Root Children vs Mother Earth's Children book?

[boatbaby]

We have The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle Von Olfers. And I was looking at Mother Earth and Her Children by SVO too on amazon.com and it looks SO similar. Anyone have both who can fill me in on the difference?

[counterGOPI]

oh thank you for posting this!we have the root children but ive been seeing that other one online and owuld love to know whats different about it...i think its pics of a quilt instead????

[Astrid1024]

We have both and while I tend to like the illustrations in Elsa Beskow's books a bit better than those in SVO's, I would say the Mother Earth Quilted Fairy Tale is sooooo worth getting. Sieglinde Schoen-Smith quilted illustrations inpsired by the tale and they are absolutely gorgeous. SVO's story is so simple and beautiful. I love that my young son will look at these book images as some of his first and listen to such a sweet, sweet story. It is an absolute delight to take in. Get it!

[boatbaby]

The illustrations sound wonderful! How different is the story though?

[donttrustthesystem]

I think it's the exact same story, the author is listed as the same. There's a page about it in Living Crafts Magazine issue Winter 2008 that says that it's the same book, but a century after the Root Children, the quilter made a quilt of the book's illustrations. I'd choose the quilt one, it sounds fantastic.

[railyuh]

The story is actually slightly different, and I prefer the story in the Root Children book, but like the pictures in the Mother Earth one. We own the Mother Earth version and have seen the Root Children at our library. I think the Mother Earth version is slightly abridged or perhaps the translation was just done by a different person so it is slightly different. IIRC it was a bit shorter. They don't change the story or anythig, it's just not worded the same and seemed more brief I guess.

[boatbaby]

I just found it in my local Barnes & Noble on the shelf! I almost fell over, they never have SVO or Elsa Beskow books. Ever!

Anyhow, I am glad I had a chance to page through it. It IS beautiful, but the story is essentially the same and very simplified, which wouldn't work for DS at this stage. Especially weighing the cost of the book and the space it would take up (we live on a boat, so limited space means we have to REALLY put it to use to bring it aboard) versus how much he'd look at it.

Thanks to everyone for the input!!