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A review by gracecrandall
Tanglewood Tales: A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne
4.0
This was fun!
I had no idea that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote children's books, but he did a pretty good job of this one.
Of all the retellings in this book, The Minotaur was probably my favorite. Theseus was such a fun hero, and all the odd little twists and turns made for a fun story.
Even though all the myths were watered down a little so as to be kid-friendly, Hawthorne did a good job of making sure that each one was still a very fun story. The descriptions were especially lovely, and some of the myth' s more ridiculous elements were jist played for comedy, which I really liked.
The language was a little stiff at times, and occasionally the stories would try to force one moral or another, but not so vociferously as to keep them from being enjoyable.
More than anything else, this book was just plain fun--an enjoyable trip into a low-stakes fantasy world with lots of wild monsters, courageous heroes, and a surprising amount of cows.
I had no idea that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote children's books, but he did a pretty good job of this one.
Of all the retellings in this book, The Minotaur was probably my favorite. Theseus was such a fun hero, and all the odd little twists and turns made for a fun story.
Even though all the myths were watered down a little so as to be kid-friendly, Hawthorne did a good job of making sure that each one was still a very fun story. The descriptions were especially lovely, and some of the myth' s more ridiculous elements were jist played for comedy, which I really liked.
The language was a little stiff at times, and occasionally the stories would try to force one moral or another, but not so vociferously as to keep them from being enjoyable.
More than anything else, this book was just plain fun--an enjoyable trip into a low-stakes fantasy world with lots of wild monsters, courageous heroes, and a surprising amount of cows.