#theatrical

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Storybook Kingdoms and Slightly Dramatic Adventures

This week, we’re wandering into the storybook kingdom of Peter and the Princess by Carl H. Grabo, with illustrations by John R. Neill and published in Chicago by Reilly & Lee in 1920. The book arrives straight out of that early 20th-century moment when fairy tales were becoming increasingly playful, visual, and delightfully theatrical.

Carl H. Grabo (1881-1955) was primarily known as a literary scholar, specializing in poetry and Romantic literature. This makes his turn toward fairy tales feel a little unexpected, in the best possible way. There is something charming about a serious scholar stepping briefly into the world of castles, adventure, and fairytale imagination. The story itself carries many familiar fairytale ingredients, royalty, quests, danger, and enchantment, but with the lighter, more whimsical tone that children’s literature of the 1920s often embraced.

The illustrations are by John R. Neill (1877-1943), whose work helped define the look of fantasy for generations of readers. Neill is best remembered today for his work on L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, where his swirling linework, expressive characters, and elaborate decorative details helped shape the visual identity of Oz itself. After Baum’s death, Neill even went on to write and illustrate additional Oz titles of his own.

This is exactly the kind of fairytale that feels designed for rainy afternoons and dramatic reading voices. Between Grabo’s storybook adventure and Neill’s gloriously detailed illustrations, the whole thing has the energy of a kingdom where absolutely everything is slightly more theatrical than necessary, which, personally, I fully support.

--Melissa (who thinks adventures are always improved by elaborate costumes and questionable decisions), Distinctive Collections Library Assistant 

-View previous Fairytale Friday posts