Nightingale

The Nightingale, illustrated by Demi.

Demi fans will be pleased by this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale, which features her trademark artwork, with its rich palette and immensely detailed scenes. As always, there are many little whimsical touches, from the purple cow the

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courtiers at first mistake for the nightingale, to the young children who gambol about in many of the scenes. The setting of the story, in China, is ideally suited to Demi's work, which is heavily influenced by Asian artistic traditions. In fact, a detailed afterword gives more information on the creation of the paintings, done on Wu silk.

Unfortunately, although the artwork is lovely, and will be enjoyed by those who enjoy Demi's style (I do myself, although I find that a little goes a long way), the narrative leaves a little bit to be desired. It didn't flow as well as some other versions I have read, and I was dismayed to see that the scene in which the Emperor confronts death has been sanitized, leaving out the actual character of Death altogether. An adequate, but uninspiring narrative, when compared to the excellent versions of Stephen Mitchell or Eva Le Gallienne. Unless they are specifically looking for the Demi illustrations, I would advise readers to find one of these other editions.

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