The Sleeping Beauty

Trina Schart Hyman's fairy tale illustrations are as enchanting as the stories themselves, and this is one of her best. Every detail, from fabric to flowers to the wings of the fairies, is rendered in her lovely pen and watercolor signature style. Her willow-waisted heriones always have glorious hair, and Briar Rose is no exception; although instead of the sterotypical blond of the usual fairy tale princess, this Briar Rose is a merry-eyed red-head. A delightful version of this classic tale.

Intense, complex, enhanced, and elaborated. And absolutely lovely. If you've only one version on your shelf, I'd recommend this one. The only grief I have is that the princess is 15 and looks it, and the prince looks to be at least 25. Surely something can be done to make that old-fashioned tradition more palatable, or at least to explain it.

"The Sleeping Beauty" contained some things that I do not remember from the stories that I have heard about sleeping beauty. There are so many different versions of the story and each one contains something unique. In this version, not only does sleeping beauty fall into a deep sleep but so does her entire castle. Also in this version, sleeping beauty's name is Briar Rose but in other versions her name is Aurora. It is definitely interesting to see the differences but also to see the similarities. In all versions sleeping beauty is beautiful, kind, and graceful. Also similar to other versions, the king and queen burn all of the spinning wheels but at the end sleeping beauty somehow still finds herself pricking her finger. I honestly show more enjoyed this book, not only because I love the story but also because the art in this book was beautiful and well done. show less

This is a wonderful retelling of a timeless classic. The long-awaited birth of a baby princess; the fairies bestowing qualities on her; the fairy who has not been invited condemning her to die at fifteen from the prick of a distaff; the curse changed into a hundred-year-long sleep; the fulfillment of the curse and the break of the spell through the kiss of a prince: All the elements of the classic tale are there. However, there are many more interesting details in this version that make it quite remarkable. The specific descriptions given when everybody falls asleep at the start of the curse, and the lively details when these same persons and animals wake up at the end of the hundred years transport the reader into the “dead” show more castle, and then into the alive again castle. This is a nicely told tale, and the colorful and realistic-looking illustrations add an additional layer to the tale through the details of the faces, gestures, dresses, the glow of the candles and fires, and the liveliness of the scenes and landscapes. Ages 6-10 (the older “starting age” is due to a couple of pages with illustrations of skeletons). show less

We all know the tale of Sleeping Beauty where the princess is under the witches spell and falls asleep for a hundred years and the only thing that could break the spell was a kiss. I like the tale because it shows the bravery of men risking their lives to save the girl. However, I find it unbelievably hard to accept the fact that the girl doesn't age. Okay, she's under the witches spell. Got it. It's believable enough, but wouldn't that make her over a hundred years+ older than the Prince? That's like him dating his great-great grandmother whose stuck in his daughters body. Pretty gross if you ask me. Oh, and I would like the story more if it were the Princess who had to rescue the Prince. (Hey another idea for writing my children's book!)

During a celebration feast for her birth, Briar Rose is put under a curse by the most difficult fairy in the kingdom because she was not invited. The curse was that on her 15th birthday, Briar will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall dead. Another fairy softens the curse by saying Briar will not fall dead, but instead fall into a century-long sleep. As time goes on, her father destroys all the spinning wheels. However, when the time comes, the evil fairy is waiting in the tower, where Briar’s fate awaits her. When she pricks her finger, not only does she fall asleep, but also the whole kingdom. The King and Queen, townspeople, horses and dogs, and even flies are sent into a deep sleep. Throughout time, many brave knights try show more to make their way to the sleeping princess, but they do not make it past the thorn wall guarding the castle. One day, a King’s son makes it past the thorn wall and goes to Sleeping Beauty. He awakens her with kiss and the entire kingdom wakes up. Together, they all live “in peace and joy until they die.” This Grimm Brother’s version of the Sleeping Beauty is both beautiful and dark. The theme of love being the most powerful source is sure to please all readers. A classic retelling of Sleeping Beauty that stays true to the original. show less

This Grimm version of the Sleeping Beauty is both beautiful and dark. As is the style of most children’s tales made movies, the dark nature of the story was watered down. The story does begin with a king and queen having a beautiful baby girl. In celebration they host a feast and invite twelve out of the thirteen fairies (the thirteenth was old and mean). All the fairies bring the baby a gift. As punishment for not being invited, the thirteenth fairy puts a curse on the baby. When the girl turns fifteen she will pick her finger and die. Luckily another fairy counteracts the death clause and condemns her to a powerful sleep for 100 years instead. The spell is so powerful that when she falls asleep, so does the entire village. Several show more men try to go and rescue the princess, but they end up stuck in the thorns and die. Eventually a prince comes to rescue her. The thorns part ways for him, and he goes up the tower to her. One kiss and everyone awakes. Everyone “lives in peace and happiness until they die.”
Details: This book was written to interest children in grades K-3 and is on a 4.7 reading level show less