Rapunzel Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. Dutton: New York, 1997. ISBN 0525456074

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Long ago a young couple is expecting their first child when the wife gets a desperate craving to eat rapunzel from the garden next door. The garden belongs to a sorceress, but the pregnant woman cannot withstand the craving any more, so her young husband steals the rapunzel from the garden and gets caught! 

The sorceress gives him a choice between the life of his wife or relinquishing their child when it is born. Desperate to save his wife, the young father hands his only child, named Rapunzel, over to the sorceress. Rapunzel is raised by the sorceress, and she serves as an almost mother-like figure. 

When Rapunzel reaches adolescence, the sorceress takes her to a beautiful tower in the middle of the woods and leaves her there. The only way into the tower is to climb Rapunzel's beautiful, red-blonde hair.  One day a young prince hears Rapunzel singing and wants to meet her. He fools her and calls for her to send down her hair. Rapunzel does not realize he is not the sorceress until it is too late. The prince appeases Rapunzel with compliments and the two fall in love and marry. Soon Rapunzel is pregnant and banished by the sorceress. Alone and pregnant, Rapunzel must find her way to her husband to earn this tale's happily ever after. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Rapunzel is a classic fairytale from the 17th century. According to Zelinsky's expanded note at the end of the book, many different authors have changed the details of Rapunzel's story through the ages, but the overall idea that Rapunzel is a stolen child, who is kept in a tower that only allows access by climbing her long, beautiful hair remains the same from story to story. In this variant, Zelinsky dove into setting the tale during the Italian Renaissance. His beautiful oil paintings are the highlight of the book and offer incredible detail into the time period both in terms of architecture of the town Rapunzel's birth parents live in and the tower she makes her home. The intricate paintings keep the reader's attention searching for details in reflections, a peacock's tail and vast sceneries of the countryside. I also found it fascinating how in his paintings, you never really see the characters meet each other's eyes. They're close, but often times to show expressions of distress or sadness, characters are looking away from each other in this tale.  

The passing of time is illustrated through Rapunzel's growth from infant to child to young woman.  I loved how she started life with a kitten who grew up along side her and was still with her at the end of the story. It gives the sense that even though the sorceress visited her and she and the prince were together, that she was never really alone in that tower. And although the story never shows her with her parents again, her happily ever after comes from starting her own family with her husband, the prince. Her cherub painted twins are well cared for and the story ends with a happy family portrait.

Although the emotional aspects of the story give it weight and even a moral lesson, the child I read it to wanted to know how Rapunzel got into the tower to be able to let her hair down in the first place. This is a story that does require some suspension of disbelief and acceptance of magic, but adults should be prepared for more logical examinations of the fairy tale. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Rapunzel is a 1998 Caldecott Medal Winner. 

From Publisher's Weekly
"The text, like the art, has a rare complexity, treating Rapunzel's imprisonment as her sorceress-adopted mother's attempt to preserve her from the effects of an awakening sexuality." 

From Kirkus Reviews 

"Suffused with golden light, Zelinsky's landscapes and indoor scenes are grandly evocative, composed and executed with superb technical and emotional command." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other Rapunzel tales:

• Berenzy, Alix. Rapunzel. ISBN 9780805012835
• Grimm, Brothers. Rapunzel. ISBN 9781530745869
• Isadora, Rachel. Rapunzel. ISBN 9780399247729

Caldecott Honor Books illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky: 

• Hansel and Gretel. ISBN 9780698114074
• Rumpelstitskin. ISBN 9780140558647
• Swamp Angel. ISBN 9780140559088

Many of today's modern Disney tales are adaptions of the traditional fairy tales and are often the only versions in which children are exposed. Introducing the traditional tales will introduce comparison and contrasting skills in young children. Be cautious though, as many traditional fairy tales can be gruesome, and younger pre-kindergarten children may not be ready for life or death consequences of protagonist's decisions.