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Puss in Boots (Sunburst Book)
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Puss in Boots (Sunburst Book) description
Charles Perrault first published his collection of classic French folk tales 300 years ago, including "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," and this entertaining story about a most clever feline. In Puss and Boots, a poor miller dies and leaves his youngest son nothing but a cat. The son is none too happy about it, either; " ...once I've eaten my cat and made a muff out of the fur, I'm sure to starve," he says. But what a legacy the bequeathed cat turns out to be! The cat in tall boots creates a new identity for the youngest son--the Marquis of Carabas, complete with fine clothes, fields of wheat, a castle stolen from an ogre, and in the end, the respect of the king and the hand of the king's daughter. The story itself is gracefully and humorously told, and the text, set in large gray type, adds an old-fashioned air to the tale. Fred Marcellino's illustrations for Puss in Boots--a Caldecott Honor Book--are infused with golden light and summer warmth in the sun-dappled woods and beside the fields of ripe grain. Many of his paintings show a masterful use of perspective; the reader sometimes looks down on a scene as though from a balcony, or from below, at a huge charging lion. Marcellino has also illustrated a version of Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier and two books by Tor Seidler, A Rat's Tale and The Wainscott Weasel. Young listeners won't soon forget this crafty character of a cat, who has a great deal of charm despite his less-than-honest means of helping his master. (Ages 5 to 9) |
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Puss in Boots (Sunburst Book) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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Should have won the gold!
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Facial expressions are everything in Fred Marcellino's illustrations of Puss in Boots, the famous folk tale by Charles Perrault. This book won the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1991.
As a children's librarian, I always ask my audience where the story begins. Their assumption is on page one until I show them that sometimes the story begins on the cover. Children's illustrators are nothing if not creative. Look at the dust jacket--there he is, Puss looking regal in royal clothes. Now turn to the title page: Puss is seeking food on a ship in the form of unsuspecting mice. Where is this story going with two discrepant images? Page two of the double spread--Puss is going to be eaten. Look at that feline face? Eaten? Say whaaaa?
Now Puss gets boots and begins to show his new master his guiles, all the while gifting the king with the largesse of his own lands, which Puss passes off as gifts from the Marquis of Carabas, a name Puss invents for his poor master. This elaborate ruse is continued until Puss manages a marriage between the king's daughter and his Marquis, all without a hitch. Well, of course, this is a fairy tale, if you consider Puss as a kind of fairy. That is the simple straight-away of the story.
Now consider the artwork, the finest version of any I have ever seen for Puss. The poor peasant/Marquis is handsome, Puss is handsome, the princess is beautiful, the castle is gorgeous, clothing is awesome, the ogre is ugly. Look again. The artwork is reminiscent of paintings from the Renaissance when perspective was "invented" and all artwork was perfect and detailed. Is Marcellino saying that Puss was placed in a perfect setting to display his perfect skills of ledgerdemaine, so to speak?
Notice also the location of "viewer," another aspect of perspective. The viewer is always part of the action, looking up or down or around or through or under, sometimes in a humorous view or scary or bold, but always right there, almost as part of the action.
If those qualities of his artwork aren't enough, what really stands out are the facial expressions Marcellino gives his characters, especially Puss. Two standouts are the picture of Puss shouting orders to the hay cutters and his totally relaxed pose at the end when his master has married the princess and confirmed a rosy future for the two of them. Puss has de-booted, or disarmed, himself for a fully deserved rest.
Marcellino should have won the gold for this book! (David Macauley won for Black and White. OK, tough call. As much as I love Puss in Boots, I have to go with Black and White. However, my sentence stands because it makes a catchy ending.) |
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