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Searching... Salem Main Library | J ILLUST Stanley, D. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A sculptor named Pyg carves a statue of a goddess so beautiful, so perfect, that he falls head over heels in love with her. He buys her gifts, tells her stories, and wishes with all his heart she were a real, live woman. The trouble with wishes is . . . sometimes they come true!
Diane Stanley's lively prose and vivid illustrations bring this funny and warm tale of misguided love to life as Pyg learns what a true companion is really made of.
Author Notes
Diane Stanley was born in 1943 and was raised in Abilene, Texas. She later attended both Trinity University and Johns Hopkins University.
Her portfolio of children's book illustrations was creative enough for her to begin publication in 1978. She became an art director for G.P. Putnam & Sons and later began retelling and illustrating classic children's books.
Stanley has revamped the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter and has also researched the children's biographies Cleopatra and Leonardo Da Vinci. She also illustrated her mother's book, The Last Princess.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-This light reinvention of the myth of Pygmalion gives the ancient Greek sculptor access to French perfumes, a modern-day spa, and an apprentice named Jane. Pyg is obsessed with his masterpiece, a sculpture of a goddess so beautiful that he wishes she were real. Jane finds her hard, flawless beauty a little off-putting, somehow, but he sees only perfection. Then he gets his wish and his work of art comes to life, but she turns out to be vain, humorless, demanding, and disloyal. As the end of his unhappy day with the "perfect" girl comes to a close, Pyg goes home to find Jane waiting for him with a blazing fire and a game of Scrabble. The pleasing, painterly cartoon illustrations combine ancient and modern elements. This fairy-tale/nursery-rhyme spoof, one of several by Stanley, has its own personality, tone, and palette, all of which work together toward a happy ending for everybody.-Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Stanley (Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam) here focuses on Greek mythology's Pygmalion, introducing for the sculptor a female best friend, Jane, with sparkling results. When Pyg carves a woman out of stone, Jane deems her a "beautiful goddess... absolutely perfect." Yet Jane recognizes that the statue was also "as cold and heartless as the stone from which she was made." While in the original myth, when the statue comes to life, she marries her creator, Stanley's version depicts the gal stepping off her pedestal and rebuffing Pyg's declaration of love. "Get me out of here. I've been a rock for twenty million years and I'm ready for some excitement." Stanley sets up a comic contrast between the arrogant gal and Jane. When, admiring her reflection in a pond, the animated statue falls in and soaks her lovely locks, Pyg takes her to the "Temple of Beauty" for a coiff and manicure; she decrees Pyg's home "a dump" and dismisses him in favor of the prince's palace. Meanwhile, Jane creates her own companion from stone: "Hers didn't have to be perfect. Just loyal and loving, merry and brave" (in a kid-pleasing revelation, it turns out to be a dog). Readers will find Stanley's highly humorous tale, enhanced by her trademark meticulously detailed art, a great deal of fun. Ages 5-8. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Based on the Greek myth of Pygmalion, this story is about a sculptor, Pyg, who falls in love with his creation. He wishes that she were real while at the same time losing sight of his true friend, Jane. Stanley's clean, clever gold-hued illustrations take some historical license (e.g., blow dryers and Scrabble in ancient Greece), adding levity to the classic tale. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In this version of the Greek myth Pygmalion, Stanley interprets "notions of perfect beauty and misguided love." Pyg is an accomplished stone sculptor in ancient Greece; Jane is his friend and apprentice. One day Pyg tackles a new marble block, working for weeks on a statue of a beautiful, perfect goddess, which Jane finds "pretty amazing" and "amazingly pretty." However, when the statue is finished, Pyg becomes so enamored with it that he stops working and does nothing but admire it all day. He offers the statue gifts, sings to it and tells it stories. Pyg wishes his beautiful statue could be a real woman, and one day his wish comes true. But Pyg soon discovers one should be careful of one's wishes because his real goddess proves to be a real handful. Incorporating decorative elements of Greek art, Stanley's rich illustrations place her characters in an ancient Greek tableau, but include humorous modern touches that should tickle readers. A classy retelling of a classic myth highlighting the meaning of real companionship. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Stanley has written and illustrated several previous fractured fairy tales, including Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter (1997). Now, in a mischievous turnaround on the Pygmalion myth and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, she blends the classical and the contemporary with sly exaggeration. Jane, who wants to be a great sculptor and carve creatures from hunks of stone like her best friend, Pyg, becomes Pyg's apprentice. One day Pyg carves a masterpiece, a beautiful goddess, absolutely perfect. To Jane, however, the goddess statue seems heartless. When the goddess comes to life, she does, indeed, prove to be self-centered and mean, and she eventually leaves Pyg and his dump for the prince's palace. Then, to help Pyg get over the girl of his dreams, Jane carves him the perfect pet companion. Stanley's fresh artwork, which mixes the grandeur of old classical forms and the absurdity of the new, is in perfect balance with the parody. Children older than the target audience may also enjoy this. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2006 Booklist