(4) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Fiona Sansom. The familiar story about the princess with the long hair is smoothly retold; Cech's appended note about variants and themes may be useful for librarians and parents. Illustrations depicting a Barbie-faced Rapunzel with flowing golden locks are stiff but pretty.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Bernhard Oberdieck. This retelling of one cat's braggadocio and trickery, while pleasant enough, isn't markedly enhanced by the serviceable paintings to be a necessary purchase. Cech's "About the Story" afterword, a regular series feature, does provide useful information about the tale's background.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Martin Jarrie. This is a sophisticated rendering of thirty-six fables, many well known ("The Fox & the Grapes," "The Tortoise & the Hare"), a few more obscure ("The Boy & the Hazelnuts"). Striking acrylic paintings benefit from intense colors, unusual angles, and clean folk-art style, lending an eye-pleasing angularity to landscapes, people, and animals. Cech's appended author's note provides useful background information about Aesop.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Lucy Corvino. A poor soldier wins the hand of a princess by breaking a curse that forces her and her sisters to dance. The polished text can be smoothly read aloud. The paintings, using hues of green, gold, and purple, done in a rich mix of acrylics, inks, watercolors, and pencil, have a magical, ethereal quality. An appended note explores the story's folkloric themes.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Eric Puybaret. This clear and lively adaptation of Hoffman's classic includes some lesser-known details, provided by Herr Drosselmeier, about the Nutcracker's trials as a young man. The rich colors, smooth shapes, and subtle textures of Puybaret's acrylic on linen illustrations will draw readers into the magical sequence of events. An enchanting gift book for an older picture book audience.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(4) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Robert Mackenzie. "Fee Fi Fo Fum, / I smell a visitor, yum yum yum, / Fish or fowl, cold or hot, / We’ll cook him up inside my pot." This enervated retelling doesn't distinguish itself from the dozens of other available editions. The illustrations are generally unremarkable, though the giant does look appropriately fearsome. The reteller's note provides antecedents.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Martin Hargreaves. This retelling, though generally unremarkable, includes some interesting details (e.g., the miller's daughter insisting that her father's boast is just his "way of saying how proud he is of me"). An appended "About the Story" provides background on the tale's origins. The paintings offer straightforward interpretations of the characters and a generic European setting.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Classic Fairy Tale Collection series. Illustrated by Kirill Chelushkin. Cech smoothly and economically retells the classic Grimm story about the benevolent shoemaker and his wife. Chelushkin's sophisticated illustrations make deliberate use of color and incorporate intriguing touches of whimsy, including the many different representations of elves (some scary looking). An author's note gives some background information about the Grimm brothers and about different versions of this story.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bernhard Oberdieck. This retelling hews close to the traditional Hans Christian Andersen version and might serve to replace worn-out copies of Paul Galdone's out-of-print edition. Oberdieck's illustrations convey the opulence of the palace, though his human figures are occasionally stiff. An author's note about Andersen's life and the history of "The Princess and the Pea" story is appended.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin