Bookverdict.com

Gr 1-4 Winter and Egielski succeed admirably in making the relationship between a Victorian librettist and a composer of comic operas accessible to children. More astonishing still is that the silliness and drama are rooted in reality, as revealed in the author's note. Readers initially encounter the dark cloud of poverty that characterized this period. The mood is lifted at the "topsy-turvy" world of the opera, but it quickly becomes evident that Sullivan is tired of the same old silly situations: "Fairies with battery-operated wings got married to stuffy ol...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

For the young Gilbert & Sullivan aficionado—or more likely the children of G&S fans who want to pass on their passion—this lightly fictionalized biography is as welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring. Winter's jaunty text follows a brief time during their collaboration when Sullivan became tired of setting Gilbert's repetitious plots to music—a conflict that is resolved with the creation of The Mikado, one of their most popular operettas. After quickly setting the scene ("Children worked in factories. Queen Victoria frowned. Everything was grim. Everything...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Winter's jaunty text follows a time when Sullivan became tired of setting Gilbert's repetitious plots to music--a conflict resolved by com...Log In or Sign Up to Read More