Beautiful Book #9

Rapunzel, adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. Dutton: 1997. Caldecott Medal Winner, 1998.

Illustrated in the style of the Italian Renaissance masters, Zelinsky's take on Rapunzel is at once sumptuous and bibliographically grounded. An afterword discusses the history of the tale along with the textual choices Zalinsky made in his adaptation. But it's the artwork that sets it apart--even in cheaply reproduced Scholastic paperback versions of it. Try to lay your hands on the hardcover edition, though; it really is a cut above.