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Rapunzel
- By Paul O. Zelinsky
- Genre: Fairy Tale
Common Sense Media says
Retelling of classic brims with passion and grace.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the heroine is locked away from the world and the prince is blinded in a fall. The story is riveting, the language is powerful, and the oil paintings are beautiful.
What's the story?
A pregnant woman craves the leafy rapunzel growing in a sorceress's garden. When her husband sneaks into the garden to steal some, the sorceress catches him, and she makes him promise to give his first-born child to her.
The sorceress raises infant Rapunzel, and, when the girl turns twelve, imprisons her in a tower. The only way to enter or exit the tower is to climb Rapunzel's long hair, and one day a prince discovers the secret. He climbs, they meet, they marry.
When the sorceress learns that Rapunzel is pregnant, she chops off Rapunzel's hair in a rage and banishes her to the wilderness. The next time the prince climbs the tower to his bride, he finds only the sorceress, who tells him he'll never see his wife again.
Grief-stricken, he crashes to the ground and is blinded by thorns. A year later, chance reunites him with Rapunzel. Her tears of joy restore his vision. At last they can live happily ever after.
Is it any good?
This classic tale retold brims with passion and grace, and the emotional intensity of Paul O. Zelinsky's work is bewitching. Spectacular oil paintings, rich with color and light, dive below surface appearances to convey deep feelings and relationships. The vividness of the illustrations is matched by a text that is simple yet elegant, dotted with words such as wretched and luxuriant.
Some children will find the language and the formal, Renaissance-style paintings a challenge, but for those who are able to take in this story, there's a lot (in addition to history and language skills) to be gained. Through all of the drama, children are offered an important lesson about love. Rage, grief, and jealousy flash through the story, but in the end, it is love that prevails. Zelinsky extensively researched the origin of this story and provides notes on the sources.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the relationships in this story. Does the sorceress love Rapunzel? Why does she want to keep the girl locked away?
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Teen, 17 years old
November 24, 2011
AGE
tangled
A pregnant woman sends her husband to a witch's garden to pick up some rapunzel since she's craving it, and tells him she'll die without it. The witch catches the husband stealing from her garden, and tells him he can take some (since he loves his wife so much,) but she gets the baby when it's born. The husband agrees, brings it back to his wife.
The baby is born, the witch takes the girl, raises her and has her hair grow very long. When the girl is old enough, the witch locks her in a tower with no exit, and only a window. The only way to get in is by having the girl, Rapunzel, throw down her hair so that the witch can climb it.
One day, a prince comes by and sees the witch climbing the hair into the tower, and after the witch leaves, he calls out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair." She lowers her hair, he climbs up, they have an epic love story -- until the witch finds out; however, this is after the prince got the girl pregnant.
The witch cuts off the girl's hair, and sends her into the wild and then ties the hair up, waits for the prince, and when he's climbing up (thinking it's his lover), she drops the hair -- and the prince. The prince is blinded in the fall, and roams the land in search of Rapunzel.
Eventually, he finds her, and she cries into his eyes. The tears cure him of his blindness. They have twins, and return to his kingdom to live happily ever after.
Please keep in mind there are various versions, but this is the one I read.
What other families should know:
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| Author: | Paul O. Zelinsky |
| Illustrator: | Paul O. Zelinsky |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Fairy Tale |
| Publisher: | Penguin Group |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1997 |
| Number of pages: | 44 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 4 - 7 |
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