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The Sorcerer's Apprentice
A sorcerer's young apprentice attempts to practice magic in her master's absence, with disastrous results, in a classic tale that teaches that passion and hard work tempered by patience and discipline can help make dreams come true.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 28, 2016
I was never entirely sure what precisely the moral of this tale was -- don't be over-confident? be careful with magic? don't start something you can't stop? manual labor is good for you? but it seems even more muddled in this version.
I liked the overall style of the illustrations, but not the faces, which were weirdly pink and plastically and seemed to only have one expression each. Why is the girl's mouth open so much of the time?
Can take or leave this one.
I liked the overall style of the illustrations, but not the faces, which were weirdly pink and plastically and seemed to only have one expression each. Why is the girl's mouth open so much of the time?
Can take or leave this one.
September 5, 2023
The famous German story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, immortalized by Goethe in his 1797 poem, Der Zauberlehrling, is here retold in picture-book form by American author and artist Mary Jane Begin. In her telling, a young girl becomes the apprentice to a great and good sorcerer, but is discouraged by all of the manual labor she must perform, and impatient to learn actual magic. When the sorcerer leaves for town one day, and the girl finds her chores too much to endure, she uses a spell to enchant the household broom, commanding it to fetch water for her. But she soon discovers that, while she may be able to use magic, she is not yet able to control it...
Published in 2005, Begin's The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the third picture-book retelling of this tale that I have read, following upon the ones done by Dutch author/artist Gerda Muller, and American author/illustrator team Nancy Willard and Leo and Diane Dillon. Although I don't think it was quite as impressive as those other two tellings, I still found it engaging, enjoying (as always) the story of a student who loses control of his or her magic, with disastrous results (beloved picture-book, Strega Nona , is another example of this entertaining tale type). The artwork here, done in acrylics on pastel paper, utilizes a beautiful color palette, and features lovely decorative borders, although the faces seemed somehow stiff and overly emotional at the same time. Despite that quibble, this is one I recommend to young folk and fairy-tale fans, especially if, like me, they enjoy looking at different tellings of the same tale. If they can only track down one version however, I'd recommend getting either the Muller or Willard/Dillons version instead.
Published in 2005, Begin's The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the third picture-book retelling of this tale that I have read, following upon the ones done by Dutch author/artist Gerda Muller, and American author/illustrator team Nancy Willard and Leo and Diane Dillon. Although I don't think it was quite as impressive as those other two tellings, I still found it engaging, enjoying (as always) the story of a student who loses control of his or her magic, with disastrous results (beloved picture-book, Strega Nona , is another example of this entertaining tale type). The artwork here, done in acrylics on pastel paper, utilizes a beautiful color palette, and features lovely decorative borders, although the faces seemed somehow stiff and overly emotional at the same time. Despite that quibble, this is one I recommend to young folk and fairy-tale fans, especially if, like me, they enjoy looking at different tellings of the same tale. If they can only track down one version however, I'd recommend getting either the Muller or Willard/Dillons version instead.
March 14, 2011
This is a classic fantasy that has been retold many times and has been made into movies such as The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Fantasia. I really enjoyed this version for children because of the beautiful artwork throughout. Children are always fascinated by magic and when inanimate objects turn to life. This is a wonderful picture book and the pictures are amazing. They really brought the story to life.
March 26, 2012
A very long time ago there was a sorcerer who speak to clouds, ask the trees to dance and charm the wildest of animals. He could keep evil spirits away and heal the sick. He was a good sorcerer. When a young girl and her mother traveled a very long distance to seek out his help, the sorcerer entertained them with food and music.
The sorcerer asked the young girl how he could help her. The young girl asked the sorcerer if she could learn magic. And since the sorcerer needed an apprentice he was happy to oblige and put her to work immediately. She was given chores such as washing the dishes and sweeping the floor.
It wasn't long before the young girl grew tired and wanted to know when she would learn magic. The sorcerer just told her in good time. When he left to run an errand the young girl tried some magic of her own. When she commands a broom to bring in water from the well and fill the cauldron, the magic gets a little out of control. The entire cottage begins to fill with water. Will the young girl be able to stop the crazy magic? Will the sorcerer evict her because she didn't listen? You'll have to read this wonderful tale to find out.
This beautifully written story is a well known classic. The extravagant old world illustrations will have young readers and parents picking up this tale to read over and over again.
The sorcerer asked the young girl how he could help her. The young girl asked the sorcerer if she could learn magic. And since the sorcerer needed an apprentice he was happy to oblige and put her to work immediately. She was given chores such as washing the dishes and sweeping the floor.
It wasn't long before the young girl grew tired and wanted to know when she would learn magic. The sorcerer just told her in good time. When he left to run an errand the young girl tried some magic of her own. When she commands a broom to bring in water from the well and fill the cauldron, the magic gets a little out of control. The entire cottage begins to fill with water. Will the young girl be able to stop the crazy magic? Will the sorcerer evict her because she didn't listen? You'll have to read this wonderful tale to find out.
This beautifully written story is a well known classic. The extravagant old world illustrations will have young readers and parents picking up this tale to read over and over again.
March 20, 2016
3 1/2 stars
This book is very similar to Disney's Fantasia where Mickey uses magic to make the broom bring in the water. The story is a nice one and the illustrations are very nice. My 4 year old granddaughter and I really enjoyed this book. I only gave it that high of a rating simply because it was too much like the Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice. (Although truth be known they both probably made their own version of the story from an older original story.) But the meaning of the apprentice is one that all children need to learn in life that everything isn't easy and you need to work for what you want to appreciate it more.
This book is very similar to Disney's Fantasia where Mickey uses magic to make the broom bring in the water. The story is a nice one and the illustrations are very nice. My 4 year old granddaughter and I really enjoyed this book. I only gave it that high of a rating simply because it was too much like the Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice. (Although truth be known they both probably made their own version of the story from an older original story.) But the meaning of the apprentice is one that all children need to learn in life that everything isn't easy and you need to work for what you want to appreciate it more.
October 20, 2011
This is a fantastic tale with gorgeous illustrations. Our oldest brought this book home from her elementary school library today and was very excited to read it. The story strongly reminded me of a medieval version of Strega Nona, with a good dose of Walt Disney's Fantasia thrown in too. Overall, it was a very entertaining story and we really enjoyed reading it together.
March 4, 2016
A re-telling of the story we all know from Fantasia starring Mickey and the walking brooms. Only in this version, the apprentice is a young woman, but she still suffers from Mickey's malaise of doing boring chores. Complete with rather creepy marching brooms, this apprentice learns a valuable lesson about patience.
Beautiful illustrations.
Beautiful illustrations.
July 1, 2016
I scored this book four stars instead of three because the apprentice is a young woman, and because the illustrations are so lovely, and for the ending. Otherwise, it is very much like every other retelling of the very old Sorcerer's Apprentice story.
October 11, 2011
Classic story with a new look.
May 16, 2009
Fantastic illustrations! Very good artwork. Same story portrayed in Disney's Fantasia.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews