The Golden Cockerel

A boastful, combative man in his youth, Czar Dadon had many enemies - enemies who grew bolder as he grew weaker with age. Hoping to protect his kingdom from attack, the Czar sent for an old sorcerer, who gave him the Golden Cockerel - a magical bird which always warned of danger. But Czar Dadon forgot his promise to the sorcerer, and when danger arose from an unexpected quarter, he paid the price...

This fable about the dangers of boasting and refusing to honor one's word, was adapted from Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra by the celebrated Russian poet Alexandr Pushkin in 1834. Adaptated again by Patricia Tracy Lowe in this picture book, the tale is presented as a prose story, rather than in Pushkin's original verse. Highly show more readable, and enhanced by the lovely illustrations of Ivan Bilibin, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel will appeal to fairytale lovers everywhere. show less

Illustrations by Dulac brilliantly beautiful. Story makes no sense, at least to a modern American perspective. Ends abruptly, with an epilogue that questions the nature of dreams and speculates on their relevance to this story. Does it have a plot? Not so much. Characters that illustrate human nature? Kinda sorta maybe. A theme or moral? Maybe, if the reader works to drag out one to her liking. I look forward to seeing if other reviewers have any wisdom for me.

The Golden Cockerel is a fairy tale because it talks abut magical creatures such as a bird who is charming and has an imaginative land setting. This is also a fairytale because it speaks of a wizard which is cindered to be a fairytale figure. I could use this book to describe what exactly makes up the definition of a fairytale. I could also use this as an introduction to having them check out a fairytale book to read and talk about why they believe it falls under this category. The media in this book is acrylic and ink.