Kirkus Reviews

Craft's first book is a retelling of the famous story of Psyche, who is so beautiful that Venus, the goddess of beauty, is jealous. She sends her son, Cupid, to punish the mortal, but he falls in love with her. When Psyche fails to trust that love, she must perform seemingly impossible tasks to win Cupid back. The text flows smoothly and retains a touch of formality, giving the story a suitably ancient resonance. The radiant oil- over-watercolor paintings are exquisitely detailed, filled with intricacies that reward long and careful scrutiny. The design of the book is meticulous, from an unusual, yet readable, typeface to the ornate borders, some of which resemble gold jewelry more than paintings. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)"

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1996)

In this Greek myth, Cupid falls in love with Psyche and treats her royally but does not reveal himself. When Psyche tries to discover his identity, Cupid leaves her, but she wins him back by accomplishing three difficult tasks. Recalling an earlier artistic era, the occasionally ornate romantic paintings--some of them quite dramatic--feature detailed landscapes and beautiful figures in flowing drapery.

ALA Booklist (Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 1996)

for reading aloud. Doris Orgel's The Princess and the God retells this archetypal love story for an older audience in Psyche's personal narrative voice with drama and passion and no illustrations. Here, the telling is simple and direct; the text is really a basis for the glowing narrative art. Craft's 40 full-page framed paintings, done in oil over watercolor, are lush and romantic in the style of the old European masters, with tempestuous goddesses and brooding landscapes that draw you deeper and deeper into the dark. The light is always around Psyche, the glamorous maiden, who acts out the tale of love and trickery, betrayal and courage. Readers will see the connections with all our versions of Beauty and the Beast, and this would be a good book to use across the curriculum for units on myth, literature, and art. (Reviewed July 1996)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--The late post-Hellenistic story of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche is more fairy tale than myth. It allegorically represents the maturing of the soul (psyche) under the influence of love (eros). Craft retells Apuleius's story (although Apuleius's name nowhere appears) with several minor and two significant changes. When Venus seeks revenge on the too-beautiful Psyche, she instructs her son to make the girl a slave (in various translations) to an "unworthy," "poor and abject," or "ugly and monstrous" love. Craft's charge is to make her love "the most frightening creature in the world," neatly meshing with the description of Cupid as one whose power even the gods fear. In abridging the story, Craft loses some of the tension in the family drama of the sisters' envy, Venus's enmity, and Psyche's efforts (here she is aided by Cupid, while in Apuleius even stones spontaneously help her). When she returns from her last task, with the box containing one day's beauty, Craft misses the connection between sleep and beauty, emphasizing instead the sleep of death. The sensational oil-over-watercolors should guarantee this book wide circulation. Elegantly bordered, the elaborate paintings incorporate elements of neoclassical, 19th-century, and Art Deco design into richly detailed, idealized romantic tableaux. The over-the-top lushness of the art compensates for the insipidity of the characters' faces, drawn from type rather than from life. This gorgeous Valentine will long outlast February's flurry.--Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI