Iron John

Eric Kimmel retells the story of Iron John in a very respectful, encouraging way. After Iron John and Walter escape to the woods, they create a bond so strong that nothing can break it. After a forced yet temporary separation, Walter must work to help John break a curse-something that can only be

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done with true love. The illustrations are fascinating and full of life. I found myself routing for Walter and Iron John’s friendship and Walter’s and Elsa’s blossoming love for one another. In the end, all ends just as it should.

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I thought that this was a great retelling of a traditional fairy tale. I really enjoy the artwork, and feel like the mixture of the realistic and the fantastic with the softness of the images is really well done. I appreciate the alterations from the original; in the original he marries a princess,

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even though they reject him in the beginning. I like the message that truly caring about someone is worth more than beauty or wealth and that someone who is of the lower class by birth can become a princess.

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When a king with a fabulous menagerie captures a wild man from the wood, 'Iron John' - so named for the wild, iron-colored hair that covers him - becomes the much-feared prize of his collection. Playing with his golden ball one day, the king's son Walter must ask Iron John for help, and he frees

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the wild man in return. Together the two escape, and Walter is raised by Iron John in the deep forest, where he (Walter) is tasked with protecting a magical spring. After three failures in this duty, he must leave the wood, and finds employment in the gardens of a nearby king (presumably not his father). Here he eventually finds himself attending a ball and a knights' tournament in disguise, with the help of Iron John, and riding off to rescue the king's three daughters. Walter's actions help to free Iron John, who is himself a king suffering under a curse (naturally), and he finds his true love in the process...

A German fairy-tale originally found in the Brothers Grimm, where is was known as Eisenhans ("Iron Hans"), Iron John is here adapted and retold by prolific picture-book author and folklorist Eric A. Kimmel, and illustrated by the marvelous Trina Schart Hyman. This version of the story is somewhat different from that found in Grimm, in that the beginning portion of the tale, detailing Iron John's capture, is abbreviated. Also, the ending has been changed, and Walter (named by Kimmel) ends up marrying his fellow gardener, rather than one of the princesses. Kimmel discusses these changes in his brief afterword, mentioning that it had always bothered him that one of the princesses should have the noble prince, after sneering at him when he was a lowly gardener. I certainly cannot fault his reasoning there! This story was immensely engaging, and the artwork (unsurprisingly) was gorgeous. Highly recommended to all fairy-tale lovers, and to fellow fans of Hyman's artwork.

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