Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW Washington Irving, illus. by Michael Garland. Boyds Mills, $8.95 ISBN 1-56397-605-6. Full-page oil paintings illustrate this unabridged edition of the classic spine-tingler. All ages. (Sept.)
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-- An unabridged version of the classic tale of Ichabod Crane, his affection for the wealthy and beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, and his confrontation with the Headless Horseman. Despite Irving's outmoded narrative style, this is still an excellent ghost story that combines appropriate amounts of humor and terror while integrating Germanic legend with New England folklore, specifically that of New York State. Garland's realistic oil paintings are either portraitures or landscapes. The former are reminiscent of Barry Moser's work, while the latter resemble those by Thomas Locker. While these illustrations act as a sophisticated balance to Irving's wordy narrative, they do not consistently evoke the mood of Arthur Rackham's interpretation (1990). In her retelling for younger children (1987, both Morrow), Diane Wolkstein avoids the African-American stereotypes that Irving used for ``comic relief'' and concentrates on telling a good story, eliminating the complicated and archaic language of the period. All in all, this new version is useful where additional copies of the unabridged edition are needed. --Andrew W. Hunter, Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg, Charlotte, NC
APR/MAY 02 - AudioFile
George Vafiadis narrates these two early American classics skillfully, changing pace and pitch to bring out the nuances of Irving's storytelling. Vafiadis builds tension by drawing out Ichabod Crane's encounter with the Headless Horseman, then strikes a wry tone to highlight the social satire woven through both works. He lingers on the details of the social changes that occurred while Rip Van Winkle napped, thus showing modern listeners the many social changes that accompanied the American Revolution. The stories were written as if they were documents passed down through several handlers, but through shifts in tone Vafiadis easily differentiates between each layer of distance constructed by Irving. G.B. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine