Review: COUNT SILVERNOSE: A STORY FROM ITALY by Eric Kimmel

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kimmel, Eric A., retold. 1996. Count Silvernose: A Story from Italy. Ill. by Omar Rayyan. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823412164

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a retelling of a classic Italian folktale as written in Italian Folktales by Italo Cavino. This is the story of three sisters. The two younger sisters are beautiful but foolish. The eldest, Assunta, makes up for her lack of beauty with her wit and courage.

When Count Silvernose rides up to their home and asks their mother for one of her daughters one by one the youngest leap at the chance to ride off with the strange gentleman. When the count comes back to report that both of her sisters are dead, Assunta decides to rescue her sisters or at least avenge their deaths. She wittingly fools the count and sends both young girls back home while beating Count Silvernose at his own game by thrusting him into the brimstone.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In Count Silvernose, Kimmel incorporates into the story the traditional washerwomen of 14th century Italy as the chore given to the sisters by the count was to wash twelve rooms full of dirty laundry. Also, the count’s silver nose is attributed to the fact that noblemen used to wear a gold or silver replacement whenever they would lose their nose during a sword fight. The illustrations by Rayyan also set the tone for the early Italian time period of the story. The beautiful sketches are reconstructions of sketches from a diPerugia’s 1504 sketchbook of Italy’s washerwomen. The ragged edges of the pages further the illusion that these are actually pages that have survived for hundreds of years.

The similarities between Count Silvernose and Blue Beard are unmistakable from the facial abnormality to the missing girls and right down to the key to the forbidden door. Older children will be better able to appreciate the ghastly story of the goblins in the brimstone and Assunta’s plan to deceive the count by removing her glass eye. Also, some of the illustrations may be somewhat frightening for very young children.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “Kimmel's smooth, richly detailed narrative differs significantly from the source cited, building on its basic framework and adding original interpretation and characterization.”
BOOKLIST review: “Perfect for convincing older children that picture books aren't just for preschoolers.”

5. CONNECTIONS
The detailed illustrations can be used to supplement a study of Italian art especially the color schemes and flowing lines.

The book lends itself very well to a compare/contrast study between Count Silvernose and Blue Beard.

Using stories from Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales collection, students can create their own retelling of one of the folktales.