Sleeping Beauty by Cynthia Rylant – Daynah’s Review

Sleeping Beauty by Cynthia Rylant

Many see Time as a friend and many see Time as a foe, but for a Sleeping Beauty, Time was a promise.

Born into royalty and surrounded by many fairy godmothers, a sweet princess seems destined for a blissful life. That is, until a bitter fairy cast a curse on her. It will take true friends and true love to save her.

We have all heard of the story of Sleeping Beauty, but never has it been touched by the kind of magic found in this book. Newbery Medal-winner Cynthia Rylant’s unforgettable retelling of the beloved fairytale is a lyrical read-aloud. Paired with Erin McGuire’s vibrant and beautiful illustrations, this is the perfect book your personal library.

Daughter’s Reaction

My 5-year-old daughter enjoys fairy tales, so she was drawn to this book. She marveled at the illustrations as I read and flipped the pages. One thing she is not a fan of is scary things like villains and evil doers. The retelling of this story does take that scary element away and replaces it with a forgotten fairy who was bitter about not being remembered. She greatly enjoyed the story and asked me many questions when I read it to her.

Overview

My daughter and I enjoyed the book, especially the beautiful illustrations that brought the story to life. Our favorite pages was the one with all the kind fairies sipping tea together. It was also nice seeing Sleeping Beauty depicted as a red-head, which I thought was different from the usual story. We both loved this book.