I loved the pictures of the trusting child Rapunzel, the bright birch trees in the dark forest as Rapunzel is taken to the tower, and the passionate kiss even before the prince makes it through the window. The story is straight Grimm, with intricately-detailed German renaissance illustrations. Holiday House, 1982.ĭid I ever mention how much I love Trina Schart Hyman? This is maybe not quite as polished as Little Red Riding Hood or Saint George, but still amazing.

This is one of the better ones for younger readers, as it’s a bit shorter and with more pictures than many. The cut-out illustrations are beautiful, if stiff. Rapunzel set in Africa, still told with the traditional Grimm words. The caricature-like illustrations set the whole story at some indeterminate time closer to the present – Dame Gothel looks to be wearing clothes about a century old, but Rapunzel looks like she’s wearing t-shirt dresses. It’s clear that while Gothel has made some mistakes, she really loves Rapunzel and is trying her best. This is a made-for-Common Core retelling from Dame Gothel’s point of view. Really, Rapunzel Needed a Haircut! by Jessica Gunderson. She also gets the tallest tower ever, looking bigger than a modern skyscraper in some spreads. In this story, Rapunzel is so charming that even the beasts fall in love with her, thus saving both her and the prince. The art feels like it could easily be an animated feature film, up-to-date, crisp outlines, a princessy palette and lots of scherenschnitte-style. Oddly enough, only Gibb and Grimm are credited on the cover. HarperCollins Childrens, 2010 (UK) and Albert Whitman & Co, 2011 (US). It was a little weird to me that the children appear about five by the time the prince finds them – that’s one long hunt! The pictures are beautiful, glowing pastels on black paper, with a strong (if perhaps mixed) medieval/renaissance style. This book opens with a page that looks like it’s taken out of a medieval book of hours, with close-up drawings of the rapunzel plant and a description: “Rapunzel… will grow and bloom in the most desolate wastelands.” Otherwise, the retelling is pretty standard Grimm. Rapunzel Retold and illustrated by Alix Berenzy. Here they are, with lots of variations in illustration style, details in the retelling, ethnicity, and more. I think that an obsession like this is the perfect opportunity to explore how stories can be told many different ways, so I have (over time) checked out just about every Rapunzel picture book I could find at the library.

Nearly every day when she comes home, the first thing she does is take off her regular clothes and put on her Rapunzel costume. I mentioned recently that my daughter has been into Rapunzel.

Trina schart hyman rapunzel