2022 EDIT: Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, and magical and adorable and sweet.
Sisterly love FTW.
Final Score: 4.5/5
Original Review:
The artwork is gorgeous.
Lovely, colourful. Seriously, even ignoring the film it's based on, 'Frozen: A Sister More Like Me' is worth looking at for its style alone.
But it's not just that that makes it a beautiful and fun little picture book. 'A Sister More Like Me' follows the story of the hit 2013 Disney flick 'Frozen', but with the two leads, the sisters Elsa and Anna, as the only focus as we see the growing pains (and triumphs) of their relationship. No other character from the film appears here, except for Olaf the snowman, who's in a couple of pages (which makes sense since he does play a key part in the sisters' complex bond).
I really liked 'Frozen' - in its finished product it's a positive step for Disney when representing women and their relationship with one another to a family audience. With showstopping songs, spectacular animation, and its deconstructing the Disney fairy tale formula - like the many ways the "true love" notion can be interpreted - quite a lot of the movie's praise is deserved, in my opinion. So I wanted to check out 'A Sister More Like Me', despite its target age group.
Told in verse from the perspectives of both Elsa and Anna, the book is such a joy to read that I don't feel embarrassed to own something for kids which is also a product of the Disney corporation.
The two girls are polar opposites: Elsa is neat and poised and repressive of her gifts, while Anna is fun-loving and optimistic and fearless. In order for the reader to tell them apart, Elsa's verses are in purple and Anna's are in orange (although on a few pages this doesn't show well - with different background colours and all - so it can get confusing. But the girls' voices are relatively easy to differentiate anyway, so it didn't bother me much).
Anna is a clumsy and often lazy goof - traditionally not how a princess should be - but she has a big heart, and her love for her sister is as wonderfully presented in this book as it is in the film. She doesn't care what others might think of her. Unlike the regal Elsa, the future queen of Arendelle who, due to her snowy magic, has shut herself away from everyone, including her own sister. She remains aloof even after becoming queen; in fact more than ever this makes it even more crucial that she not let people in her life. Anna tries to get her big sister to come out of her "perfect" shell and play with her, unaware of Elsa's potentially dangerous power over ice and snow.
Elsa is my favourite character in the movie - a queen who isn't evil but only misunderstood? Epic win. She is just a fantastically-written, multi-layered character; a true study of an introvert and someone suffering from depression and anxiety. To see Queen Elsa drawn in fascinating artwork, and to read her viewpoint in purple verse, was great fun.
I want to talk a bit more about the artwork. The illustrator, Brittney Lee, is a visual development artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios. She had worked on 'Frozen', and it shows - shows what an awesome companion 'A Sister More Like Me' is to the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The cover in particular is attention-grabbing, with the smiling Anna hanging upside-down and Elsa looking up a little distance away with both love and pain. This symbolises the division in their personalities and their relationship, with one sister wanting to understand the other and their common wish for closeness if not for one's "curse". Their contrasting colour schemes and character designs make this more apparent. I also like how Anna is just hanging in the air like magic, while Elsa is shown to be much more grounded; funny considering that she's the one with icy powers.
In terms of story, 'A Sister More Like Me' is a nice representation of how two siblings wish the other could be more similar to themselves, so that they'll feel less lonely. Anna wishes for a sister who is also a friend (as a youngest sibling myself, I could relate to this, especially when the older sibling suddenly stops playing with and seeing the younger one: a very real part of growing up). Elsa may look like she prefers isolation with her secret, but perhaps deep down she wishes for a sister with a gift like hers, so that she'll not be alone in the world and would less likely hurt a friend with her powers.
But there is an important lesson taught to children here: That what you already have might be the best thing you could ever wish for. Change is scary, especially when it happens in the family. However it can be a good thing, like a learning curve in understanding how other people feel and act. Anna's and Elsa's differences are what will make them love each other all the better, for in one sister's eyes the other is interesting and special in her own way. They can get along side-by-side. Love is born out of understanding and dedication, and warm hugs!
'Frozen: A Sister More Like Me' - overall an adorable and magical title with fantastic art that focuses on the relationship between two awesome sisters who also happen to be princesses. Recommended for fans of the film - young and old - and parents looking for a read-along book with a unique and powerful message.
This is not something that children will forget anytime soon.
Final Score: 4.5/5
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