Thumbelina-Picture Book Review
Hans Christian Andersen Tale-Illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Aug 15, 2007
The Story
The story of Thumbelina as we know it today was originally told by Hans Christian Andersen. In this version, Amy Ehrlich adapts it to the modern ear and Susan Jeffers illustrates it.
Most fairy tales aren’t about fairies. Thumbelina, however, is as close to being a fairy as you can get without actually being a fairy. Her mother, who desperately wants a child, confides in a witch about her desire. The witch gives her a seed to plant in a pot. The woman does as she is instructed and immediately a large a beautiful flower bud rises up from the pot. The woman kisses the beautiful bud and it unfurls to reveal a diminutive little girl.
Thumbelina was smaller than the woman’s thumb, she was so small that she slept in half a walnut shell. She was a delight to her family. Unfortunately, the happiness of her mother is cut short when an old toad kidnaps Thumbelina as a bride for her son who is no prince. The story goes on to give an account of Thumbelina’s adventures and trials. Throughout it all Thumbelina is generous and compassionate. In the end, she acquires a pair of wings and becomes something like a fairy.
The Illustrations
The illustrations are gentle muted renditions of the story. Jeffers created them using penciled drafts, which she then traced over with pen and applied dyes too. Finally, she carefully erased the pencil marks. The soft gentleness of the illustrations appeal to romantic little girls who love fairy tales and princesses.
A beautiful centerfold image shows the mouse plying the mole with snacks and tea. The spiders take a break from their spinning of Thumbelina’s trousseau for a bit of tea, and in the background Thumbelina gazes wistfully out the window. The entire scene is viewed through a beautiful foreground of bedewed spider webbing and lace.
Jeffers chose to illustrate popular fairytales because she agrees with Clarissa Pinkola Estes, a Jungian writer, that the archetypal stories we know as fairy tales “reflect our innermost thoughts and dreams, and that experiencing them can be healing. They help us grow up.”
In Conclusion
Thumbelina is a sweet fairy tale. The violence in it is more subdued than that in many other fairy tales. The toad kidnaps her while she is sleeping but she escapes quickly after she wakens. Various other characters are unkind or even mean to Thumbelina but she is never physically hurt. She is threatened by violence (the mouse who befriends her threatens to bite her) and she is emotionally threatened by a narrow-minded mole who is to become her husband. But through her ordeal Thumbelina is gentle and sweet and nothing too violent befalls her.
The gentleness of Thumbelina makes her story a good choice for little girls who want a story to inspire them with hopes and dreams.
Thumbelina. Hans Christian Andersen. Retold by Amy Ehrlich, Illustrated by Susan Jeffers. Dutton Children’s Books, 2005. ISBN 0-525-47508-7
