Snow White in New York

Product Information

An illustrated collection of fifteen tales from the brothers Grimm, retold for younger readers. Stories include Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Tom Thumb and The Frog PrincE. I received a copy of Snow White from Walker Books Australia to review. I love fairy-tale retellings so I was excited to read a graphic novel retelling. I still need to read the original fairy-tale though…

Snow White in New York | Book reviews | RGfE - Reading Groups

Phelan cleverly uses this urban setting to tell Snow White's story and explore class relationships. Snow's relationship with the "dwarfs" here is much more meaningful than the Disneyfied version.

I loved, SO MUCH, the recasting of Snow White's 7 Dwarves. I don't want to say too much, because spoilers. But it was a great choice.

Snow White in New York - AbeBooks 9780192798084: Snow White in New York - AbeBooks

I was excited to receive this book (I won it in an Armchair BEA giveaway so no pressure to review), because I have grown to love the graphical novel media and who doesn't like fairy tales reinterpreted? Library book - okay, full disclosure. This was a "for Mama" book, not a "for Charlotte" book. It's an Art Deco-style illustrated Snow White tale. It's still a little over Charlotte's head, but I really enjoyed it. Charlotte leafed through it a few times. This is a really interesting take on the traditional tale, and I felt that it was quite intriguing to change the time period to the 1920's, and revolve the events around a different setting. However, I do feel that the ending of the text was somewhat anti-climatic and did not give a reasonable explanation for Snow White's revival. I had been really enjoying the twist up until then. Overall Phelan doesn't really incorporate, justify or explain the supernatural elements well. They don't gel with his otherwise gritty, street-level take on the fairy tale. The corny twist on the magic mirror was the hardest for me to take. Snow's mother-in-law is an actress and the 7 dwarves are now the 7 orphans or something. I don't get who the prince is. I was an the verge of giving this 2 stars, but I decided that by using our knowledge of the story it was worth 3. This is close to be a wordless story.Robert Henri’s energetic but stark image of New York in the snow deviates from impressionist urban snow scenes of the period in several ways: it represents a common side street rather than a major avenue; there is nothing narrative, anecdotal, or prettified about the image; the straightforward, one-point perspective composition is devoid of trivial details; the exceptionally daring, textured brushwork resembles a preparatory study rather than a finished oil painting; and the somber palette creates a dark, oppressive atmosphere. In his Record Book, Henri described Snow in New York as, “N.Y. down E. on 55th St. from 6 Ave. Brown houses at 5 Ave. storm effect. snow. wagon to right.” A lovely enchanting book about a knight who had never fought a dragon and a dragon who has never fought a knight! An interesting twist on the usual traditional tale! Samuel Swift, New York Mail & Express, April 8, 1902; the Brooklyn Eagle, April 4, 1902; both quoted in Bennard B. Perlman, Robert Henri: His Life and Art (New York, 1991), 49. Nevertheless, Snow in New York was one of only two pictures that sold (the second has not been identified). Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 134, repro.

Snow White by Matt Phelan | Goodreads Snow White by Matt Phelan | Goodreads

Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 154, repro. Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed. Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 572, no. 875, color repro. Charles FitzGerald, “Mr. Robert Henri and Some ‘Translators,’” New York Evening Sun, April 8, 1902, quoted in Bennard B. Perlman, Robert Henri: His Life and Art (New York, 1991), 49. Some critics deemed Henri “a skillful handler of the brush,” and found his work “vital and strong.” [7] [7]Brown, Milton W. One Hundred Masterpieces of American Painting from Public Collections in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., 1983: 124-125, color pl. Fiona French’s iconic re-imagining of a classic fairy tale, with stunning Art Deco illustrations, won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1986. Because of its literal objectivity, Snow in New York has traditionally been interpreted by art historians as exemplifying Henri’s penchant for matter-of-fact reportage of urban subjects. Such a view is reflected in Milton W. Brown’s characterization of it as “a paradigm of the new realism in American painting of the turn of the century that became known as the Ashcan school.” [8] [8] The umpteenth retelling of Snow White, this time cast during the onset of the Great Depression. While the art is okay, the story has a groan inducing number of awkward turns and silly choices as it works too hard to merge the original tale with cliches from the Depression. The wavy, watercolor art of the book is beautiful and creates a dream-like atmosphere. In some scenes, it was frustrating because I was unsure of what I was seeing or why. But, dreams are like that, I guess. On the whole, it works beautifully.

Snow White in New York | Fractured Fairy Tales | Kids Books Snow White in New York | Fractured Fairy Tales | Kids Books

Matt studied film and theater in college with the goal of one day writing and directing movies. But his first love was always drawing, and the more he saw the wonderful world of children’s books, the more he realized that this was the place for him. Being an illustrator is in many ways like being an actor, director, cinematographer, costumer, and set designer rolled into one. I'm still relatively new to graphic novels so I'm still struggling to adapt my thoughts on characterization to a completely visual format, but none of the characters really grabbed me even when I liked some of their interactions with each other. (Although this could also be partly due to the fact that fairytales are often not heavy on character development!) Fiona French is an extraordinary artist . . . here the style is New York in the age of jazz, and very spectacular it is.' ( Signal)American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 199, repro. Henri alluded to Snow in New York in a diary entry of March 5, 1902: “Painted snow storm. street. high houses with well of sky between. gray looming sky. brownish houses near horizon. figures. red note electric street lamp. snow.” He identified the exact subject in his Record Book: “N.Y. down E. on 55th St. from 6 Ave. Brown houses at 5 Ave. storm effect. snow. wagon to right.” [2] [2] Personally, this book would only be suitable in older classrooms, and even then I'm not sure it is the most appropriate. I liked some things about the art, but the smudgy drawing style sometimes made it hard to see what was going on. The setting was fine, but again, very dingy and sort of repetitive. Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Old_pallet IA18127 Openlibrary_edition