Rapunzel

I read to children every week in a Brooklyn pediatric clinic as part of a program called Reach Out and Read, and I'm always on the prowl for books that might appeal to urban kids of color. I first found Rachel Isadora's work in the book The Twelve Dancing Princesses, which I bought at a yard sale in the neighborhood. The kids, especially the girls, loved it for its great art, its fairy-tale base, and its eye-opening African setting and characters ("They have princesses in Africa?" one little girl asked me). I ordered Rapunzel later, and was happy to discover that it was a little older, a little more complex--but still set forth the concept, with great conviction and amazing illustrations, that beauty does not have to involve blond hair and blue eyes. My five- and six-year-olds love Rapunzel; they love the drama and sadness before the happy ending, and they love studying the pictures as art. Thank you, Rachel Isadora--you make my "gig" so much more fun.

LOVE everything about this book. My daughter saw the cover and said “ MY HAIR!” She loves the movie tangled so I wanted to make sure she knows that her hair is beautiful too. She loves the differences in the story and asks to read it all the time. This author is a HIT in our home after we got the Good Night one through the imagination library series and I’m so happy we discovered!

I am in love with Rachel's retelling of classic fairy tales. The use of color and textures really enhance the story, making the story attractive and more engaging for children. The flow of the story was well done and easy to read for my kindergartner. The evil sorceress was a tad bit scary, at first, after several readings she is no longer frightened of the character.

Bought this book for my little 4 year cousins Birthday decided to check it out before I wrapped it.A familiar story yet a different version than I remember. Love the artistic illustration with faces like mine. Recommend to add to your little queens collection! 👑👸🏾

Loved this book! The illustrations were beautifully done. I have a 7,6, and 3 year old girls. They all loved this story. It has quickly become one of our favorite bedtime stories.

I have been looking for books to represent the standard fairytale characters in different shades and while my daughters loves books we have of a blonde Rapunzel, she was interested in reading this one because the girl in it is 'brown' like her. The illustrations are so wonderful and striking but unfortunately, the evil sorceress is so frightening looking that my daughter (just turned 5) has nightmares whenever we read it. Tonight we read it and covered up the evil witch on the pages she appeared but my daughter still cried when she went to bed. Super book, just wish the evil didn't have to look so incredibly scary in this particular book! We'll try again when she is older.

Love the art in this retelling of Rapunzel! Sharing this story with brown-skinned characters with my students was totally awesome. The collages are really terrific. The expressions of the characters throughout the story are truly amazing.

This retelling of Rapunzel is just sooo good! Having representation in these stories really changes a child's worldview and I love it!

My daughter is so use to western books, that this one scared her at first with the pictures. BUT now she reads it everyday and asked me to buy her another one for when her one gets un-neat. Really nice for children to see them represented.

Beautiful story and illustrations

Such a beautiful book. My son often asks for this and it was read every night for some time when we first bought it. Well written with the most beautiful patchwork-style illustrations. Can't recommend enough.

A nice twist on the traditional fairy tale. Even better that the lead character is a young, Black girl who finds her Prince. I enjoyed reading this with my four year old.

Great story and beautiful illustration. Prompted lots of questions in our house, which is why I bought it!