The Snow Queen

A fairy tale in seven chapters: The devil and/or a troll makes a mirror that only reflects and amplifies bad things, which shatters. A little boy named Kai gets a shard of the mirror in his eye and runs away. His friend Gerda tries to find him but gets stuck at a witch’s house where she forgets about Kai for a bit. Then she hears of a princess who married a man who looked like Kai, but it’s not Kai. Then she meets a little robber girl who has guns for some reason. Gerda rides a reindeer to Lapland. She gets to the Snow Queen’s palace and says the Lord’s Prayer which defeats the Snow Queen and saves Kai through the power of love.

Truly bizarre. You can see why Disney was like “we should make a movie about The Snow Queen” and show more then trashed absolutely all of it except the reindeer. What is the point of the mirror at all? Kai could have just been kidnapped or run away for some other reason. The religious aspects don’t make any sense, they’re just shoehorned in for hand-waving purposes at the end. Also, the Snow Queen is not the Queen of Snow, she’s the Queen of the Snow Bees, which are snowflakes that look like bees??? It sounds more entertaining than it is.

However, I started listening to this audiobook without even realizing it was narrated by my favorite narrator. What a gift! An extra star for Katy Kellgren. show less

Julia Whelan does fantastic job narrating this Xmas lagniappe from Audible. I am not interested in the loose basis for Frozen, but I did take a bite for free, here. I was surprised how imaginative and modern the story felt with parallel, overlapping story lines, grotesque demons and magnified evil visions; as if it were a collaborative screen play from Guillermo del Toro and Tarantino.

Перед вами трогательная волшебная история о храброй девочке Герде, преодолевающей испытания по дороге к неприступному царству Снежной королевы, забравшей в свой дворец её лучшего друга Кая. Только доброе сердце и невероятная смелость могут помочь в борьбе против коварства и могущества Снежной королевы. На своём пути Герда попадёт под чары волшебницы, познакомится с отзывчивыми принцем и принцессой и show more неожиданно обретёт защитницу в логове разбойников. Юные читатели с удовольствием перенесутся в чудесный и завораживающий мир сказки, где каждый цветок имеет свою собственную историю, вороны служат при дворе, а говорящие олени помогают в беде.Книга проиллюстрирована очаровательными рисунками Екатерины Волжиной. show less

Больше 170 лет прошло с тех пор, как Ханс Кристиан Андерсен придумал волшебную историю об отважной маленькой Герде, ее названном братце Кае и коварной Снежной королеве.На иллюстрациях известной сербской художницы Аны Григорьев герои старой сказки выглядят современниками нынешних детей - и не случайно: ведь самоотверженность, смелость, верность неизменны во все времена.Для этого красочного издания show more знаменитую историю пересказал замечательный детский писатель Леонид Яхнин.Для детей 7-10 лет. show less

This is a lovely reading of Andersen's story of Gerda and her friend Kai, who becomes contaminated by the shards of a demon-made magic mirror, and succumbs to the lure of the Snow Queen.

Gerda sees the change in her friend when he is affected by the shards, and when he vanishes, she will not believe that he is dead. She sets off on quest to find him, armed chiefly with her courage, loyalty, and good heart.

Something that may seem unexpected to those who grew up on Disney versions of fairy tales is that nearly all the strong characters here, both good and ill, at least the human ones, are women and girls.

Julia Whelan is an excellent narrator, with a delightful voice, and she strikes exactly the right tone in reading this.

Recommended.

This show more book is free on Audible until January 31, 2015. show less

I got this book for free from Audible. Not my favorite Andersen tale, but it wasn't so bad, specially for a "Christmas tale". It's a cute story, though I think it's better suited for younger people. You can take a couple of interesting aspects from this book though. First of all, the lack of a damsel in distress. The main character is a girl that tries to find her best friend after he has been hit with a glass shard that turned his heart cold. She does get her share of help, but she is in no way a damsel in distress. I also enjoyed the entities she found on her way, her determination and strength. And, of course, there is the weight of friendship instead of the whole "true love" thing, which is absolutely lovely.
Anyway, it's worth show more checking it out. show less

The story of a little girl, and a little boy, and how they were separated and brought back together. This is a quaint story told in fairy tale fashion. The reader, Julia Whelan does a fine job. There were a few bits I found tedious, but that may be my impatient spirit at the moment. Brutal in some parts, a reminder that people didn't used to hide the evil or bad parts of life from children. I liked the allusion to the fragments of mirror distorting one's view of the world and all things good in the world, but I really didn't get the ending with the song of baby Jesus and the roses. An enjoyable story though, and just over an hour long.