cover image Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $15.99 (44pp) ISBN 978-0-7894-8799-5

Joan Aiken puts a new spin on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, illus. by Belinda Downes. Here, the evil stepmother's magic mirror issues insulting verse (""Snow White is fairest under the sun,/ She makes you look like a cinnamon bun""); the seven brothers have names like Fred and Ted, except for the youngest, Sacheverell, ""who was called Sachie by all his brothers."" Downes's illustrations, composed of a patchwork of fabrics, capture the rolling countryside and seem especially well suited to scenes of the septet's domicile.