Sylvia Long's Thumbelina

By Sylvia Long

This “faithful retelling” of the Hans Christian Andersen tale is “a jewel box of a work whose pages invite lingering” (Publishers Weekly).
 
From bestselling and multiple award-winning artist Sylvia Long comes an exquisite version of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved tale about a thumb-size girl and her larger-than-life adventures. Jewel-toned paintings depict the story’s settings, from light and airy meadows to Mole’s dark and dismal underground home—while whimsical details bring the classic cast of characters to life and make this story-time favorite a visual feast.
 
“Her watercolors bring out the wonder of the natural world with an almost emotional intensity.” —The New York Times Book Review 
 
“The illustrator has made a lush and vivid world for her Thumbelina to inhabit.” —Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452128627

Sylvia Long

Sylvia Long is the illustrator of many bestselling books for children, including the beloved An Egg Is Quiet series written by Dianna Hutts Aston. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Book preview

Copyright © 2010 by Sylvia Long.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2862-7

The Library of Congress has cataloged the previous edition as follows:

Long, Sylvia.

Sylvia Long’s Thumbelina.

p. cm.

Summary: A tiny girl no bigger than a thumb is stolen by a great ugly toad and subsequently has many

adventures and makes many animal friends, before finding the perfect mate in a warm and beautiful southern land.

ISBN 978-0-8118-5522-8

[1. Fairy tales.] I. Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian), 1805–1875. Tommelise. English. II. Title. III. Title: Thumbelina.

PZ8.L854Syl 2010

[398.2]—dc22

[E]

2009004369

Book design by Sara Gillingham.

Typeset in Felina Serif and Bodoni Classic Swashes.

The illustrations in this book were rendered in watercolor and ink.

Chronicle Books LLC, 680

Reviews for Sylvia Long's Thumbelina

[y3nhivu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thumbelina is a very small girl born from a tulip. She was so beautiful that everyone wanted to marry her, but they we never her cup of tea. She endured hardships of living and wandering about. She was about to marry a mole that she didn't love and her sparrow friend brought her somewhere he knew she would love. She found a fairy king and fell in love. Very soon, the married, leaving the sparrow sad because he too loved her. The sparrow flew to Denmark and told a man about his story.

[stomas5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: This children's book is about a small thumb-sized girl named Thumbelina who was created in the center of a rose for a woman who could not have children. She was taken away from her home to marry a young toad but was unhappy and eventually escaped. Then she lived on her own in a garden until winter came and a kind mouse took her in. She lived with the mouse and was to marry her neighbor, the mole. In the molehole she comes across an injured swallow whom she nurses back to health. When cured, the swallow takes Thumbelina away from the unhappy place and to a beautiful garden where she meets her prince and lives happily ever after. Argument: I think this a good traditional story for children to read. I enjoyed the element of nature in this book. Every page had to do with flowers, gardens, animals or insects. The setting took place in many aspects of nature. This not only creates an intriguing story but it teaches children about the environment. It teaches them about the parts of a plant, the habitats animals live in, the seasons, and even the elements of a garden. This book allows children to take a tour through nature with Thumbelina and her adventures. The second element of this book I enjoyed was the descriptive language. Every sentence allowed me to create mental images in my mind of Thumbelina's story. This helps children comprehend the book and connect the illustrations to the text. For example, on page 26 it says, "Long vines of purple, green, and white grapes climbed dazzling marble pillars and the air was fragrant with honeysuckle and gardenias". The last element I liked about this book was the format of the pages. Some pages you read left to right and some you had to flip the book upside down and read top to bottom. This engages the reader and adds a little element of surprise and fun to the story. I liked how when the pages were flipped the illustrations were of long beautiful flowers that needed to be shown lengthwise. The main idea of this book was to treat others the way you wanted to be treated and they would do the same for you. Thumbelina took care of the swallow and in the end the swallow came back to rescue her from the mole. I also think an underlying theme was to address many aspects of nature and teach children about different plants, animals, and habitats.

[catherinewillett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Thumbeline” was a darker fairytale. What I liked most was the illustrations. They were done in darker colors and looked slightly smeared. It was a nice contrast from the bright colors and crisp sharp lines I saw in most Traditional Literature. The illustrations were highlighted nicely because the words were on the opposite page. This allowed for me to read the text and then look at the illustration or vice versa. One thing I disliked was that the Prince ended up making Tumbeline change her name. The main idea in Thumbeline is to stay strong and preserver. 

[ravjohns · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was really fun for me to read this book because I never read anything about Thumbelina before. I have however, heard of her countless times. It's always nice when you can put a name to a face.

[cbower6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thumbelina written by Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated by Adriene Adams, and published 1961 by Flensted Publishers is an exciting traditional literature picture book. The stories use of great illustrations, character and third person use really helped to bring the story together. The illustrations are great in this book. They help to enhance the story by giving the perspective of Thumbelina next to everyday objects. There is one page where she is making a bed next to a teapot. The teapot completely dwarfs Thumbelina and her small body. I also liked how the color changed depending on which character was being talked about at that time. When the Toads are kidnapping Thumbelina there is little to no color in the illustrations except the green murky waters that the toads live in. There is also a lot of detail in the story. When Thumbelina is relaxing in the grass I saw the grass and foliage sprawl through the pages. The detail on the pages is superb. The illustrator puts a great amount of detail on the leafs and grasses in the garden. Still the author keeps the perspective of Thumbelina so small that the reader can see her small frame next to common objects. The character of Thumbelina has lasted through the ages in stories and fairy tales since her creation in 1835. Thumbelina is a loveable character who explores the world around her and the animals that she encounters. The way that Thumbelina is described really helps me to relate to the story. I felt bad for the woman who wanted a child of her own but could not figure out where to get it from. Seeing Thumbelina develop into the world from her safe flower and home helped me to stay attached to the story. I felt sad for her when she woke up surrounded by water and lilies. I also felt happy for her when she was being taken away by the butterfly. It was nice to see Thumbelina meet small people like her. I could tell that she developed into a confident person. The use of third person in this story helped me to see the world, and danger, around Thumbelina. The third person use helped me to broaden my view of the world of Thumbelina. It gives me an unbiased view of what is going on. Not only do I see things from Thumbelina’s point of view, I also see it from the other people’s views and the animals view. Finding your purpose in life and finding out what life has for you are central themes in this story. Thumbelina must find out why she is in this world and what it has in plan for her.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thumbelina, illustrated by Arlene Graston.Originally published in 1835, as part of the second booklet of Andersen's Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Første Samling. (Fairy Tales Told for Children, First Collection), Thumbelina has been interpreted as everything from an allegory of Christian suffering and salvation, to a tale of female masturbation. Needless to say, younger readers will probably just appreciate it as an exciting adventure story, albeit one with a fairly passive heroine.This edition features the translation of Eric Christian Haugaard - whose 1973 tome, The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, has become something of a standard in the field - and it reads very well. Arlene Graston's watercolor illustrations are a pleasant accompaniment to the tale, although I sometimes found them a little too dark for my taste. I wasn't sure what to make of the subtle mosaic-like pattern she used as a background in her paintings, which sometimes worked very well, and sometimes seemed out of place. Still, despite these qualifications, I found this to be a charming retelling, and while it doesn't quite equal the Lauren Mills Thumbelina in my esteem, it has great narrative and aesthetic appeal.

[arielaver · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a shame the cover art isn't yet available on LibraryThing because the illustrations are the reason to read this book. It is beautifully written in a classic fairy tale style, but I read more from the pictures than I did from the words. The bright colors and flowing lines were enchanting.

[t1bclasslibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a sweetly illustrated fairly classic retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale (only without the religious overtones that I think were part of the original telling). Basically Thumbelina is dragged around everywhere and nearly forced to marry a few suitors she doesn't like, but is helped out by a few friends. Finally she lands with the king of the fairies- a suitor she does like, and subsequently marries.