"Striking illustrations highlight this retelling of Perrault's "The Fairies"...readers will be drawn to this book by his delightfully unusual illustrations. He uses acetate and animator's paint to create a luminous atmosphere, deftly blending darkness and vivid color. He exaggerates the figures, giving the two mean women ridiculously long upturned noses, and manages to make them both hideous and funny at the same time...Bender's eye-catching style and technique neatly match the tale's humor."
School Library Journal

"Humor abounds in the tale, which will leave readers applauding the just deserts doled out by the clever troll. Bender's paintings achieve a luminescent glow from an unusual artistic process: the artist paints on the front and back of a layer of acetate, which he carefully sets atop a black background."
Booklist

 

Merth dreaded wandering off into the scary dark night, but at least she could escape for a while from her mother and sister.
As she whistled to forget the cold wind, birds swooped out of the trees and surprised her with songs of their own.
Merth was having such a good time that she didn't notice the log that sent her sprawling onto the path.