The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers: And Other Gruesome Tales
-
- €17.99
-
- €17.99
Publisher Description
Jen Campbell's collection of terrifyingly gruesome tales lends a modern edge to fairy tale collections for young readers. Drawing on her extensive knowledge of fairy tale history, Campbell's stories undo the censoring, gender stereotyping and twee endings of more modern children's fairy tales, to return both classic and little-known stories to their grim versions, whilst celebrating a diverse range of characters.
Featuring 14 short stories from around the globe, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is illustrated in a contemporary style by Canadian comic artist Adam de Souza. De Souza's brooding illustrations are a highly original blend of 19th-century Gothic engravings and moody film noir graphic novels. Beautifully produced in a hardback format with a rose gold ribbon marker, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is a truly thrilling gift.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As gleefully retold by Campbell, traditional tales from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and Central America reflect two layers of revision—a reversion to grisly details usually squeamishly edited out, and updated plots and characters that reflect a more inclusive worldview, with queer and disabled protagonists of many ethnicities. Some stories chill, such as "The Souls Trapped Under the Ocean (Ireland)," in which a man who uses sign language is troubled to discover that the merman he loves has "tiny pieces of other people's souls, all stitched together" in a composite soul. Others are more forthrightly gory: "The Boy Who Tricked a Troll (Norway)" features a disembowelment, with "guts tumbling out" and landing "with a wet splash," and in "The Princess Who Ruled the Sea (Inuit)," a king uses an axe to cut off his daughter's fingers "one by one." De Souza's conventionally hip, cartoonish illustrations blunt the well-told tales' sharp edges, but not their messages of resourcefulness and diversity. Ages 9–12.
