The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

The Emperor's New Clothes: A Tale Set in China

28 pp. | McElderry | May, 2000 | Trade ISBN 0-689-83068-8 $$19.95

(2) K-3 Demi's retelling is lucid, graceful, and true to the original, though Andersen's verbal elaboration is replaced here by Demi's sumptuous illustrations. Figures are delicately outlined; they are painted with flat, jewel-like colors and metallic gold and set against subtly patterned grounds that resemble silk damask. Several fold-out pages don't add much, but that's only a cavil to a lovely and meticulously wrought rendition.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000