Reviews

Dulcinea in the Forbidden Forest by Ole Könnecke

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erica_s's review

3.0

About the same length as a folktale, and with similar characters to a folktale, but with a slightly different story than any of the known European folktales that have already been collected, published, and shared.

There are also weird mixed messages. For example; a gate in the fence to illustrate Dulcinea's father telling her never to enter into the forest...and then the father going right through the gate just 2 pages later.

There is humor, a clever heroine, a helpless parent, and a best-animal-friend, illustrated by simple line drawings filled in with a limited color palette of faded red, pale brown, grey, and black.

The publisher states clearly that their goal is to celebrate "unsameness" and encourage readers to be thoughtful & inquisitive, offering books that provide challenging and funny ways of seeing the world. (...from the backmatter.) In this effort, they don't completely fail, but they don't stand out much, either.

msobel3's review

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

madhamster's review

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4.0

Bravo for a quick thinking Dulcinea, and a loving father, and, thankfully, for a quite stupid witch.

roseannmvp's review

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5.0

Bravo! What a wonderful, quick, lovely tale of the little girl who saves her loving father from an evil forest witch!
Translation is sweet.
A fairytale by Ole Konnecke (Gecko Press)

mat_tobin's review

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4.0

Dulcinea is very happy living in the woods with her father and the animals who provide for them. Although her father always allows her to play and explore and take risks, travelling into the forest beyond their land is forbidden for it is ruled by a terrible, angry witch. Yet when Dulcinea's birthday arrives and they released they're missing blueberries for her pancakes, her father 'must' break his own vow and enter the forest for the fruit...

Set with a variety of fairy-tale elements yet with a modern, female character full of sharp wits, Dulcinea is full of minimal yet delightfully surreal illustrations throughout. The confrontation between the witch and Dulcinea is fab. The story, presented in chapters, borders between brief writing but with a rich use of language. Translated by Shelley Tanaka.