cover image The Blue Rose

The Blue Rose

Maurice Baring. Kaye & Ward, $0 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-7182-2100-3

While the premise of this storythat a princess will marry the suitor who can bring her a blue roseappears in many cultures, Baring's version seems uniquely Chinese. The Emperor's daughter ""was as wise as she was beautiful,'' and various suitors try to win her, one with a sapphire rose, another with a dyed rose and a third with a porcelain tea cup, on which a blue rose is painted. One evening, a minstrel with a one-stringed instrument meets her outside the palace and they fall in love. When he returns the next day with a common white rose, the Emperor's daughter declares that it is, indeed, the Blue Rose, and the match takes place. Dalton's paintings are in the muted blues, pinks and mint greens of a Chinese carpet, full of the minute, intricate patterns of silks and tapestries. Her work brings a rare beauty to the pages of this regal tale. (All ages)