Taken from a play (called a "masque") by John Milton, Comus is the story of three children who find themselves lost deep in the woods and at the mercy of a dark magician/God by the name of Comus. Comus wants to make the sister one of his playthings and takes her to his lair, and it's up to the boys, with the help of the Good Spirit, to save her.

Love the story. One of those that has its origins in folklore and mythology (Comus is the son of Bacchus and Circe) with the best markers of fairy tale thrown in. The artwork in this adaptation is gorgeous, and I especially loved the look of Comus' many monsters.

Adding this library sale find to my Little Free Library for some Lady or young sir to discover. ( )

Media: Water color and pencil

Genre: This book is a good example of a Folk tale because the characters, the Good Spirit that lives on the rainbow and Comus the evil demon living in the forest, are supernatural beings and the story has been passed down from generation to generation in England and has characters of good and characters of evil.

Summary: Three children, two brothers and a sister, get lost in the forest. Comus puts a spell on the girl Alice and tricks her back into his palace where he wants to turn her into an evil creature, but the Good Spirit comes and helps the two brothers rescue her and they all make it home safe.

Plot: The events and the sequence they are in are crucial in communicating the story's theme because the book is an overall battle of good vs. evil, having first Alice be tricked by the evil and then the two brothers getting help from a Good Spirit in order to defeat evil Comus in the end and good triumphs over all. ( )

Three royal children head out to play in the forest. There they are separated, one is absconded with by an evil magician, Comus, the other two are aided by a Good Spirit from the heavens above, . All meet up in Comus' dark caves where he keeps imprisoned all of his previous prey, now turned into hideous monsters. There is quite a spectacular scene where the children, with the assistance of the lovely nearby water nymph, Sabrina, overcome the dreadful Comus and escape.

The retelling of this old tale originally conceived by John Milton centuries ago makes it a classic fairy tale for modern children. The language is smart and dramatic. The brilliant oil paintings by Trina Schart Hyman richly depict the dark, foreboding forest, the grotesque monsters, the good and beautiful nymph and the heroic escape. ( )