Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Le Vaillant Petit Tailleur (The Valiant Little Tailor) ~ Guest Post by Dave Cuzner

The two other people who instantly sprang to mind to guest post were Ward Jenkins and Dave Cuzner. Unfortunately (or fortunately for him) Ward was off vacationing at that place where the giant mouse lives, but thankfully, Dave kindly accepted my offer. Now, let me just say this, when I asked Dave, I seriously thought there was no chance in hell that he would say yes (much less write me back even.) You see, us little wee bloggers who love books and Mid-Century design and old "dusty things" look upon Dave as a God-like figure. Really, I bow at his feet in awe of his awesomness. His blog grain edit is my all time favorite blog EVER, and he has such immaculate taste. If you've ever visited, you know that his children's book collection is exquisite. (His house is pretty fabulous, too.) So without further blah blah and before I go all fan-girl freaky, welcome Dave and his tale of the tailor. And, comment on this post today to win a copy of the rare Dolli The Valiant Little Tailor. Winner will be announced tomorrow. Yesterday's give? The winner is celi.a. E-mail me, webe(at)soon(dot)com. ~ Scribbler

1963 by Desclee De Brouwer ~ Illustrations by E Probst

The Valiant Little Tailor is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. The story opens with a tailor who is preparing to eat some bread and jam. Seven flies try to land on the jam and he kills all the flies with one blow. Inspired by his accomplishment, he creates a belt describing his deed, "Seven with one blow" and sets out into the world to seek his fortune. Along the way the tailor runs into a host of characters who assume his belt refers to seven men (not flies). One of those characters is the King of the land who challenges the tailor to a series of tasks including the capture of a wild unicorn. In return for completion of these tasks, the King offers the tailor half his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage. From here the story gets wild! I don't want to give away all the details, so you'll just have read it for yourself.

The illustrations are credited to E. Probst. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much information on Mr. Probst. Is it possible that E. Probst is a pseudonym for Pierre Probst? If anyone knows, please leave a note in the comments. It's too bad, because the images are absolutely stunning!








18 comments:

collected orange said...

After one year in Paris, I'm just getting around to seeking out stories in French for my suddenly bilingual three year old. It's great for her and great for me as a new language does not come nearly as easily. Still, it's a bit strange to be untethered from the classics in English that I know so well. Nice to see a new way to branch out.

The illustrations in this book look incredible. The libraries seem to be a bit ruthless in their weeding around here, but I might have to just have a look and see if there's a copy of this around.

Caryn said...

I have never seen this book! It looks lovely! Thanks for sharing.

dan pinto said...

This book looks gorgeous! I can't believe Ive never heard of it. Thanks!

daysease said...

Such enjoyable illustrations!!! Looks like such a fun story that should be made into a film for kids!!! Neat!

dave said...

Thanks for all the kind words and for inviting me to contribute. It was fun! This site always inspires me.

If anyone is looking for a copy of this book, please leave a comment. I believe I have one extra copy.

Cecelia said...

Gorgeous illustrations!

A said...

Those illustrations are amazing.

Kimberly said...

Thanks for taking the time to share a guest post on this wonderful blog (that I only recently discovered). I look forward to checking out your blog -- if it's public. Le Vaillant Petit Tailleur looks like a lovely book. My son will be starting a French immersion kindergarten program next month, so it would be a fun book to have in our home.

Brooke said...

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous! Thank you, scribbler, for always introducing me to the best. stuff. ever.

Swati said...

I enjoyed this story, but not this book, when young. Thanks for reminding me!

Virginia said...

LOVE those illustrations! Thanks for posting. Now I'm going hunting...

heather kimura said...

love the illustrations. simple yet beautiful.

steven said...

wow illustrations they're like paintings or art or something. I've never seen things like that before . Wow. Far out Amazing

Antmusic said...

The illustrations for this version of "Le Vaillant Petit Tailleur" are awaesome. They reming me of James Flora's jazzy work. I wish I could read French! Like a lot of people in the US, I grew up with Disney's Mickey the Brave Little Tailor as my source for this story (I had a book and record of it). It is nice to see an alternate version of Grimm's The Valiant Little Tailor fairy tale! THANK YOU!

Jill said...

I'm pretty sure Disney made a movie of this story (a much abridged version, of course) with Mickey Mouse as the tailor.

I'd love to find a copy of this...

Unknown said...

Hi
I usually see this site and the GRAIN EDIT to. I love both.
I have a Portuguese virsion of this book.
Whene i found this in a market of second hand it was incredible because of those illustrations... I just buy it!!!

TheAuthor said...

I have this book!
Utterly bonkers illustrations.
I remember as a kid realising it was off the wall
thanks for adding it

john & catherine said...

Wow--what a great post all around.
Thanks for sharing.

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