The Steadfast Tin Soldier – Hans Christian Andersen and JooHee Yoon
The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen, retold and illustrated by JooHee Yoon / ISBN 9781592702022 / 64-page hardcover from Enchanted Lion.
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A New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book
This book was printed with custom inks on unique textured paper, lovely choices made to ensure a graphically striking book that will hold attention and catch the eye. The Steadfast Tin Soldier is the first story Andersen wrote without a folktale source or literary model, so it stands as a completely original work of the imagination, which changed the fairytale genre for all time.
“There were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers. They were all brothers, born of the same old tin spoon. . . . All looked exactly alike except one. He looked a little different as he had been cast last of all. The tin was short, so he had only one leg… But just you see, he’ll be the remarkable one.”
So begins Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale of good and evil; purity and personality; fate and grace. In this boldly-illustrated contemporary retelling, Yoon takes on the harshness and poignancy of the story, leaving readers with the sense that nothing is ever lost; it just changes shape and continues anew.
“This tale has love, envy, adventure, and the traditional tragic Andersen ending. Yoon has retold the story for a new generation of readers and illustrated it with her distinctive graphic-style mixed-media art. Done with a limited palette, the intense visual elements complement the high drama of the plot, and the detail and use of perspective are exquisite. There are many other picture book versions of this story, yet Yoon brings a fresh look and an accessible narrative. … This imaginative and appealing interpretation of the classic story is a must-have for any fairy-tale collection.” —Kris Hickey, Columbus Metropolitan Library, School Library Journal
JooHee Yoon is an award-winning (Forbes 30 under 30, New York Times Best Illustrated 2015, Society of Illustrators NY Gold) illustrator and printmaker committed to the art of bookmaking. She enjoys combining illustration with design and using both traditional and industrial printing techniques. Rather than a single approach, she tries to match the tone of each project. She strives to create picture books that work on many levels and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Yoon has three other titles with Enchanted Lion Books: Beastly Verse, The Tiger Who Would Be King and Up Down Inside Out.
