Description
Product description
Review
“An eye-catching collection of eight short stories which [Gustafson] retells in lyrical, accessible language. Lush paintings appear throughout, and Gustafson subtly tailors his images to the mood of each story. . . . Readers will be entranced by the striking attention to detail in the artwork accompanying these stories of love, cleverness, and just deserts. Ages 5–8.”
—Publishers Weekly
—Publishers Weekly
“Sumptuous visual finery. . . . Agreeable fare for sharing on a lap.”
Book Description
Award-winning author and illustrator Scott Gustafson turns his attention to classic fables and other family favorites in this beautifully illustrated, large-format gift book.
About the Author
Over the course of his thirty-five-year career, Scott Gustafson’s work has appeared on everything from calendars and jigsaw puzzles to tea boxes, as well as in animated films – yet it is in illustrating children’s books that he finds the greatest artistic satisfaction. Retelling classic stories and fables in images offers an artist a variety of opportunities and challenges. Locations, historical periods, sets, lighting, and costume and character designs are just some of the elements Gustafson needs to consider, all of which contribute to the oil paintings in this book and bring these tales to life. According to Gustafson, his work on Classic Storybook Fables represents some of his most enjoyable hours spent at the easel. Gustafson lives and works in Chicago with his wife, Patty.
Children and adults alike will delight in reading aloud these enduring and enchantingly told stories, richly illustrated and fabulously reimagined by award-winning artist Scott Gustafson. Stories include “The Little Red Hen,” “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Vicenta –
This is a Bliss for an eye and a joy for an ear. My 3 years old was totally taken back by the illustrations.
Ally –
Beautiful book.
This book was a gift for a very special young lady having her first baby girl. It came right away, beautifully packaged and the book is just gorgeous.
Timbertwig –
Classic Storybook Fables
I was so spellbound by Scott Gustafson’s Classic Fairy Tales that I immediately ordered two more of his collection of stories. One of them arrived today: Classic Storybook Fables (ISBN: 978-1579657048). It has the same large format, though it has fewer pages (84 compared to 144) and only eight stories (instead of 10). The stories included are:The Ugly DucklingBeauty and the BeastThe Crow and the Pitcherthe Emperor’s New ClothesThe Boy Who Cried WolfThe Little Red HenThe Mice in CouncilThe Boy Who Went to the North WindClassic Storybook Fables may have less in terms of quantity, but it has more than retained the quality set by Classic Fairy Tales. In fact, the illustrations look even more beautiful – which I didn’t think possible. The cover picture of Beauty and the Beast in particular is exquisite, a real work of art. The illustrations for The Boy Who Went to the North Wind are also superb, oozing with magic and so achingly inviting. They are the sort of illustrations that make our world look so dull and dreary, images that make you dream of being transported to the land of magic.The title of the book is slightly misleading because less than half of the stories are, strictly speaking, fables. The rest are more traditional fairy stories. I also do not like the “twist” Gustafson pulled on his version of The Emperor’s New Clothes. All the characters are portrayed by different breeds of dogs which for me changed the feel of the story. The Emperor’s New Clothes is about human vanity and having dogs as the characters did not feel quite right. I understand why Gustafson made the change – The Emperor’s New Clothes would otherwise have been the only story in the book that did not feature animal characters but a better choice, I feel, would have been including the story in the other books where it would have been more at home, rather changing it to fit the theme of this particular book.But the Emperor’s metamorphosis is not enough to ruin Classic Storybook Fables for me. It’s still a delightful book of fairy tales, one that I’m thrilled to add to my collection.
Mathiyce –
Belles illustrations
Le livre contient de belles illustrations. Cependant, il y avait quelques tâches de colle à l’intérieur de la couverture.
Riley –
Amazing Quality!
I absolutely love this book! I bought all three in the collection including Classic Fairytales, Storybook Fables, and Bedtime stories. I will buy anything with Scott Gustafson’s artwork. It really brings the stories to life. Everything was printed well, all the pages are there, and the quality is high. I would definitely recommend this to a friend and will be buying more for my friend’s child as well.