"The Little Mermaid/La Sirenita"
Adapted by Oriol Izquierdo
Illustrated by Max
(Chronicle Books/La Galera, 1999)
A beautifully illustrated, but grim, retelling of this old Danish fairytale... This version stays true to the tone of the original, a rather dark, bleak, harsh story of a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince, but whose love is spurned, and who dies unrequited and unhappy. The ending is fudged a bit -- she is suddenly borne upward to become a "daughter of the air," but the spiritual significance of this transformation is left unexplained, and the possibility of redemption -- key to Hans Christian Andersen's story -- is left out entirely. Although the artwork by Spanish artist Max makes this a striking edition, the story itself may be too harsh, especially for kids who have been previously exposed to the happy-ending version promulgated by the folks at Disney. The bilingual edition (originally published in Catalan in Spain, and translated into Spanish and English for foreign audiences) is quite nice... a key selling point of this version! (B-)

"The Princess And The Pea/La Princesa Y El Guisante"
Adapted by Francesc Boada
Illustrated by Pau Estrada
(Chronicle Books/La Galera, 1993)
A marvelous adaptation of this classic fairytale... One big plus is the look of the book: the artistic motif draws on Indian and Middle Eastern art, and when the prince goes abroad at the beginning of the book, we see princesses dressed in the garb of many different cultures -- Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Thai -- which gives the story a whole new look and places us in a new, non-Eurocentric context. The story follows the standard princess-and-the-pea narrative which, while it still has a weird gender message, is relatively innocuous. No violence, and intellect is used to resolve the prince's dilemma. A very good version of this story, with compact, economical bilingual translations (this was originally published in Catalan, then translated into Spanish and English for this edition.) Recommended! (A)

"The Ugly Duckling/El Patito Feo"
Adapted by Merce Escardo I Bas
Illustrated by Max
(Chronicle Books/La Galera, 1997)
An excellent adaptation of the ugly duckling saga, with a crisp, bilingual translation, and lovely, cartoonish art. Max, a Barcelona-based comicbook artist, uses the tricks of his trade, particularly motion lines and "sweat" lines to give energy and emotion to the text. This ugly duckling has lots of character, and the graphic composition is marvelous, making the most of the modest page size. The story itself is always such a bummer that I find it hard to get through, but this version was a delight. Nice Spanish-English translation, taken from the original Catalan edition. (B+)

"Puss In Boots/El Gato Con Botas"
Adapted by Francesc Boada
Illustrated by Jose Luis Merino
(Chronicle Books/La Galera, 1996)
One of the lesser entries in the "La Galera" bilingual series... Textwise, this is an adequate retelling of the Puss In Boots saga -- it follows other versions fairly closely. The artwork is nothing to write home about, though -- a purposefully simplistic, minimalist "kiddie" style that gets the job done, but just barely. The main attraction of this version is the bilingual translation, which is nice for gringos learning Spanish. (This was originally published in Catalan, then translated into Spanish and English for this edition.) (C+)

"Thumbelina/Pulgarcita"
Adapted by Caterina Valriu
Illustrated by Max
(Chronicle Books/La Galera, 1998)
A great bilingual edition of one of the best and most fantastical fairy tales... The text follows the classic version of the plot pretty closely, and isn't too gruesome or disturbing. The artwork is fabulous, a thick-lined cartoony style from the Spanish artist named Max. Good translations, as well. Recommended! (C+)

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