Dwarf Nose

Grade 3-6?An odd, rather lengthy German fairy tale, written in 1827. When a boy insults an elderly fairy, she changes him into a squirrel and makes him work in her household, run by guinea pigs and squirrels, for seven years. At the end of that time, he is transformed into a hunchbacked, long-nosed dwarf. Spurned by his parents and chased by the townspeople, he uses his skills as a chef (learned from his time in the fairy's service) to obtain work in the Duke's kitchen. With the help of an enchanted goose (really a wizard's daughter), he reverses the spells, and all ends happily. Dwarf Long-Nose (Random, 1960; o.p.), translated by Doris Orgel and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, has a nicer flow to the language and a more eye-pleasing format; Bell's translation is capable, but stiff, and unlike the people in many of Zwerger's earlier books, the main characters here are painted in a somewhat surrealistic style. A dear illustration of the animals in the old fairy's house and a scene in the Duke's kitchen soften the appropriately grotesque tenor of the book. Libraries that do not own the earlier version may want to consider this new one.?Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
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