A lonely old ogre who likes to eat children commits terrible depredations on the surrounding human settlements in this picture-book from Tomi Ungerer, forcing people to hide their young. The ogre, now finding it difficult to locate his favorite food, becomes ever more hungry, and ever more grumpy. Enter Zeralda, a young cook and gourmand living with her farmer father far from any town. When Zeralda runs into the ogre on her way to market, her compassion for the hungry creature, passed out after a surprise dive onto her cart, leads her to cook him a delicious meal. This, in turn, leads to her eventual role as his cook, and his renunciation of child-devouring. So complete is Zeralda's reform of her ogre, that when she grows into a beautiful woman, they get married and have children.

Originally published in Switzerland in 1967 as Zeralda's Riese, this classic original fairy-tale reminds me quite a bit of Tomi Ungerer's The Three Robbers (1961), which also features fearsome adult figures who are reformed by a young girl-child. Whether this is intended as a commentary on the innocence of the young, or simply their potential to see wrong-doers without fear or anger, as people needing help rather than deserving punishment, is up for debate. Whatever the case may be, the story here felt both wholly original and satisfyingly folkloric. The ending, as is to be expected from Ungerer, was completely unexpected. The artwork (again, not unexpectedly), was immensely appealing, capturing the ogre's fearsome villainy and Zeralda's matter-of-fact kindness perfectly. Recommended to all Tomi Ungerer fans, and to anyone looking for original fairy-tales. ( )

This book could easily be kind of disturbing but it's pretty cute. I suppose like most fairy tales it is a triumph of kindness and goodwill over the dark forces in the world. ( )

4 ans ( )