{"id":28526,"date":"2015-10-20T22:33:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T02:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28526"},"modified":"2015-10-20T22:33:29","modified_gmt":"2015-10-21T02:33:29","slug":"review-of-the-sleeper-and-the-spindle-by-neil-gaiman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=28526","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Sleeper and the Spindle, by Neil Gaiman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sleeper_and_the_spindle_large\"<\/a>The Sleeper and the Spindle<\/em><\/p>\n

by Neil Gaiman
\nillustrated by Chris Riddell<\/p>\n

Harper, 2015. 69 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This is an illustrated fairy tale. And how much do I love that an illustrated fairy tale has been published?<\/p>\n

This story is beautiful and eerie at the same time. It feels familiar, but twists things in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n

The reader thinks they\u2019ve got a Sleeping Beauty story going, or perhaps Sleeping Beauty twisted with Snow White, but nothing turns out as the reader expects.<\/p>\n

The book starts out with some dwarves going under some mountains to get finest silk for their queen, who is soon to be married. On the other side of the mountains, they find an enchanted sleep spreading. It is spreading out from a castle with a princess who was cursed, as in the traditional tale, and has been sleeping for years. But now it\u2019s not only the servants in the castle who are sleeping as well. The sleep is spreading to all the surrounding villages.<\/p>\n

The tale first starts going in unexpected directions when the queen decides to go break the spell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am afraid,\u201d said the queen, \u201cthat there will be no wedding tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called for a map of the kingdom, identified the villages closest to the mountains, sent messengers to tell the inhabitants to evacuate to the coast or risk royal displeasure.<\/p>\n

She called for her first minister and informed him that he would be responsible for the kingdom in her absence, and that he should do his best neither to lose it nor to break it.<\/p>\n

She called for her fianc\u00e9 and told him not to take on so, and that they would still be married, even if he was but a prince and she a queen, and she chucked him beneath his pretty chin and kissed him until he smiled.<\/p>\n

She called for her mail shirt.<\/p>\n

She called for her sword.<\/p>\n

She called for her provisions, and for her horse, and then she rode out of the palace, toward the east.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Neil Gaiman knows the language of fairy tales. But he also knows how to surprise the reader.<\/p>\n

The illustrations are also wonderful. Looking at them a second time, I\u2019m finding new details everywhere. They are black and white with gold highlights, and extremely detailed.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a place where hundreds of sleeping people, completely covered with cobwebs, start sleepwalking toward the queen. The illustrations here are incredibly sinister.<\/p>\n

The story doesn\u2019t take long to read, and every spread has illustrations, but this is not a picture book, nor is it written for preschoolers.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the scene where villagers tell the dwarves about the plague of sleep:<\/p>\n

\u201c. . . And brave men,\u201d continued the pot-girl. \u201cAye, and brave women too, they say, have attempted to travel to the Forest of Acaire, to the castle at its heart, to wake the princess, and, in waking her, to wake all the sleepers, but each and every one of those heroes ended their lives lost in the forest, murdered by bandits, or impaled upon the thorns of the rosebushes that encircle the castle \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cWake her how?\u201d asked the middle-sized dwarf, hand still clutching his rock, for he thought in essentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe usual method,\u201d said the pot-girl, and she blushed. \u201cOr so the tales have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d said the tallest dwarf. \u201cSo, bowl of cold water poured on the face and a cry of \u2018Wakey! Wakey!\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA kiss,\u201d said the sot. \u201cBut nobody has ever got that close. They\u2019ve been trying for sixty years or more. They say the witch \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cFairy,\u201d said the fat man.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnchantress,\u201d corrected the pot-girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever she is,\u201d said the sot. \u201cShe\u2019s still there. That\u2019s what they say. If you get that close. If you make it through the roses, she\u2019ll be waiting for you. She\u2019s old as the hills, evil as a snake, all malevolence and magic and death.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

mousecircus.com<\/a>
\nchrisriddell.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/sleeper_and_the_spindle.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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