Graphic novels - Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE. Written by Shannon and Dean Hale. Ill. by Nathan Hale. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008. ISBN 9781599902883.







Fairytale heroine meets the Old West in this hilarious graphic novel version of Rapunzel. When Rapunzel escapes from her tower, she runs into Jack, a loner with ideas of his own, including how to get his goose to lay golden eggs. Rapunzel uses her hair as a lariat to get her and Jack out of frequent scrapes, and in the end, Jack turns out to be none other than the Jack of beanstalk fame. Jack subsequently grows a beanstalk to rescue our fair heroine. But Rapunzel has everything under control. Or does she? When Jack plants a kiss on her at the end of the story, will there be a hapy ever after for this adventurous duo, or will more fairy tale adventures await them? Although it seems funny to hear Rapunzel and Jack using Old West jargon, the dialogue is short and sweet and fits perfectly with the setting. The illustrations are bright and vibrant, and it's almost possible to believe Jack and Rapunzel could be real.

Awards & Honors:
Cybils, 2008 Winner Graphic Novels (Elementary/Middle Grade) United States

Reviews:
Tina Coleman (Booklist, Sep. 1, 2008 (Vol. 105, No. 1))
This graphic novel retelling of the fairy-tale classic, set in a swashbuckling Wild West, puts action first and features some serious girl power in its spunky and strong heroine. Young Rapunzel lives a lonely life, never knowing what lies beyond the high garden walls of her mother’s royal villa until one day she climbs the wall to see what’s on the other side. When she finds that the world outside is a dark place oppressed by her mother’s greed for power and uncovers the real secret of her own birth, she is imprisoned in a magic tree tower. In her years of captivity, she learns a lot about self-reliance and care for her exceptionally long hair, and eventually she is able to escape, vowing to bring down her mother’s cruel empire. Hale’s art matches the story well, yielding expressive characters and lending a wonderful sense of place to the fantasy landscape. Rich with humor and excitement, this is an alternate version of a classic that will become a fast favorite of young readers.

Laura Lehner (VOYA, October 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 4))
This version of the classic fairy tale Rapunzel is set in the old Southwest, complete with cowboys, coal mines, and coyotes. Rapunzel is a young girl living in a fortress with Mother Gothel, an enchantress who can make plants grow at her whim. Although their home is overflowing with fruits and flowers, it is surrounded by a wall that masks the desert and coal mines outside-Gothel owns everything, and the native people depend on her good will to keep their crops growing. When Rapunzel sneaks over the wall on her twelfth birthday, she sees the desolate world over which Mother Gothel rules, and she meets her real mother who was forced to give Rapunzel to Gothel at birth. To punish her curiosity, Gothel imprisons Rapunzel inside an enchanted tree that has only one window, far above the ground. Just as in the original version, Rapunzel's hair grows prodigiously. But this girl does not need a prince to climb up and rescue her. She uses her braid as a lasso to escape the tree and goes on many adventures that lead her ultimately to reunite with her mother and find true love in a boy named Jack, whose companion is an uncooperative goose. The Hale team creates an engaging heroine. Rapunzel gallivants across the unexpected setting, meets a cast of characters both humorous and threatening, and in the end comes to inherit the land that Gothel had stripped of life and returns it to the native people. This novel presents entertaining girl power at its quirkiest.

Connections:
Have your students write their own graphic novel representations of a fairy tale of their own choosing.

Book Review - Illustrator Kadir Nelson

Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life written by Jerdine Nolen and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Bibliographic Data: Nolen, Jerdine. 2005. HEWITT ANDERSON’S GREAT BIG LIFE. Ill. By Kadir Nelson. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689868669

Plot: Even though Hewitt Anderson’s parents are giants, Hewitt can fit into the palm of his father’s hand. His parents decide to give him lessons on how to survive in their giant world. But the lessons invariably go haywire until finally one day, Hewitt rescues his parents and a visiting doctor from a locked room by climbing through the keyhole. In doing so, Hewitt finally convinces his parents that even if he’s small, he’s just the right size for him.

Critical Analysis: Hewitt has a difficult time persuading his loving parents that his size is not a deterrent to him being able to survive in their world. This story of a boy proving himself to a world where he seems too small to be safe will appeal to small children whose world must sometimes appear almost as giant as Hewitt’s world.

The Anderson family lives a simple lifestyle. Mrs. Anderson does her own cooking and cleaning, and their family outings consist of singing sessions, morning, or afternoon walks. In keeping with their simple lifestyle, their clothing is simple, even when company comes for dinner. Ironically, we learn when their company comes over that the Anderson family has a collection of golden eggs of all sizes. It’s not that they can’t afford to live an expensive lifestyle, they just choose to live simply instead.

This story about a family of (almost all) giants has many indirect reference in it to “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Nolen mentions golden eggs and climbing up and down beanstalks but never anybody named Jack. Nolen does mention Mr. Anderson’s great-great-great grandmother Ida, who came to the valley “after that business with the beanstalk.” All of these references serve to give the story a hidden depth.

Nolen frequently uses words such as enormous, impressive, vast, and gargantuan and then contrasts them with words such as teeny-weeny, pint-size, and miniature to contrast Hewitt’s size with his parents’ sizes.

Nolen also mentions repeatedly how much the Andersons love Hewitt. Not only is this shown by Nolen’s words, but Nelson’s depictions of Hewitt’s mother constantly smiling at him (well, except for the day Hewitt fell into the flour vat).

While Nolen’s storyline has scattered mentions of the Jack in the Beanstalk story, Nelson’s illustrations reinforce these elements by having a giant beanstalk growing in the middle of a field on the dedication page. The first page shows that beanstalk again, but now we’re at the top of the beanstalk which is growing right next to a cottage on top of a hill. The cottage appears fairly normal, with a town far off in the distance. But as we look closer at Nelson’s illustrations, the trees lining the front walk are smaller than the front door. And there’s a gargoyle on the top of the house. In another illustration, we see a room filled with golden eggs and a harp at the back of the room. Nolen never mentions a harp, but there it is in Nelson's illustrations, connecting this tory even mor ewith Jack and the Beanstalk.

When we first meet Hewitt and his parents, Hewitt is standing in his father’s palm, right under an anchor that is serving as Mr. Anderson’s suspenders button. Nelson uses perspective here to show us Mr. Anderson’s size – he is so big that his head appears very small in proportion to his hands, giving the illusion that his head is a very long way off indeed.

My favorite illustration is the one of Hewitt taking a nap. He’s sitting, apparently stark-naked, in the middle of a pillow that, in relation to Hewitt, is the approximate size of a small bedroom. Hewitt is grinning from ear to ear. According to Nolen’s text, “To Hewitt the world was big and wonderful and wide.” The text combines perfectly with the illustration on this page to show that Hewitt is a boy in love with life.

There are many themes in this book. Some of them include the love of family and the unimportance of having money to be happy. The strongest theme though, and the one that will appeal most to younger readers, is that no matter how big or little you are, no matter what you look like, you’re just right.

Awards and review excerpts:

Best Children's Books of the yEAR, 2005: Bank Street College of Education; United States

Capitol Choices, 2006: The Capitol Choices Committee; United States

Children's Catalog. Nineteenth Edition, 2006: H.W. Wilson; United States

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2006: National Council for the Social Studies NCSS; United States

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2004 (Vol. 72, No. 24))Low on suspense but high on sheer feel-goodness…. Nelson's burly, monumental, brown-skinned giants positively glow with beneficence, and Nolen writes, as always, with a distinctive mix of humor and formality… Here's proof that, when it comes to heart, physical size isn't the whole story.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2005 (Vol. 58, No. 6))This tall tale is told in warm, intimate tones sure to make listeners feel a part of the family. Recurring images in the text and the illustrations of little Hewitt being lovingly cared for by his oversized parents build an impression of security, while the sheer size of Hewitt’s surroundings creates an intoxicating feeling of freedom.

Connections:
Read this story along with Jack and the Beanstalk by Paul Galdone.