The Wild Swans (1981). Written by Hans Christian Andersen. Retold by Amy Ehrlich. Illustrated by Susan Jeffers. Motif: Evil Stepmother. This retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic folktale begins with "far, far away, in a warm and pleasant land, there once lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter." Unfortunately for the children, the king marries a wicked queen who despises the children. The evil stepmother sends the only daughter away to a family of farmers and casts a spell upon the brothers that turns them into wild swans. As soon as the sun rises and until nightfall, the brothers remain in the swan-form. After a kind fairy tells the princess how to release her brothers from the spell, she endures great pain to help them return to their human form. Wild Swans has a female character who is a strong, inspiring role model for young readers. Overall, Andersen and Ehrlich describe a beautiful tale of love and sacrifice. Target audience: ages 4-8.

I have never read this story before or any retelling of it. However, I thought it was such a wonderful read, but this version of the story had such beautiful pictures to match the unique storyline. It reminded me a lot of the swan princess, which I'm sure that's where the swan princess got it's inspiration from. Either way, to me it was an original and beautiful story coupled with lovely illustrations. It's something that I think I'd read to my children.

Beautiful illustrations! We love this fairy tale because the one sister saves all 11 of her brothers. She's a princess who selflessly save the day. So many good principles/lessons/discussiona here. Love this classic!

A retelling by Amy Ehrlich illustrated by Susan Jeffers. A good retelling of this fairy tale with beautiful and magical illustrations.

There are some wonderful elements to this story, I really like the little details that could only be found in a fairy tale, for example when the childrens father marries the evil stepmother she doesn't let them eat cake or baked apples at the wedding just a bit of sand in a teacup. I enjoyed the creativity of the curses and the impossible tasks that must be performed to free the ones you love. I love the sight and sound of swans flying and always like to imagine they have crowns on when they go overhead!

There are several scary parts to this as you might expect in a fairy tale, some ghouls are shown in the graveyard digging up the recently buried to eat their flesh, which parents of small children might want to be aware of. There is also an odd part when Elise is bathing her stepmother makes some toads go and sit on her to make her ugly and one grasps her breasts but luckily they get turned into poppies. Elise also gets sentenced to death and is about to be burnt alive so usual fairy tale stuff but it all works out well in the end!

This was my favorite Christmas gift. I don't know why my father gave the Susan Jeffers books from our childhood away, but I am going to collect every single one of them. They are some of the most gorgeous art I've ever seen.

Interesting artwork. Not a fan of this retelling but I like the story.

As a child, this was one of my favorite fairy tales. I doubted that this could live up to my expectations, but it did! The illustrations are beautifully rendered (even the rock in the middle of the ocean), and the adaptation retained the parts I remembered so well.

This fairy tale introduced me to the family of plants known as nettles. I first saw the plant growing in the wild in western Colorado. And, I touched it so I could experience the sting. (Note: I said 'touched.' Not handled or picked or squeezed.)

The Wild Swans has always been one of my top three favorite Fairy Tales! This story has a lot of things I love: swans, princesses, and some lovely Christian themes. I've never been upset about Princess Elise being "too perfect" because she is meant to be a good moral example! I actually like when Fairy Tale princesses are depicted with only minor flaws. Also, the illustrations are beautiful- Susan Jeffers is so talented, I would read anything she illustrated.

The story is Hans Christian Anderson, the pictures are Susan Jeffers, and both are beautiful. It's a very haunting story and it was one of my favorites when I was little.