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tamagojin88's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
briesespieces's review against another edition
4.0
THIS WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE FAIRY TALE GROWING UP OMG!!! i read it so many times and i just happened upon it again. reading it now as i’m older and wiser, the charm is gone a little but it was still enjoyable.
lourand's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Decent traditional fairytales with a fast pace and unique characters.
readingthroughthelists's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Beautiful illustrations--I could look at Nielsen’s art all day.
Several of the stories are intriguing (“East of the Sun, West of the Moon”; “The Widow’s Son”; “The Three Princesses in the Blue Mountain”) and several are just chaotic (“The Blue Belt”; “The Lassie and her Godmother”), but what else can you expect from a collection of fairy tales?
jason_pym's review against another edition
3.0
A children's book for adults. The text is the taken from the 19th century retelling by Sir George Webbe Dasent in Popular Tales from the Norse, and doesn't seem to have been rewritten. It has all the weird fairy tale logic that kids would find a bit hard to take today, unless they were younger kids in which case this version is way to wordy.
The watercolour illustrations are lovely, though, they're what make the book. Four stars for the illustrations.
Before I read this, I didn't realise that bears were such a big part of Scandinavian myth - there are several pictures (including the one on the cover) that could be straight up illustrations of The Northern Lights, and this mythology is obviously where Pullman got his inspiration for the Panserbjørn from.
The watercolour illustrations are lovely, though, they're what make the book. Four stars for the illustrations.
Before I read this, I didn't realise that bears were such a big part of Scandinavian myth - there are several pictures (including the one on the cover) that could be straight up illustrations of The Northern Lights, and this mythology is obviously where Pullman got his inspiration for the Panserbjørn from.
pizzamyheart's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't a bad collection. It just wasn't my favorite. Many of the stories felt redundant, and many of the characters shared the same names across stories. That may be due to the source material, but it was confusing.
The writing style was alright... Do you recall stories that your mother or grandmother would tell you? Some phrases weren't actual sentences, and others had mysterious things/being/characters that just popped up out of nowhere? That's how this was written. It's more an oral recording that was transcribed instead of polished up stories written by an author.
All in all, a nice little collection, but I've read many of these stories in other places where they are slightly more polished.
The writing style was alright... Do you recall stories that your mother or grandmother would tell you? Some phrases weren't actual sentences, and others had mysterious things/being/characters that just popped up out of nowhere? That's how this was written. It's more an oral recording that was transcribed instead of polished up stories written by an author.
All in all, a nice little collection, but I've read many of these stories in other places where they are slightly more polished.
mituna's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Nice idea but there's way too much repetition and (possibly??) antisemitism.
hollybolly's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5