Once Upon A Dream By Charles Solomon Book Review!

Once Upon a Dream by Charles Solomon is a refreshing look at the history of Sleeping Beauty and her evil counterpart Maleficent!

The first thing that struck me about this book was the beautiful cover. On it we see not only scenes from the original Sleeping Beauty (1959) but from the amazing new retelling of the story from a different point of view Maleficent (2014). Although both movies are a stark contrast from each other the cover blends them beautifully with a royal blue background. When you take the jacket off you notice the book is printed with the same cover which is a bit more costly and rare but a beautiful addition to the book.

The book starts off with the history of Sleeping Beauty and how it came to be from the story to beautifully adapted ballet’s that paved the path for the story to become what it has. It’s a riveting history told beautifully by Charles Solomon who sums up the beauty behind the story in a way that makes you hope the book never ends. The equally beautiful illustrations catch your eye and make you want to keep turning the pages. What I loved most about them was that they weren’t all just one style of illustrations as it beautifully mapped out the different ways artists have interpreted Sleeping Beauty over the years.

The second part of the book chronicles how the classic Disney film came to be and the process behind the movie.  Every Disney fan will love reading this part of the book as it takes you inside the process and the minds of the people who made Sleeping beauty what it is today. From Walt Disney’s amazing imagination to the screen you see every step of how it was made an even things you may not have known prior to reading the book.

The last part of the book takes you behind the scenes of the newly released movie Maleficent starring the impeccable Angelina Jolie. In this part of the book we see how the evil fairy’s side of the story was shaped and molded into the amazing movie. We see not only beautiful pictures but beautiful scenery and even a full page spread of Elle Fanning sleeping in the beautiful bed in the castle bewitched by the curse that haunts her which will leave you in awe.  Although the story differs from the original we still see the same ambition and imagination thrown into this story that was crafted into Sleeping Beauty as well.

Overall I think as an avid reader I enjoyed this book an incredible amount. I recommend it for kids 11+ just because there’s a lot of paragraphs and some tough words but I also think it’s a great book to read to your kids before bed or nap time to give them pleasant dreams of beautiful castles and daring rescues.  This is a book that will surely become a timeless classic.

Grade: A+

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