May 10, 2010
After the events of Into the Woods (2007), the Eden family threw away a magic musical pipe that would grant them any wish, but now that flute has found its way back to them. On top of that, the evil witch Belladonna is after the heart of the eldest Eden sister, Aurora, to keep herself young and beautiful. It falls to the stubbornly adventurous Storm to protect Aurora and keep Belladonna from getting the pipe, even going to the underworld and confronting an old nemesis to do so. Grey's b&w artwork is incorporated into the text throughout—a sailboat pushes through the book's gutter, and shards of broken mirror surround another spread like daggers. The myth and fairy tale allusions and references (Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, among many others) should entrance younger readers, while a story line mixing action with tragedy, familial love with jealousy and sibling rivalry, and a fear of change with hope, will appeal to a broad audience. Storm faces hard choices, and the courage—and regret—with which she meets them with is always believable. Ages 8–12.
July 1, 2010
Aurora, Storm, and Any Eden thought their troubles were over at the end of Into the Woods, but no. A witch needs a new heart and sets her sights on Aurora's; Any is turned into a frog; Storm must return the Pied Piper's pipe to the Underworld. The fractured fairy-tale stew is more haphazard here, but it's a well-conceived and entertaining mash-up nonetheless.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
March 1, 2010
Aurora, Storm, and Any Eden thought their troubles were over when Storm tossed the Pied Piper's powerful, seductive pipe (think a musical version of Tolkien's One Ring) into the sea and defeated the pipe's erstwhile owner, the villainous Dr. DeWilde -- along with a host of other fairy-tale villains (Into the Woods, rev. 7/07). But it seems their troubles have only begun. The pipe makes its way back to the sisters; a witch in need of a new heart sets her sights on Aurora's, which is already promised to poor seafarer Kit; Any is turned into a frog; and Storm is charged with returning the pipe to Pandora in the Underworld, where it can never tempt anyone again. A missing prince, a cowardly lion, a marauding dragon, seven dwarfs, and even the Grimm brothers all make appearances, and while the fractured fairy-tale stew is considerably more haphazard than that of the sisters' first outing, it's a well-conceived and entertaining mash-up nonetheless. Art unseen.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)