The Wild Swans (Little Golden Book)

This was my favorite childhood book and my husband bought it for me as a surprise birthday present this year. However, I was dismayed to find that the pages which most intrigued and stimulated my imagination as a young child were utterly and completely whitewashed: the part of the story where Elise must gather the nettles from the graves in the churchyard despite being terrified of the ghouls and creatures that watch and taunt her there. That artwork was stunning, and not at all inappropriate for kids. I can't understand why it's been censored. I returned the book and bought a used older version on ebay. If you'd like to see the images in question, you can easily search for and see them on the web.

Not for the most sensitive children. Eliza is sent to live in foster care, her stepmother puts a spell on her to turn her face ugly, she is nearly hung as a witch by her husband... But for children who can tolerate, the telling is lyrical and the illustrations are magical. If you have a sensitive child, I would recomend Pricess Sohpie retold by Kim Jacobs.

This is one of my favorite tales by HCA. I bought this for my daughter and she loves it too. The illustrations are gorgeous, even better in person than online. Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy tales where the princess is the heroine!In this tale, a princess needs to save her brothers from an evil spell. She faces great adversity but she is undeterred! Determined to free her brothers she fights against the odds until they are saved. A very happy ending for all.

This is such a gorgeous book. My girls love it as much as I did at their age. It was such a joy to find the exact copy my Mom gifted me as a young girl.

When I saw that the Susan Jeffries illustrated version of this story was still around, I had to pick it up for my daughter. Well, she has yet to see it because I immediately read it cover to cover before hiding it on her bookshelf for safe keeping. The illustrations are so beautiful and the story is told in an accessible way for children (because let's be honest, these fairy-tales in their original forms are pretty horrifying!). Highly recommended for any young girl.

I nostalgicly love Golden Books, but the 5 stars is from my wife. She loves this adaptation and likes Gordon Laite's illustrations. It is a classic fairy tale so there is no need to review the story -- you know it is good. The Golden Book is well constructed, a wonderful plus in this age of cheap production and mass consumption. A perfect addition to your child's library, or your own.~ Kort

just as described.i am reacing my beaten up childhood copy.

I bought this book for my daughter while at Capezio getting her new dance outfits. I did not know anything about the book, but loved the artwork inside. The first time I read it, I was amazed at what a beautiful and creative story it was. And it did keep my 4 year old's attention. We would look at the art work after reading each page and talked about it. It is my favorite story, a bit long, but whenever she picks it out for me to read at night I can never say no... no matter how late it is. I highly recommend the reading at any age, the artwork alone can ignite the imagination!

This is one of Hans Andersen's lesser known fairy tales although it is actually based on Grimm's "The Six Swans". Instead of being rescued by Prince Charming, the princess in this fairy tale does the rescuing herself by completing a difficult task in order to break the spell cast on her eleven brothers.This review is for the Yvonne Gilbert Barefoot books version and the illustrations here are phenomenal. The story is translated by Naomi Lewis so it is a faithful translation but can be quite long for young children with short attention span so you may want to read it in more than one sitting.A lovely book that you and your family will cherish.

Not a great translation or interpretation. Didn’t like references to God at all, it has no place in fairy tales whatsoever

First-rate in every respect, but for those who already know the story, the illustrations were simply beautiful. Delicate and evocative, Yvonne Gilbert's illustrations transformed the tale into something unforgettable

the book is little bit old, one page has torn, the conditional is acceptable. over all its good, worth the money

Bit thinner than I expected but ok