Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies

Rating:
Summary: The Child in us all
Review: Let's face it, any child and any adult who's honest, loved the macabre and grotesque in reading and listening to fairy and folk tales while growing up. In the delicious discomfort of feeling scared and enchanted, made life a little more understandable as well as providing that "suspension of disbelief" that served to teach us the world is a far more enchanted place than authority figures and institutions would have us believe. And I do not think I'm alone in this perception, or fantasy and science fiction would not be as popular among adults as they are now. This collection by some of the world's foremost under/aboveground cartoonists transports you back to those "Grimm" days of childhood when something was alive and magic was afoot. This is too wonderful a collection for just kids. I hope the artists and editors will continue this series. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Adult sophistication wrapped in childlike simplicity...
Review: Little Lit offers a fabulous and varied collection of 16 contemporary artists' comics-style interpretations of folklore and fairy-tales. The makers of comics, comix and children's picture books number among the contributors, including Art Spiegelman, Walt Kelly, David Macaulay, William Joyce, Kaz, Charles Burns, Peter Bagge (Hate), J. Otto Seibold (Olive the Other Reindeer), and Daniel Clowes (Ghost World). Each uses a unique style of sequential art to interpret a fairy tale, either an original story using traditional motifs or a familiar tale.

Some of the retellings like Daniel Clowes's sequel to "Sleeping Beauty" are told in formal language, others like Barbara McClintock's "The Princess and the Pea" are tongue-in-cheek. There are familiar formatted strips along with one and two page puzzles. Chris Ware contributes a "Fairy Tale Road Rage" game to play on the endpapers, complete with push-out game pieces. The imaginatively designed and carefully produced book is in large format to allow space for even the most detailed artwork.

Little Lit is a sophisticated collection masquerading as a simple children's book. It's a hybrid of childlike simplicity and adult imagination. Very highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A Smorgasbord of Fun.....
Review: Where have all the old fashioned comics and comic books gone? You know, the ones with humorous and entertaining story lines, and busy, splashy pictures that kids would pore over, mesmerized, for hours. They seem to have all but disappeared. Fortunately, Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly have remedied this situation with their marvelously creative book, Little Lit. They've collected folklore, fairy tales, games, and puzzles from the best and brightest cartoonists, children's book authors, and illustrators and compiled them into one oversized book of endless fun. From Kaz's The Hungry Horse, and Barbara McClintock's The Princess And The Pea, Joost Swarte's The Leafless Tree, and Walt Kelly's The Gingerbread Man, to What's Wrong With This Picture, Spookyland and even an inventive board game, complete with pieces, these stories and activities range from the outrageous, to the thoughtful, silly, and funny, but all include amazing bold, and intricately detailed artwork that captures the imagination and almost spills off the pages. Perfect for youngsters 9 and older, Little Lit is an innovative treasure to read and share, that will entrance your kids and keep them busy for hours.