Rapunzel as retold  and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Published 1997 by Dutton Children's Books

ISBN 0525456074 (ISBN13: 9780525456070)

Plot Summary: A couple discovers they are expecting and they are overjoyed.  The husband wishes to do anything he can to please his wife but she is craving the herb rapunzel that grows behind an evil witches walled garden.  He wants to make his wife happy so he sneaks over the fence to the garden to get the repunzel to satiate his wife.  The evil witch catches the husband as a thief and in return for the wifes and babies life she bargains to keep the baby.  The husband obliges.  The evil witch takes Repunzel when she is born and raises her and locks her in a tower.  A prince hears her singing and fell deeply in love with her.  They get marreid in the tower in secret but as soon as the witch finds out Repunzel is pregnant she banishes her never to see the prince again.  Fate and goodness prevail and Repunzel is reunited with her love.

Critical Analysis:  Paul O Zelinsky uses a mix of the Brother’s Grimm fairytale Repunzel and the french telling of Persinette.  The characters are that of a expected fairytale.  Repunzel is a fair Maiden locked away by no fault of her own by the ugly evil witch.  The setting is Italian Renaissance oil paintings that are beautiful and set the scene perfect throughout the story.  The illustrations show how impeniterable the tower is and the beauty of the gardens in that the witch keeps her repunzel. The theme of Repunzel is that love can conquer over evil.  The story ends in perfect fairy tale fashion where the family will live happily ever after.  There is a clearly formulated beginning middle and end that flows with the expectation in a fairy tale for good to triumph over evil.  The spoken language may be difficult for some young readers with some big vocabulary but this offers an amazing chance for them to write down some words they don’t know and learn them.  It was a lovely story to read aloud.  My 1st-grade daughter was able to follow the story and even if we came across a word she didn’t understand the pictures helped give her the clues she needed to appreciate the story.

Literary Awards

Caldecott Medal (1998)

KIRKUS REVIEWS called the art "grandly evocative, composed and executed with superb technical and emotional command." THE HORN BOOK said, "Simply put, this is a gorgeous book; it demonstrates respect for the traditions of painting and the fairy tale while at the same time adhering to a singular, wholly original, artistic vision."

Connections:

Pull other books retold and illustrated by Paul O Zelinsky:

Rumpelstilzchen  ISBN:0140558640 

The Lion and the Stoat ISBN: 0395551609

Knick Knack Paddywhack )ISBN 0525469087 

Compare Persinette, the Maiden in the Tower: The Classic French 'Rapunzel' Fairytale

by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force, Rachel Louise Lawrence to Rapunzel as retold  and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Look up the herbs Rapunzel, Rampion (English) and Pasley (France) the herbs that the wives in the tales were craving.  Get samples of the herbs if you can for the students to try (with parent’s permission).

Dramatize the story with puppets: mother, father, witch, Rapunzel, prince, and twins

Design your own tower using another art history or another source from a different countries architecture.

Show Italian Renaissance art to the students that inspired the oil paintings of this book.