You already know the story of Snow White. You know about her wicked stepmother’s jealousy of Snow White’s beauty and her attempt to order the huntsman to kill her. You know about the seven dwarfs who help Snow White and the poisoned apple that she eventually bites. You know about the stepmother’s downfall and the way the prince comes and saves Snow White.
But you haven’t seen the story retold like this before.
In Snow White: A Graphic Novel (2016), Matt Phelan reinvents this familiar tale.
Phelan moves the story into New York City in 1928. The Twenties are roaring, the city is bustling, and for a girl called Snow, it seems like a wonderful time.
All of that changes, of course, as the story goes. On the run in the streets of New York City, Snow is taken in by a group of young street urchins who help hide her. Meanwhile the wicked stepmother’s mirror has been re-imagined as a ticker tape machine and Snow’s charming prince is a no-nonsense police detective.
Phelan uses minimal text and large illustrations to tell this story. With detailed panels focused on the characters, Snow White brings to mind film stills as much as illustrations. Flipping through the pages with large text marking each chapter heading makes this graphic novel feel like a silent film brought onto the page.
Bold drawings and attention to historic detail set this retelling apart and mark it as a real charmer. This story operates well within the historical period and capitalizes on it to create a very unique interpretation of a classic fairy tale.
Snow White: A Graphic Novel is a beautiful book with a story that is cleverly told and illustrated. Not to be missed.
Possible Pairings: Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George, Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Giselle Potter; Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan, The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde
Miss Print 