The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Starred review from March 25, 2013
Teaming up for another fairy tale retelling, following Hansel and Gretel (2008), Corace and Rylant breathe life into Hans Christian Andersen's story of a one-legged tin soldier who falls in love with a dancing doll. She's as delicate as he is pokerfaced, but he sees that they have one thing in common: "Most amazingly of all, she balanced on one leg!" After a jealous goblin knocks the soldier out the window, he is pushed downstream in a newspaper boat and swallowed by a fish, but he meets his fate "with courage" until he can see the doll again. Rylant preserves the story's character-building insistence on the soldier's decorum throughout his ordeal. At the same time, the sight of him in his dress uniform, bayonet at the ready, lodged upside down in a garden bed or lying patiently in the belly of the huge fish will make readers smile. The slightly oversize format gives Corace scope to paint the period interiors from a toy's-eye view, echoing Rylant's opening observation: "Toys have their own mysterious lives and adventures that we may never know." Ages 4 – 8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from October 10, 2016
In a visually striking and fittingly dark interpretation of a tragic fairy tale, a one-legged tin soldier falls in love with a paper ballerina. After falling from a window, the soldier begins a circuitous journey, eventually swallowed by a fish. Colored in bold reds, blacks, and grays, Yoon’s angular mixed-media prints highlight the soldier’s stoicism and the perils he faces. Yoon (The Tiger Who Would Be King) confronts the story’s darkest moments head on: when a cook cuts open the fish and discovers the soldier inside, its blood and entrails pour out grotesquely. And, as in the original Andersen, the soldier and ballerina’s relationship ends in fire, as they are incinerated in a stove. Ages 6–9.

September 28, 1992
The masterful pastel illustrations that distinguished the artist's Caldecott Honor-winning Puss in Boots transform yet another timeless tale into a modern classic. This graceful retelling of Andersen's touching story of true love between a malformed toy soldier and a paper ballerina is charged with both romance and heroism. Alternating perspectives achieve striking visual effect--toys and animals loom large as seen through the stoic vision of the brave soldier; at other points during his perilous journey he appears as a mere sliver of blue and red amid the city's bustle. The soft glow of candlelight imparts a shadowy warmth to the interior scenes, which feature a gaggle of handsomely turned out children admiring their Christmas bounty. Seidler's ( A Rat's Tale ; The Tar Pit ) polished prose perfectly complements the artwork: ``The tin soldier was so touched that he would have shed tin tears--if he hadn't been in uniform. As it was, he just looked at her, and she looked at him, neither of them saying a word.'' Though perfect for the holiday season, this exquisite book may well stay on the shelf year-round. All ages.