Book Review: RAPUNZEL by Paul O. Zelinsky

Bibliography
Zelinsky, Paul O. 1997. RAPUNZEL. New York: Puffin. ISBN: 978-0-14-230193-7

Plot Summary
A pregnant woman gets a craving for the plant rapunzel. Her husband sneaks into a sorceress's garden and steals an armload of the plant. When the sorceress catches him, the husband promises to give her anything as long as his wife gets the plant to satisfy her craving. The sorceress lets the man go, but when the baby is born, the sorceress takes her as payment. The sorceress names the child Rapunzel and locks her in a tower. One day a Prince wonders by the tower and hears Rapunzel singing. He falls in love. After he witnesses the sorceress climbing into the tower by Rapunzel's hair, the Prince tries it later that night. The Prince confesses his love and the secretly marry. Every night the Prince visited Rapunzel until one day the sorceress finds out that Rapunzel is pregnant. She makes Rapunzel leave the tower. When the Prince comes later that night, the sorceress tricks him and throws him out the window. The Prince is struck blind. He wonders blindly until he hears Rapunzel singing. The two of them are reunited and live happily ever after.

Critical Analysis
Paul Zelinsky's version of Rapunzel is targeted more toward older readers. There are parallels throughout the story, but these would be missed by younger readers. The story is a little more grim then younger children's storybooks. There is not any retribution to the sorceress who ruined Rapunzel's life, the Prince does not make Rapunzel a princess, and Rapunzel's parents never see her again. The ending doesn't feel like a true fairy tale happy ending. The deeper meanings embedded within the story would be missed by younger children.
Even the illustrations are more sophisticated. Instead of cutesy cartoons, Zelinsky's art has more of a Victorian, Romantic period style. The character Rapunzel is very beautiful, but not in the way Disney has conditioned us to think of her. Again, the art is better appreciated by an older audience.

Review Excerpts
*Winner of the Caldecott Medal
*Starred reviews from BOOKLIST, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, and THE HORN BOOK

Connections
Since this book is targeted toward older kids, I would suggest making this a creative writing exercise. The children can come up with their own versions of the story and how they would change the ending to make it more satisfying.