendid book to include in my music library for all my young piano students!
July 23, 2025
Beautiful illustrations, even if the ladies are showing more bosom than I prefer. This Swan Lake telling is of the romantic tragic variety, more traditional. Good versus evil and being saved through a great sacrifice. I wouldn't read this to little children as the parts with Rothbart are a little scarry. But 6 ish and up would be okay I think depending on the child. I wouldn't own this personally, but I'd be willing to check it out from the library again.
December 7, 2018
Beautifully illustrated and a gem of a book from the Queen of Swans herself, Dame Margot Fonteyn. This illustrated version follows the ballet story very closely. It may be a little harder for younger readers to understand because of plot concepts within the ballet and the sentence structure in Fonteyn's writing. Any reader who is interested in the ballet or in folk/fairy tales will enjoy this.
November 22, 2016
One of those really disappointing fairy tale endings. Oh, the power of insta-love and double suicide saves the day. Got it. Right. BUT I can't help loving this book, because it's so fucking beautiful. I still want it, despite the silly story.
July 15, 2017
Kiddo says, "I love this book, it was nice. I'd like every kid in the world to have a copy." We are thrilled to discover how many stories Trina Schart Hyman has illustrated and are also looking forward to the DVD of the ballet starring the picture book's author. Definitely a homeschool mom staple.
July 18, 2020
I just finished reading the children's illustrated book Swan Lake as told by Margo Fonteyn. Beautifully written, with storytellers notes on the ballet in the back, I had to look her up. I'm saving this book to read to my granddaughter.
January 1, 2021
I love Trina's artwork! I read this longer picture/story book with my son a few months ago and have a goal to read more of her books in 2021. Being unfamiliar with the famous story of Swan Lake, I was very glad to finally be introduced to it.
November 10, 2021
This was a great retelling of a classic story. I know that I would have loved this book as a little girl. It is wordier and includes some illustrations that might be a little scary for kids, so I think this would be a good choice for 3rd-5th grade.
March 21, 2023
It is said that loves defies all barriers that are in its way, and this book shows this to be true for Odette and Siegfried. I have see and heard different renditions of this story, and I remember hearing more about Odette's life, but it was nice to hear more about Siegfried's life.
October 3, 2019
Very dark, but my kids (4 and 6) loved it—particularly the owl-wizard
January 31, 2020
A more complex rendering of the traditional tale. Very interesting.
February 17, 2020
3.50 🦢
What beautiful illustrations!
What beautiful illustrations!
November 6, 2021
Swan Lake by Margot Fonteyn, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Trina Schart Hyman -- This is a beautiful illustration of the ballet from the ever classy and classic TSH! Happy Reading!
May 26, 2023
Read this to my 3rd graders and they were mesmerized….beautiful illustrations and storytelling!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews