Reviews: (by author)

Nicklin, Madeleine. The Hutchinson Treasury of Fairy Tales. London: Hutchinson, 1999. Approx. $32. ISBN 0-09-176793-8.

Hutchinson's Treasury is a major volume in content, in illustration and in sheer weight: it's heavy. Naomi Lewis has put together a commendably comprehensive collection. She's made sure to attribute credit to all original authors of the fairy tales, unlike Disney Studios which forgets details like authors. The Hutchinson collection includes Grimms, Andersen, Wilde, Perrault, Goethe, Jacobs, and de Beaumont. Lewis, nonetheless, has chosen in almost every case to retell the stories, a decision about which one could be dubious. However, all the stories read well and, as with the variety of illustrators for the stories, Lewis has different talented, well-known writers do the retelling. Many styles of art are represented by the stellar likes of Quentin Blake, Rachel Isadora, and Emma Chichester Clark.

I highly recommend this collection—it's the best I've seen in a long time.

Highly recommended.
Alida Allison, January 2004

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