Born in 1899 in Berlin, Lotte Reiniger loved both traditional tales and an emerging technology known as movies as a girl. In this strikingly designed picture-book biography, Robinson explains how Reiniger not only combined both passions but revolutionized early filmmaking. Lengthier text describes her influences (such as a gift of Chinese puppets and making her own papercut characters) and work with film crews, during which she began experimenting with stop-motion animation. The final section details the production of Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the first full-length fairy tale movie, featuring her signature silhouette papercuts and filmed with a multiplane camera that she invented. In tribute to the filmmaker's style and time period, each section is introduced with "intertitle" plaques reminiscent of silent films. In turn, black backgrounds allow the art (created using scissor-cut silhouette, watercolors, and felt pen) in both white and vibrant colors to shine. A concluding author's note provides more information on Reiniger's career making animated fairy tale films and her lasting legacy. Blending innovative art and engineering, her story is quintessential STEAM.

Lyrical writing and fanciful scissor-cut, watercolor, and felt pen illustrations are a perfect match for this sophisticated exploration of the life and work of groundbreaking animator Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (1899-1981), told in three parts. Each section begins with an elegant title card, as if the reader were watching a silent film. Part one focuses on young Lotte's early life in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Berlin, establishing her love of fairy tales and cinema. After receiving a gift of articulating Chinese puppets, her life is forever changed from being "a reader and viewer of stories into a teller of stories." As a teenager, her unique interests in both acting and Scherenschnitte ("scissor cuts") lead to an opportunity to experiment with stop-motion in what becomes a wildly popular film. Parts two and three chronicle her meeting of her future husband/creative partner, introduction to the Tricktisch (or "trick/animation table"), and journey to create the first animated fairy-tale feature film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Every spread offers an exceptional visual experience, regularly amplifying aspects of the narrative. For example, winding film tape gracefully draws the reader's eye across the page, while a stunning vertically orientated layout reinforces how a multiplane camera works. Vivid watercolor washes, similar to dyes used throughout Reiniger's films, pop against the mostly black backgrounds and silhouetted figures. Substantial back matter includes bibliographic resources as well as an author's note summarizing Reiniger's multi-decade career (and acknowledging the orientalism found in her early work).

Robinson (The Bluest of Blues) serves up a thorough, absorbing biography of Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981), an animation pioneer virtually unknown in North America, paying homage by illustrating partially with the meticulous cut-paper technique used by the animator herself. Berlin-born Reiniger is -a modern girl who loved traditional tales- as well as a specific new technology: silent film. Combining two concepts-flat, rod-style -Chinese puppets- received as a gift, and the art of Scherenschnitte-she begins creating moving figures that she stages in her own fairy tale dramas. An alliance with an actor leads to collaboration and finally to her own films-including the first feature-length, stop-motion animated movie. Robinson-s intricate illustrations use a variety of visual techniques, including cut-paper silhouettes and replicas of silent film -intertitles.- Dense text details aspects of film technology, especially the assembly that makes stop-motion possible, but elides age-appropriate explanations of what back matter contextualizes as -orientalism- in Reiniger-s work. Reiniger-s determination inspires in this visually arresting picture book, as does the reminder that animation started with very simple tools. Back matter includes an author-s note. Ages 6-9. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary. (Feb.)-