The Six Servants - Anthea Bell, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Sergei Goloshapov, S Goloshapov
The Six Servants is the story of a prince determined to win the hand of a princess guarded by her mother – an evil sorceress set on destroying any man who seeks her daughter’s hand. Along his way to the princess, the prince meets six unique individuals - a giant man with a belly the size of a mountain, another with keen hearing, one more with powerful eyesight, a man taller than the highest mountain, a blindfolded man with a strange power, and a shivering man with intensely opposite reactions to cold and heat. They all offer to be his servants and help him in his quest. This turns out to be very convenient as the queen tasks all suitors with three impossible tasks. It’s a really enjoyable and story as the reader tries to determine how the six servants will use their various skills to help the prince achieve his goal. The illustrations by Sergei Goloshapov are certainly unique and skillful, but they convey an overly ominous tone that I wouldn’t personally have chosen for this story. Still recommend since, as far as I can tell, this is the only picture book version of this tale.