Product Description

Once upon a time, deep in the forests of Bohemia… enchantment was as thick as the trees, and young men and women of all kinds met and fell in love under the spell of the silver moon. Many years later, Czech composer Antonin Dvorak (1841- 1904) set of their stories to music. As the stories came to life on stage, they found an audience in the hearts of grownups and children around the world.

Here are three of Dvorak’s Bohemian tales, richly told and lovingly illustrated. Meet Rusalka, Bohemia’s own little mermaid; and Lidushka, the peasant who danced with a king. Then there is Kate, saved from certain doom by her own bad temper! Just as in all the best fairytales, love suffers and is rewarded in these stories, and a good heart and quick thinking are enough to win the day.

Antonin Dvorak’s own life has a bit of the fairy tale in it, as readers learn in these pages. His musical talent lifted him from the shopkeeper’s life he was born to, up to the heights of international stardom. But his art was always deeply rooted in the folktales and songs of his homeland. Silver Moon celebrates that wellspring of creatively in a new and luminous way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1171122 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-26
• Released on: 2004-01-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 72 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5–These retellings of three operas by the Czech composer transport readers to a world in which a prince sacrifices his worldly goods for true love, a king plays matchmaker, and a headstrong peasant girl outsmarts the devil. "Rusalka" will be familiar to anyone who has read or seen "The Little Mermaid," but "The King and the Charcoal Burner" and "Kate and the Devil" will be new to most youngsters. Exquisite illustrations are the book's greatest strength. Vladyana Krykorka employs a muted palette and a combination of wash effects and fine detail to achieve an appropriately otherworldly effect in her paintings, as though they are being viewed through a gossamer veil. A brief biography of Dvorak provides useful context. Although all three stories end happily, with love triumphant and enemies vanquished, their appeal may be slightly hampered by the elegant, reverent tone in which they are told. Adèle Geras's The Random House Book of Opera Stories (1998) is better suited to lively reading aloud. Consider Silver Moononly where folk and fairy tales are very popular.–Sophie R. Brookover, Camden County Library, Voorhees, NJ
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Review
"...a beautifully produced book...The glory of the book is in the rich, luminous illustrations by the celebrated Czech-born Vladyana Krykorka. Trees, cloaks, bats, ripples on a pond, a girl's long hair - all swirl in motion, giving a sense of a world in which nothing is fixed, but transformations and possibilities are unlimited." - Quill and Quire

"...a compilation of three stories based on the operas of Antonin Dvorak...Each story is written so that children of all ages will enjoy reading or listening to them...Children will be comfortable with the traditional style of each story...The illustrations of Silver Moon are beautiful, with lots of colour and detail...Lovers of folk stories and songs will enjoy the stories and opera lovers will enjoy introducing children to three stories that inspired Dvorak's operas." - ResourceLinks

"Exquisite illustrations are the book's greatest strength. Vladyana Krykorka employs a muted palette and a combination of wash effects and fine detail to achieve an appropriately otherworldly effect in her paintings, as though they are being viewed through a gossamer veil." - School Library Journal

"With this noteworthy collection, Vladyana and Ian Krykorka introduce to young people the famous Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak, through the stories of his operas...both author and artist of this book honour the material, Ian with his attentive, well-paced retelling and Vladyana, with her luminous palette. The artist creates light, floating and moving images, and a magical setting of Bohemian fairy lands...a lovely collaboration of an up-and-coming young author and a well-established, much-loved, children's book illustrator." - Children's Book News

About the Author
VLADYANA KRYKORKA’s illustration have appeared in many books including A Grain of Sand, The Polar Bear’s Gift, The Twelve Months, Northern Lights-The Soccer Trails and Baseball Bats for Christmas. Vladyana lives in Toronto, Ontario.