Review: Snow White

What I’m Reading: Snow White by Matt Phelan
Published By: Candlewick Press, September 2016

This is a graphic novel retelling the classic Snow White story in 1920’s New York. The year is 1928. Everything glitters and shines and it always will.
The Players: Samantha White, adored daughter who has been sent away to school.
The Stepmother, the so-called Queen of the Follies, star of the Ziegfield Theater.
Mr. White, Samantha’s father and the King of Wall Street.
The book is almost all in black and white with just occasional splashes of red. The story is pretty much what you’d expect from Snow White, but most of it is told without words. Entire pages will go by with just one or two word balloons.

I really liked this book. It’s not probably one I’ll go back to frequently, but it’s stuck with me since I read it. The illustrations are beautiful and nuanced. I read Phelan’s Around the World last year and was very taken by the illustrations.
I especially loved the way the book opens. The NYPD investigating the mysterious appearance of a young girl in the Macy’s Christmas window display. It’s an amazing image.
If you’re a graphic novel fan, I highly recommend this one.