King Midas - Hardcover

Omar Rayyan; John Warren Stewig

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082341423X ISBN 13: 9780823414239

Publisher: Holiday House, 1999

Synopsis

A king finds himself bitterly regretting the consequences of his wish that everything he touches would turn to gold

About this title

About the Author:

John Warren Stewig is the Founder of the Center for Children's Literature at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where he is an emeritus professor in the School of Education. His books for children include King Midas: A Golden Tale, illustrated by Omar Rayyan, which Kirkus Reviews called a "polished, polgnant retelling." He lives in Glenvale, Wisconsin.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-4-The story of Midas is a prescription we need filled regularly. This version, livelier in text as well as in its graphics than Charlotte and Kinuko Craft's King Midas (Morrow, 1999), takes off from Nathaniel Hawthorne's A Wonder Book, with its emphasis on the child Marygold. Stewig uses deft, direct language, moving at a faster pace than Craft without any sacrifice of significance. The real lure, however, is the artwork. Rayyan's imagination is playful and sophisticated. The delicately color-washed, light-struck paintings combine an expressionistic, almost cartoonish Midas, beautifully detailed architectural and other allusions to the antique, and a host of whimsically anachronistic touches. Dionysus/Pan is a Klimt-Beardsley hybrid, Midas eats "Plato Poseidon Puffs" for breakfast, and guest appearances by the Frog Prince and a host of mythological minor characters enliven every page. There's also a discreetly hidden plug for the artist's last book, The Ring of Truth (Holiday, 1997). Teasing details require study, but the time spent is repaid by the grace, intelligence, and wit of the artwork.
Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 082341423X
• ISBN 13: 9780823414239
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32