The Lute's Tune - Hardcover

Grade 1-3-- In the best tradition of folktales, the poor young man with the special gift comes before the King, and his simple but powerful ability or object works its magic. Not so here. This original story, fraught with inconsistencies, uses the ``helpless princess who must be awakened'' theme but with an ethereal, otherworldly twist. An orphan boy, Kaal, with little to his name but a lute, is asked to play for the King's ill daughter so he may cure her with the power of his songs. But even the lute's magical strings--for now the instrument seems to have inexplicably taken on a life of its own--fails to rouse her. It awakens her spirit, however, and even coaxes Kaal's out of his own body; and the two spirits meet and share a glimpse of freedom in a world where they can be ``forever young and never die.'' Although the prose is written in the manner and tone of a traditional tale, it is clumsy. The premise is difficult to swallow (or even understand), and there are several fantasy elements that are awkwardly introduced. Although the softly detailed full-page illustrations are bordered with flowers and vine leaves that reinforce the mood the prose tries to establish, many of the figures are stiff and posed. At the end, when the King has accepted his daughter's death, readers may wonder about the point of the story and if any of this was worth the effort. --Jane Marino, White Plains Pub . Lib . , NY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As a gifted young lutenist tries to rouse a dying princess with his music, her spirit coaxes him to join her in the beautiful netherworld; instead, he chooses to stay, at least for a time, with those who need him--his poverty-stricken neighbors and the grieving king. The princess promises to wait. Dim lighting and pale floral borders give this picture book for older readers a subdued background well suited to Cieslawski's diaphanous ghosts and eerily twisted foliage. But Freschet's stiffly formal prose (``The music I play is more filling to me than the bread I could buy with a fortune'') will keep readers at a distance; like the illustrator, she is more successful in creating atmosphere than in supplying the small details of plot and character that bring a story to life. Except for a twist on the conventional happy ending, mood is about all this has to offer. (Picture book. 10+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.