Rapunzel

Rapunzel, or The Story of the Most Clear-Cut Case of Hair Pulling in History, is an iconographic adaptation of Paul O. Zelinsky's Caldecott Medal award-winning retelling of the classic fairy tale, presented here in a richly detailed Renaissance Italian look. In this version, a poor husband is caught stealing rapunzel (a herb) from a sorceress's garden to satisfy his pregnant wife's cravings. The wicked sorceress offers him a terrible choice: give up his firstborn child or go home empty-handed to the wife. It's a no-brainer, and no sooner is the wife delivered of a beautiful baby girl, then the sorceress swoops in and collects her booty. Imprisoned in a high tower, the long-locked Rapunzel lets down her hair each day for her witch-keeper to climb up and--ignorant and innocent of the wider world--doesn't really question her confined existence. Until, that is, a princely hunk wends his way up the long yellow hair rope and into Rapunzel's arms. When the decidedly non-romantic witch notices that her beautiful charge is getting a little thick in the waist, she has a conniption fit, gives Rapunzel the Samson-special haircut, and then banishes her to the wilderness. That evening, when the prince importunes his beloved to let down her hair, he receives--in the phraseology of the guitar pop group America--a "sister golden hair surprise." Major woe follows, but all is well before the credits roll. A lovely, if occasionally static, production, this is recommended for larger collections. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)