Combining text and image the way Gaiman and Riddell do is particularly useful in character building. Gaiman doesn’t have to describe what the queen looks like because Riddell’s drawings show her. However, Gaiman does still describe key features of the three dwarf characters because he doesn’t use names. Instead he says “the dwarf without a beard . . .” to let the reader know which character is doing and saying what. Repeating this information in text and image makes the reader pay more attention to it, so if a certain item, feature, or person is key to the story, having that thing appear in multiple places can foreshadow its importance and prepare the reader. It is a wonderful take on fairy tales that we all know and love. A plague has swept the Kingdom and whole villages are coming down with 'sleep'. A wake-less state that can't be undone. The strong female main character, the queen, was brave and a perfect role model for young children. I waited to give this book a rating because if I'd rated it as soon as I finished it would have only got two or three stars - that's how annoyed I was with it. However, I am bumping it up to four because for starters, nothing Neil Gaiman writes is ever BAD, Chris Riddell's illustrations are beautiful as usual and the production quality of the book is flawless. It is a VERY attractive book and the story itself is whimsical and lovely and filled with lots of amusing side characters, like all good fairy tales. Finally, I'm giving it four stars because there is a truly EPIC twist that I would have absolutely loved if I hadn't been so thirsty for proper lesbian representation. I liked the way the illustrator drew the pictures with no colours, but included tints. I liked the cross-hatching instead of bright neat colours, the illustrator had used some incredible drawing skills. I admired how the author thought about the inscrutable, magical and deep forest. Furthermore, I think the characters are stunning and amazing, and the queen was able to save the sleeper and travel through all of those terribly sharp thorns that tried to get in her way.

Sleeper and the Spindle | Literacy Tree The Sleeper and the Spindle | Literacy Tree

A ver, si fuera por la edición de Salamandra y las ilustraciones le ponía 20 sobre 5. Pero en esta novela/historia lo que cuenta es también, justamente, la historia. I got this book from the library but I can tell you it is going to be added to my bookshelves as I must have it. The story is so different and dark and good. The graphics are AMAZING!

The Wolves in the Walls

The first thing you should know: this is NOT a lesbian retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I'm sure you've all seen the Chris Riddell illustration of Snow White kissing Sleeping Beauty awake by now, and will have seen this book lauded as LGBT representation. It is not. The adaption is perfect, the story charming. I'll listen to this many time over the coming years and recommend it to everyone. This Christmas' offering was a radio play adaptation of The Sleeper and the Spindle, a book I really enjoyed reading.

Upper KS2 Resource December 2017 - Resources for Teachers

We find out all is not as it seems as the Beauty wakes up. There is evilness afoot!! But alas, things are set to rights and the Queen and her dwarfs set out on their way... but the Queen is unsure of what she wants... Adaptational Villainy: The enchantress manages to be even worse than in the original version. Instead of cursing the princess purely out of spite, she deliberately drains her youth and beauty over several decades, and builds herself an army of enslaved sleeping victims to take over the world; plus her curse forces the princess to remain awake for all those years, powerless to escape or do anything to stop her tormentor. They felt the castle long before they saw it, felt it as a wave of sleep that pushed them away. If they walked towards it their heads fogged, their minds frayed, their spirits fell, their thoughts clouded.” My favourite character was the queen because she was brave, resilient and understood that she didn’t need anyone to make her choices for her. By kissing the sleeping girl, she showed she was fearless and had lots of courage. At the end of the story, she chooses to walk away from her kingdom and go on a new adventure. This could lead to an exciting new sequel. Edit, 2022: pals it’s been nearly EIGHT YEARS since I posted this review. I don’t care if you disagree. Good for you if you do, but I don’t need to hear about it. Any comments disagreeing with what I’ve said – or defending any of the choices made by anyone involved in publishing this book – will be deleted. Go have a cry about my opinion about a book no one even talks about anymore somewhere else, thanks ✌🏻 (Also I sincerely doubt this one review is going to affect NG in the slightest, so definitely don’t feel like you have to stand up for him. He won’t even see it. He’s got better things to do with his time than look at things posted on Goodreads almost a decade ago, and frankly so do I.)There is no honor,” gasped the queen, “in fighting an opponent who has no idea that you are even there. No honor in fighting someone who is dreaming of fishing or of gardens or of long-dead lovers.” Neil Gaiman has just added a fairytale retelling, The Sleeper and the Spindle, to his list of books for younger readers. While earlier titles, such as Coraline and The Graveyard Book, feature strong fairy- and folktale elements, and false mothers, eerie seductresses, otherworlds and fell creatures abound throughout his work, this is the first time he’s set his own stamp on a well-worn, classic story. Mayfly–December Romance: Zigzagged; the witch hints this along with We Can Rule Together to Snow White when the queen realizes that the young waif in bed was not the princess. The witch is a hundred years old at least, and the queen is in her late teens. Snow White turns her down because it would be wrong and the witch is also a member of the Folk.

Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman - Issuu The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman - Issuu

It seems every time I delve into the world of a retelling I begin by pointing out how much I didn’t care for the original. I guess it should come as no surprise that Snow White and Sleeping Beauty weren’t my idea of a great time when I was a kid either. In fact, the entire world of Disney princesses kinda creeps me out – unless it’s these kind of princesses . . . . urn:lcp:sleeperspindle0000gaim_c2g0:epub:846aed25-212a-4851-802e-79fe9fe921d8 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier sleeperspindle0000gaim_c2g0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t06z1ps27 Invoice 1652 Isbn 0062398245The Sleeper and the Spindle isn’t the first retelling to stray away from the ”boy-kisses-girl” bias of traditional fairytales. Although Gaiman’s book features a big, central illustration of the queen kissing the princess, it’s not a gay love story. But Malinda Lo’s Ash, an evocative and compelling take on Cinderella, is one. Ash, short for Aisling, grieves for her mother’s death and her enforced exile from her beloved childhood home as she works for her stepmother, paying off her father’s inherited debts. To win the freedom to ride with the King’s hunt, she pledges herself to Sidhean, a cruel but besotted fairy – but it’s not him Ash really wants, it’s the King’s Huntress … And we can't forget the one thing which made me adore this book the most! THE GIRL POWER. Who needs a Prince to wake you up with a kiss whilst he parades around in his clinking armour, riding on his mighty pale steed? Why can't a Queen, a beautiful and incredibly courageous young woman (one you might have seen somewhere else before!) save the day? If you've ever wished that Prince had stayed home and let his fiancée be the hero instead, this book IS FOR YOU. Go and buy this book today. Be that Queen and go and wake up that Princess yourself!