The Mysterious Tale of Gentle Jack and Lord Bumblebee

You can't argue with the critics of old who elevate the works of George Sand. I ordered this book because the art work was done by Gennady Spirin and the illustrations are plentiful, colorful and intriguing. I have many books illustrated by him and have found them consistently good. I had not heard of this story before. Background explained in the book says that Sand used to tell her children stories at bedtime and this was among them. You can almost see how the story grows and changes as if it was going in one direction and then was altered to go in another, lest the children figure out the end before their mother was ready to reveal it. Structurally it falls apart and is thematically confusing. But there is so much of the magical in it that even though the plot rambles with many offshoots (some of them inadequately explained) the story holds the interest of young children. This story does have moral values, but if you are looking for something that has a CLEAR CUT moral message, this isn't it.

Beautiful illustrations

just what was needed,as it happens.perfect job for replacing the aforementioned water retarded reading equipment,just as we hoped for,yippee,thanks.xxgoodbye,one m