Product Description

Boots saves his father's fields from the ravages of the trolls' wild stallions, and with their help, he rides up the glass mountain and wins the princess's hand.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1626202 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Stately prose and majestic artwork grace the pages of this Norwegian fairy tale, which may be read as a male Cinderella story. Forced by his brothers to guard the crops on Midsummer's Night (when the trolls descend), Boots discovers and tames dazzling steeds bedecked--in successive years--in copper, silver and gold. The king, meanwhile, is tricked by an evil troll into establishing a competition for his daughter's hand. All suitors fail except for a mysterious horseman who appears on a copper-, then a silver- and finally a gold-saddled steed. In true fairy-tale fashion and splendor Boots is revealed as the horseman and transformed from farm boy into prince. Martin's ( The Race of the Golden Apples ) measured narration, well suited to read-aloud enjoyment, is tinged with romance, mystery and drama. Spirin's elegant paintings (each bordered by a gold frame and flecked with gold throughout) bring the story's disparate elements to life in glorious detail. With his typically lush approach to settings and apparel, the artist portrays the heraldic colors of royal pageantry, the muscular prowess of wild steeds and the gruesomeness of hairy trolls. A stunning display of artistry. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-- The tradition of the romantic fairy tale is richly upheld in this version of a Norwegian story from the classic 3 collection by Asbjornsen and Moe. Martin modernizes and shortens the story, changing Cinderlad to a boy named Boots, and adding a troll king to explain the origin of the glass mountain, but the plot and the flow of language are close to the original. Braver than his boastful older brothers, young Boots three times withstands the magic powers of the trolls and three times wins a fine steed. When the hand of the king's daughter is offered to any knight who can ride to the top of the glass mountain, Boots succeeds while the others fail, and is rewarded by the princess with three golden apples. In a pleasant reversal of the Cinderella story, the kingdom is searched for the apples, and ragged Boots is recognized as the golden knight. Spirin's elaborate illustrations, like medieval tapestries, sparkle with jewellike colors and are arranged within bordered pages decorated in the style of illuminated manuscripts. They perfectly suit the medieval costumes and antique theme of the story in which a princess, prettily perched on her glass mountain, waits to be carried off by a handsome knight. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A restructuring of Asbjornsen and Moe's ``The Princess on the Glass Hill.'' Martin modernizes the language, prunes descriptions and repetitions, and adds unnecessary explanations, a romantic source for Boots's tinderbox, and the threat of a troll groom if the princess's suitors fail. The result is acceptable, though hardly an improvement: more accessible, but without the wonderful folkloric cadence of the traditional Dasent or Lang versions. The extraordinary Russian illustrator provides sumptuous paintings in a meticulous classical style, more ornate and detailed than Thomas Locker's work but also livelier. Elegant borders, beautifully patterned fabrics, and other minutiae combine for a rich, decorative effect. Most of the faces here are too small to reveal much character (too bad: Spirin's a gifted caricaturist), but the horses are magnificent. This Cinderella variant doesn't really need such a lush setting, but many will enjoy it. (Folklore/Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Cinderella Story for Boys
Boots and the Glass Mountain has the classic Cinderella plot but with a masculine twist. Horses, trolls, step-brothers and a glass mountain engage the reader beyond Cinderella and into a wonderful adventure story.