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Reviews
[Mitchell’s retelling is] beautiful, and true to the original tale. Oversize, with dazzling, colorful illustrations, it has a homespun quality, the flavor of something not written but said aloud to a child.
— New York Times Book Review
Editions of The Nightingale abound, but this makes a sumptuous, readable alternative that is true to its original.
— Kirkus Reviews
Mitchell’s version stays close to the original, with
an added punch of satire. In an author’s note, Mitchell comments
that he tried to re-create the original’s “energy, wit,
and charm,” and his language is playful and funny. Even
if there are already several editions of the story on the
shelf, consider this for its fresh, lively language and for
Ibatoulline’s stunning paintings. A gorgeous new edition.
— Booklist
Stephen Mitchell’s adapting is more in the nature of embroidering,
not butchering . . . Bagram Ibatoulline’s illustrations .
. . make slowing down a pleasure, to follow all the details
of the scenes.
— Chicago Tribune
Ibatoulline’s artwork carries its store of technique and research
lightly, and the narrative unfolds clearly in the pictures.
Mitchell’s adaptation of the work is nimble as well.
— Riverbank Review
The exquisite jacket — which features delicate red lettering on a damask-patterned gold background and a cutout revealing a painting of a nightingale — sets up high expectations, and both Mitchell (The Frog Prince) and Ibatoulline (Crossing) meet them Mitchell’s language is light and melodic. This volume has a more formal elegance than Jerry Pinkney’s recent The Nightingale, and it is just as impressive.
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
This exquisitely designed and illustrated retelling is a lush interpretation of Andersen’s tale.
— The Horn Book Magazine
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