When a great white bear appears one cold day at the home of a poor peasant family, offering immense wealth in exchange for their youngest daughter, she agrees to accompany him to his mountain home, where she finds herself living in unexpected splendor. Every night the bear comes to her, in human form, but she never sees his face, until one day - led astray by her mother's advice - she lights a candle, and sees that he is a handsome prince. But her curiosity has its price, and prince and palace vanish. Now she must search for her love, imprisoned by the trolls in a castle east of the sun, and west of the moon...

Originally collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the nineteenth century, this classic Norwegian folktale always reminds me of the Greco-Roman story of Cupid and Psyche, which also features a girl in search of her missing husband. This edition draws upon Sir George Webbe Dasent's 1859 translation, and is beautifully illustrated by Gillian Barlow. Some of the scenes - such as that in which the heroine first glimpses the prince in his true form - are just gorgeous, and although overall I prefer the version illustrated by P.J. Lynch, this is still a must-see for fans of this tale! ( )