Wings - Softcover

Yolen, Jane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0152015671 ISBN 13: 9780152015671

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1997

Synopsis

Recounts the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus, who builds wings so that he and his son, Icarus, can escape from their tower prison

About this title

Review:

As important as it is to aim high, ancient mythology reminds us that we must never confuse ourselves with the gods. Only disaster can come of showing too much skill at godly pursuits like creating-- or flying. But poor old Daedalus just can't get past his aspirations to fly. Jane Yolen's version of the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus, is lyric and foreboding, and Dennis Nolan's shadowy renderings of the omnipresent deities are a particularly haunting accompaniment to this ancient tale of pride and tragedy. (Ages 6 to10)

From Publishers Weekly:

Yolen is in top form here in this polished, ardent retelling of the tragic Greek legend of Daedalus and his son Icarus. Banished from his beloved Athens for killing his nephew, the proud craftsman and inventor Daedalus finally lands on the island of Crete, where he designs the famed labyrinth in which the Minotaur is imprisoned. King Minos is enraged when Daedalus aids in killing the cruel beast and has him confined in a tower. Daedalus escapes with his son on wings made of bird feathers and wax, but the hapless boy plunges to his death. Yolen's elegant prose ("wingtip to wingtip they flew, writing the lines of their escape on the air") is matched by Nolan's sophisticated watercolors that, like the legend itself, provocatively blend reality and fantasy: as the story of Daedalus unfolds in the foreground, cloudlike gods look on from above. Beautifully printed on heavy, cream-colored stock, the book is as much a tactile treat as a visual and literary one. All ages.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0152015671
• ISBN 13: 9780152015671
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Nolan Dennis