Thumbelina Review

Manufacturer: Dutton Juvenile

ISBN: 0525475087 EAN: 9780525475088
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Join tiny Thumbelina on her magical journey from lost child to beloved bride in this glorious large-format picture book. Born in a flower, Thumbelina braves the enormous, dangerous world until, through her kindness and courage, she is delivered to a kingdom of people just her size. When Susan Jeffers’s original version was first published in 1979, School Library Journal called it in a starred review "a remarkable, lovely version of one of the author’s most beloved tales." New jacket art, recolored and newly rendered interior art, and gold foil borders all add to the value and elegance of this reissue.

User Submitted Thumbelina Reviews

January 19, 2008
An imaginative story for young minds
My little girl became intrigued recently with the story of Thumbelina after her teacher told her about a fairy the size of a thumb. I took her to the library this afternoon in search of a Thumbelina storybook so she could hear the story and see the pictures for herself.

The librarian suggested this version and I agreed this is a very nice edition. Several pages in the book are two page spreads with detailed art work. Other pages have extensive text and difficult to read words for early readers, so ages 6 & below will probably want the story to be read to them.

My 6 year old daughter felt the story was long and at times scary. The field mice was arranging a wedding between poor Thumbelina and a blind mole, and Thumbelina comes across a bird that the mole thinks is dead so he kicks it. Thumbelina is also kidnapped from her mother by a frog to be a bride for her son. All in all, it's a bit of a strange book, but nonetheless my daughter enjoyed the story and it kept her attention all the way through.

I would say because of the occassional scary text that you might want to change some words when reading to preschoolers, but on the other hand kids with active imaginations should be engrossed in this story from the beginning until the end. Thumbelina never does make it back to her mother, but she meets a Fairy King and marries him, and naturally they live happily ever after.

November 17, 2007
Gorgeous
One of my favorite stories as a child, I was very happy to see such a great modern version of it. Beautiful art, fantastic story.

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