RAPUNZEL

|Plot Summary| 

     Rapunzel retold by Rachel Isadora is a children's fairy tale that was published in 2008. The story starts off with two parents who were wishing to have a baby; their wish was granted. However, the mother then fell ill and was in great need of the rapunzel that was growing in the wicked sorceress' garden near by. In order to keep her alive he husband would fetch the rapunzel during the night until the sorceress stopped him. For the husband to keep his wife alive he traded the rapunzel for their baby who was to be born soon. Once the sorceress received the baby, she locked her in a tower with no entryway. The sorceress thought she was only one entering the tower by calling out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down you hair" but she was wrong because a prince was visiting Rapunzel during the nights. Rapunzel and the prince said their marriage vows, and she became pregnant. The sorceress then found out, and was very upset, so she cut off Rapunzel hair and proceeded to leave her in the wilderness alone. The prince sang the chant to let Rapunzel's hair down but instead of having Rapunzel be there, it was the sorceress who then blinded him for his actions. Years went by with Rapunzel and the prince on their own, until one day the prince heard Rapunzel's beautiful voice where they were then reunited! The tears of joy cured the prince's vision so he was then able to see her and their twin children. From then on, the four of them lived happily ever after once they returned to the prince's kingdom!

This book falls under the genre of a fairy tale because it is a retold story of the well-known fairy tale of Rapunzel. The elements that make this book a fairy tale are the storyline, the artistic elements, and the characters used. The storyline of Rapunzel is not realistic in the sense that she was taken from her parents and locked away into a tower with no doors or staircases, and then sought by a prince who proceeded to climb up her hair. This book could also be considered a folklore because of the African background and setting, but it is more of a fairytale because of the storyline itself.

There were lots of things that I found interesting while reading this book. This would be a good story for young readers, however there are some flaws. I appreciate that there are Africans being represented in the book. It really meant a lot to me and it made me excited to read the book when I found out that the story was an African Novel. As a student in elementary teaching we never seemed to talk about a variety of cultures. I find it relevantly hard to focus on some texts when they discuss and teach us about the same groups of people and their practices. Multicultural education advances students to acknowledge other cultures that they may not be familiar with, which was done beautifully in this book. The setting of the story is a typical African scene. There are lots of animals in the background of the illustrations. On one of the pictures the prince is riding a zebra and I felt as though Isadora fell into the stereotype that Africa is this place of free roaming animals that interact with humans. This vision that Isadora is painting isn’t a clear vision and she begins to put barriers on African culture by her apparent illustrations of the animals.

For more on the author visit, http://www.kiwimagonline.com/bookclub/reviews/rapunzel-retold-by-rachel-isadora/

To see what other book Isadora has retold visit, http://www.jacketflap.com/persondetail.asp?person=127916

|Textual Elements|

     The setting of this book takes place in part of Africa. It first starts off in the husband and wife's home, then leads to the sorceress' garden. From there the setting shifts to the tower where Rapunzel is held, and then to the wilderness. The final setting is in the land where Rapunzel and the prince are reunited as a family.

     The characters that are represented in the book are Rapunzel, her parents, the prince, their children, and the sorceress. Rapunzel is the main character of this book, and is the only one that receives a name. She seems to be a strong willed woman who is put through many struggles throughout her entire life, but in the end she lives happily ever after. The husband and wife are the parents of Rapunzel who are only depicted in the beginning of the book when they are trying to have a baby. The wife, and mother of Rapunzel, falls ill before it is time to give birth to Rapunzel so she is in great need to the rapunzel that is growing near by. The husband, and father of Rapunzel, is loyal to his wife as he fetches the repunzel in the sorceress' garden in order to save his wife's life. The sorercess is the evil character of book who takes away the baby, locks her in a tower, and tries to ruin Rapunzel's life. She is wicked character, who only seems to care about herself and fortune. In the end of the book, the children of Rapunzel and the prince are introduced but are not put into any detail besides the fact that they are twins.

     This story is told by a narrator so it is not told in one specific character's point of view. Instead, it is written in third person, so that the reader can get the perspective of all the characters involved in the story.

     The theme of Rapunzel is to never give up and go with what life throws at you. The parents are given the choice of having the wife die, or giving up thier child in order to save the wife, which is what the decide to do. This is the theme of the book because Rapunzel is given many challenges throughout her life and none of them seem to stop her because she does not give up.

     Text and font choices used in this book are thick, and bold. Each text box is displayed as a big chunck with thick black writing. Throughout the entire book there is no text box that has more than ten lines used on a page at a time. This makes for easier and simpler reading. It made it easier to read and to follow the story line without daydreaming.

|Artistic Elements|

     The text and illustrations on each page I would have to say was very symmetrical and shared its equal space on each page, which critically keeps the reader in tune. The art used on each page corolates very closely with what is being said in the text, which makes it very easy for the readers to follow along. The depictions are very clear as to what is being said, and they also capture the emotions of the reading. Most of the art is on the bottom and sides of the pages, while the text is in the middle, upper area so that the art surrounds the text on each page. 

     The style of art that Isadora used is very African themed. She portrays each character as dark skinned, wearing African cultured clothing such as bigger shirts with print of whimsical designs. It is hard to tell the exact type of artistic style used but it seems to be paper mache-like.

 The images surround the text there is not much negative space on the pages except for the background, which is usually white, but there is very little.

     The colors used throughout the book are mostly bright and vibrant, such as yellows, pinks, white, and greens. However, when the mood of the story shifts negatively you can easily tell by the shift of colors as well. For example, whenever the sorceress is depicted the colors change to deep purple and reds. The only other time when vibrant colors were not used was when the prince was wondering through the wilderness for years. On this two-page spread, the background is filled with dark browns; the clouds are dark purple, and the trees and him are black. On the contrary, the ending page is the brightest using yellow, pink, orange, and white as the background.

|Analysis and Critique|

     While reading this story there were many stereotypical gender roles that I feel falls into societies views. I didn’t like the way Rapunzel was portrayed but we can typically see how the novel depicts the men leading the women in this text. The roles that Rapunzel and her mother played, as helpless dependant women, says a lot about today’s modern society aspects of gender roles.  This teaches young girls that they are helpless and that they have to wait on a man to rescue them. But deep down we know that this isn’t the case and we have to break theses stereotypes because our young students are seeing this and acting on it as we educate them.  At the end of the story the price led Rapunzel to the kingdom where he lived. The fact that he led her still is a stereotype that the man leads the woman, which is not always the case either. I like the fact that Isadora under minds masculinity. The prince weeps over Rapunzel when he is in the wilderness, this teaches young boys that it is ok to cry and that it is not Girly. Does society govern the rules in which women and men roles have to be certain things to make them feminine or masculine? This is a question that really stuck with me while reading the novel. When the sorceress frightens the price and he falls out of the tower he lands on thorns that cause him to be blind; this also under minds masculinity seeing as though men are supposed to be strong and unbeatable, and in this scene he was neither. Rapunzel retold and illustrated by Rachel Isadora is a great story because it can be viewed in many different aspects. The book is very stereotypical, but on the other hand it does have an enjoyable storyline. I would highly recommend this book to be in the classroom. It’s our job as future educators to not give our students the stereotypical media thoughts, but the truth in which indeed underlies society.

|Citation|

Isadora, Rachel. Rapunzel. New York, New York. G.P. Putnam's Sons a division of Penguin Young Reader & Group, 2008.

For a review on Rapunzel by Rachel Isadora go to, http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newslettersnewsletterbucketcurriculumconnections/888340-442/reveling_in_rapunzel.html.csp and http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/printissuecurrentissue/859860-427/preschool_to_grade_4.html.csp