Rosemary Harris (1)Reseñas

Lovely illustrations, though it's not my favorite retelling.

I enjoyed Errol Le Cain's illustrations, as always, and all eighteen of the tales were new to me, which was a pleasant surprise. But there were occasional moments in Harris' storytelling that were off-putting. For instance, the way the characters talk in "White Orchid, Red Mountain"---surely if they're speaking their native Chinese, they shouldn't sound as though they're speaking broken English. I'd certainly recommend the collection to someone who's eager for more folklore, but the read is a little rockier than I'd prefer.

Very creative midrash (rabbinic "backstory") for the story of Noah's Ark. The characters are engaging (the king of Kemi is particularly well-drawn), and there are lovely touches of humor, not even counting the sly reference to "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music". If I'm lucky, the library will have the second and third installments so I can find out what happens to the main characters and not leave them stranded in the Ark.

The classic French fairy-tale of Beauty and the Beast is here retold by British children's author Rosemary Harris - winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1968 for her biblical fantasy, The Moon in the Cloud - and Kate Greenaway Medal-winning illustrator Errol Le Cain. With such a line-up, you'd expect this retelling to be top-notch - I certainly did, after adoring Le Cain's artwork for Cupid and Psyche, and I invested in a copy for my collection accordingly. Unfortunately, although this title does have some modest charm, and will be of interest to those readers who enjoy (as I do) examining multiple retellings of their favorite fairy-tales, it doesn't even come close to being amongst the better Beauty and the Beast adaptations I have seen.

I found some of Harris' narrative decisions here rather odd, and wondered a bit at her sources - no author's note is included, and there is no attribution of any kind, although the colophon for this (American) edition at least includes a "Folklore-France" subject designation - as it seemed to me that much of the magic of the original has been subtly altered, to make the tale more religious. When the merchant finds himself in the Beast's palace, he wonders where the "master" can be, never concluding (as he does in the French original) that this must be the residence of a good fairy. Similarly, when Beauty first comes to the palace, rather than having a comforting dream in which a good fairy assures her of her eventual reward, she instead dreams that God is pleased with her. Other minor details have also been altered - the Beast suggests that the merchant pray to God, when he is threatening to kill him; the jealous sisters (who are named Pride and Vanity in this telling) are sternly judged by the Prince, in the end, rather than the by all-knowing fairy - all resulting in the same curious deletion: the fairy has disappeared from this fairy-tale!

It's odd... I don't know enough about Harris, as an author or woman, to venture even a guess as to why these change were made. It could be anything from the use of an alternate nineteenth-century source that had a healthy dose of Victorian religiosity (the Victorians were often very concerned about the possibly deleterious effects of fairy-tales), to a personal religious conviction of the part of the author, that somehow necessitated these changes. It's hard to judge - I think I'd have to track down more of Harris' work, in order to decide. But whatever the case may be, when it comes to motivation, I didn't care for the resultant narrative, in which the sole figure of female authority in the story is removed. Errol Le Cain's artwork had its moments of enchantment, although it certainly wasn't the equal of the work he has done in other titles, but it simply wasn't enough to lift this above the level of a flawed, but moderately enjoyable retelling. Recommended primarily to Beauty and the Beast fanatics, and to Errol Le Cain fans.

I recently read his book in response to my daughter's query: what was my favorite book as a child? The Moon in the Cloud and its sequels The Shadow on the Sun, and The Bright and Morning Star were the first books I read over and over. Reading The Moon in the Cloud again (the library no longer has the sequels) I found it was just as I remember: imaginative, humorous and full of characters I have remembered fondly all my life. I expected to find the books dated or some obvious reason for why they are virtually unknown today. But instead there was this wonderful story that could hold its own against more modern children's books.

This book won the Carnegie Medal for an outstanding children's book in 1968.

The story begins with Noah being tasked to build the Ark. Two of his sons are to help with the building, and Ham, his one lazy son, is to travel to Egypt (called Kemi) to bring back two cats and two lions. Instead the evil Ham does a deal with Reuben (neighbour and poor animal tamer) that he will obtain passage on the ark for Reuben and his wife, Thamar, in exchange for Reuben fetching the cats and lions.

So Ham goes into hiding, while Reuben sets out for Kemi with his talking Camel, Cat and Dog whose names are Anak, Cefalu and Benoni. They are captured and separated: Reuben in goal, Cefalu in the temple, Benoni the pet of a poor solder and Anak in the royal stables.

Meanwhile, Thamar, left behind, has to deal with the unwanted advances of Ham who prefers her to his own wife.

Reuben makes friends with a tomb robber and the King both of whom create further obstacles to Reuben's return home.

Seemingly stuck in Kemi, it seems that Reuben will never be able to recover his dispersed animals, collect the necessary cat and two lions, return home and hold the deceitful Ham to his bargain.½

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