My First Neil Gaiman Book - The Sleeper and the Spindle

TITLE: The Sleeper and the Spindle
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (illustrator)
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing
PUBLISHING DATE: May 3, 2014

FROM GOODREADS: A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.

MY THOUGHTS:   This was a short book/story I grabbed from the library when I saw it on the "newly arrived" shelf a few weeks ago. I had been interested in it when it was released, and simply couldn't pass it up. "The Sleeper and the Spindle" is a sort of fairy tale retelling/mash up and reminded me of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The tale is fairly short and I don't want to give anything away but it's definitely a dark tale ,which made the story all so much more enjoyable for me. I love the young queen who sets out on the adventure to save the sleeping kingdom and the ending is perfect. I have to mention the artwork. I've always been a fan of Chris Riddell's art and the illustrations in this book are absolutely gorgeous! It's almost worth reading it for the artwork alone!

MY RATING: 4 PAWS