Ladybird Tuesday - Snow White and Rose Red

The Ladybird book Snow White and Rose Red is part of the Well-Loved Tales, Series 606D, and I own several other books in this series. This particular copy is one of the more recent books, with a shinier cover and green spine. The look and format of the books changed in 1979, when this book was published. At Mrs Fox's you can see a review of the original version of the tale Snow White and Rose Red. The text in my copy seems to be the same, but the illustrations are very different and the text is also printed on both sides of the full page spread, not in the usual Ladybird style where text is found on the left and illustrations on the right.

I wasn't familiar with the story of Snow White and Rose Red. It's a bit confusing, because the character of Snow White in this book is different to the more well known Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This story is about two sisters who are very close to each other, and yet also different in both character and appearance.

There is still a dwarf in the story, although this is a rude and ungrateful dwarf that doesn't appreciate it when the girls save his life on several occasions. They also help out a large bear that spends the winter with them, and when he kills the dwarf an enchantment is broken which reveals him to be a prince. He then marries Snow White, leaving Rose Red to marry his brother, and they all live happily ever after with their mother in a castle filled with treasure.

It's a pretty typical fairytale, written in a simple way for children to understand and with plenty of illustrations. I did feel a bit sorry for Rose Red though, who has to marry the unknown prince, but it's still a lovely addition to my collection!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood