The Love for Three Oranges

This picture-book version of Prokofiev's opera kicks off the Musical Stories series. Polish illustrator Gaudasinska endearingly renders the depressed Prince who needs to laugh, the witch who sentences him to fall in love with a trio of oranges and the rest of Prokofiev's cast as long-nosed wooden puppets. Their stiff-legged poses, along with the crisp-edged silhouettes, folk motifs and sunny watercolor wash convey the artificiality of a theatrical production with classic harlequin wit. The text, by contrast, falters. The lengthy narrative feels flat-footed, even in moments of what should be high comedy: "[The witch] tripped over the hems of her layered skirts and promptly ended up on the floor in front of the Prince,... her absurd stripy knickers exposed for all to see." And, as to one of the opera's running gags—the argument of two factions of spectators over what course the opera should take, and their attempts to hijack the performance? Alas, the subplot doesn't make it into print, and the nature of the "audience" mentioned on the first and last pages is never made clear. It's not easy to turn an opera into a book. But perhaps young readers will be so busy inspecting Gaudasinska's imaginative work that they won't mind the awkward text. Ages 7-9. (Sept.)