Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman (review)

In this original folk-type tale (available previously only online or as an audio file), Cinnamon is a South Asian princess who is blind and mute. Her father offers treasures for anyone who can teach her to speak, but all fail until a self-proclaimed man-eating tiger appears. When he proffers love, Cinnamon speaks, and when he describes to her the lush world outside the palace, she decides that she will leave with him. A nagging aunt and the tiger himself provide wry dark humor, and the tale’s trajectory offers a fairly oblique message about disability; the tiger’s love and the promise of walking a larger world alongside a fearless companion who handily dispatches naysayers will resonate deeply with children facing similar limitations. Stylized settings use flattened perspective to foreground the theatricality of the tale; most scenes contain a window or door in the background through which the foregrounded action is being observed. The overall effect is one of controlled serenity, but the windows in Cinnamon’s bedroom also serve to highlight her isolation from the outside world in sharp contrast to the cooling, lush greens of the jungles where she longs to be after meeting the tiger. Portraits of Cinnamon emphasize her beauty, while scale and the careful drafting of sinuous lines and a compelling illusion of eye contact make the tiger a powerfully arresting figure; child viewers will have no trouble understanding why Cinnamon chooses to leave with him.