Elizabeth Bird

Review of the Day: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Part One)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

By Gris Grimly

Atheneum (S&S imprint)

$16.99

ISBN: 978-1416906254

Ages 5 and up

On shelves now

You ever get that feeling where a book comes out and your immediate reaction is, "WELL, IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME!"? I tend to get this feeling only about books that it never would have occurred to me to hope for. A kid-friendly version of "Sleepy Hollow"? It seems self-evident when you say it like that, but I don't prowl the stacks of my library looking for classics to freshen up. I leave that sort of thing to the professionals. Professionals going by pseudonyms like, "Gris Grimly" and the like. What we have here in our possession is a tidy little item with a certain panache and flair. Faithful to the original text (albeit with judicious cutting and abridgement here and there) Grimly brings Irving's story to macabre life right before our eyes. Any book that has the wherewithal to introduce a classic tale to kids in a manner that they will not only understand but also seek out voluntarily should be considered in full. In Mr. Grimly we've real kid-sensibilities alongside some good old-fashioned storytelling horrors. Mr. Irving would be so pleased.

At the risk of sounding trite, you all know the story of "Sleepy Hollow" do you not? No, not the Tim Burton movie, sillies. This is the tale of the schoolteacher Ichabod Crane who, in spite of his innate goofiness and gall, was apparently the most desirable schoolteacher this side of the Mississippi. Sure, he looked like a "scarecrow eloped from a cornfield," but in a town as small as Sleepy Hollow, any fellow with even a scant bit of intellectualism about him is worth checking out. But Ichabod doesn't set his sights on just anyone. Oh no. He's impressed with only the richest girl in the county, Katrina Van Tassel. Unfortunately for him, she is currently being wooed by the local county swain Brom Van Brunt a.k.a. Brom Bones. Ichabod is keen for the challenge however, and after being invited to a dance at the Van Tassel manor it looks as if all his hopes and dreams might come true. After a possible rejection, however, the naturally superstitious teacher finds himself going home, alone, from the party. It is then that he runs across the notorious supernatural figure that all the county discusses: The Headless Horseman. Whether the horseman truly does spirit away the teacher or whether Ichabod merely flees Sleepy Hollow for good is not known. What people do know, though, is that all that remains is his hat and a shattered pumpkin along the side of a brook.

As a kid, I was always mildly baffled that Ichabod was not supposed to be the hero of his own story. If you've watched the Disney version of the tale (and I'll get to that later) then Brom Bones comes off as a bit of a jerk. This feeling isn't alleviated any by Grimly's adaptation, but it makes for an interesting change of pace from those other tales of rivals in love. In terms of the story itself, there is much here that a kid will incline towards. It's rare to find a title for kids where the protagonist is A) human and B) and adult. Nigh unto impossible, almost. Still, Ichabod with all his flaws and greed is a quintessentially American figure. I'm a little shocked no one's ever updated him into a contemporary book or movie. Talk about ripe pickings.

Some will write off the book as just another graphic novel, which is not entirely unwarranted, but also not entirely fair. I mean, what is it about this book that strikes you as comic booky? There aren't any word balloons or snatches of dialogue. There are panels, however, and often they will display action sequences in a linear fashion. Just the same, I think that it's safe to say that this book falls squarely into the category of "indefinable entity". It's maybe best described merely as an "illustrated novel", and nothing more.

But really, the art is what makes it more than just a visual adaptation. On examining this book closer I found that often the lines on a character's mouth would often extend far beyond the limits of their own face. If Ichabod smiles, for example, them the line of his smile carries on long after the flesh has ceased. At first I mistook this for some kind of moustache or facial hair, but then I found that everyone (except possibly Katrina) suffers the same technique. It's interesting to consider. Does it indicate an extreme emotion or does it merely give one character or another a bit of visual pizzazz? Gris Grimly isn't known for his sexy females (though Bella of the book "Boris and Bella comes close) so it's interesting to see him work his magic on the character of Katrina. She's all delicately lowered eyelids and curves. Grimly's style in this book is restrained, it seems, and it plumbs the inner recesses of the "Sleepy Hollow" tale for all the humor it's worth. It's not a bad idea, really. When Ichabod cuts a rug you've never seen a more ridiculous sight. For finding the funny in both the implied and the obvious, Grimly pairs nicely with Irving's fabulous text.

(CONTINUED IN PART TWO)

Posted by Elizabeth Bird on October 30, 2007 | Comments (0)