Loek Koopmans was born in Arnhem in the Netherlands. For North-South he has illustrated The Christmas Visitor by Annaliese Lussert, and The Gold at the End of the Rainbow by Wolfram Hanel.
According to PW , these lavish illustrations ``display Jeffers's gifts at their dazzling best. The author and the artist have been praised for their previous adaptations of classic tales, but this surpasses them all.'' Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
PreS-Gr 3 To justify the production of another picture book version of a classic fairy tale, one expects either a magical new telling adequately illustrated, or a sturdy authentic telling magically illustrated. One hardly dares hope for both. Here, we have neither. Ehrlich's retelling of Perrault's Cinderella is scaled down, devoid of a number of details that add richness to the imagery and depth to the characters. Lost, for example, is the elder step-sister's ``cherry velvet with the English trim'' (from Marcia Brown's retelling Scribners, 1954) as well as the small but significant detail that the stepmother cannot abide Cinderella because her goodness makes her own daughters seem even more hateful. Nor is the lackluster retelling redeemed by the illustrations. While Jeffers has an eye for nature, investing flora and fauna with a proper fairy tale shimmer, she is less successful with interiors and faces. Pale blank ovals, like so many puddings, dot the pages, one face indistinguishable from the next. Rackham's black silhouettes (Penguin, 1978), innocent of features altogether, are yet a hundred times more expressive. All in all, a forgettable version of a not-to-be-forgotten tale: gifty, glittery and slick. Kristi Thomas Beavin, Arlington County Public Library, Va.
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