The Pied Piper of Hamelin - Sara Corrin, Stephen Corrin, Errol Le Cain
Pretty much everyone knows the story of Hamelin - the town with the famous little problem that eventually pays the ultimate price for their pride and folly. It's one of my very favorite stories and I was thrilled to recently find the Robert Browning poem included in my Kate Greenaway collection. My excitement didn't last long - the poem really is a bit dry and overlong and not particularly appealing to children. Even Kate Greenaway's darling illustrations couldn't do much to change the facts.

I didn't think much more about it until one of my goodreads friends (Lisa) began a quest to find various illustrated versions of this tale. And of course, another goodreads friend (Abigail) came to the rescue and supplied her with a hearty list. This version in particular was the unanimous favorite so I knew I had to obtain a copy. So confident was I in Lisa and Abigail's recommendations that I ordered a copy for purchase sight unseen. Not surprisingly, my faith was rewarded!

This is a lovely prose adaptation of the story by Sara and Stephen Corrin - simple and straightforward, but very engaging. But then there are the illustrations by Errol Le Cain - wow! A truly perfect blend that honors both the story's eerie themes and its medieval roots. The townspeople are particularly fascinating. I really love how he decided to portray the Mayor as a corpulent, slightly menacing, androgynous sort - he's the real villain of the story after all! Then if you can pull your eyes away from all of the action in the foreground you will see all the painstaking care he took in creating a very authentic looking medieval town. Honestly, the cover illustration, while lovely, is really one of the weakest of the bunch. Highly recommended!

And through all of this I was reunited with a favorite illustrator from my childhood. Le Cain also happens to be the illustrator of one of my favorite versions of Aladdin