Jane Marinsky & Leah Sharpe, The Goat-Faced Girl

Talking Leaves is pleased to announce that Buffalo artist and illustrator Jane Marinsky and her co-author/daughter Leah Sharpe will be signing copies of their beautiful new collaboration The Goat-Faced Girl (David Godine Publishers) at our Elmwood store, 951 Elmwood Avenue, on Sunday, November 29 at 11 am.  Books will be available for purchase at this free event, which is open to the public.  This is the only local opportunity to meet both author and illustrator together. The Goat-Faced Girl is a beautifully illustrated re-working of a classic Italian fairy tale.

Like many good fables, this story opens with a foundling left – rather inconveniently, if not surprisingly – in the woods. A large lizard, ever conscious of tripping hazards, picks up the infant and takes her home, where she soon grows into a pretty, pampered, and generally useless young woman named Isabella. Despite her adoptive mother’s efforts (for the lizard is really a witch in disguise) to shape her up, the girl prefers the alluring life offered her by the charming Prince Rupert, a world of cooks and servants, palaces and jewels, luxury and indolence. Luckily, the lizard woman is a canny, concerned parent. She does not suffer fools lightly and is not about to let her daughter’s too-easy transition to palace life go unchallenged. And so she arranges a surprise transformation for her daughter – one that puts the prince’s marital plans on hold and gives the witch just enough time to hammer home a few lessons about the downside of idleness, the inanity of vanity, and the satisfactions of self-reliance. In this witty, modern interpretation of a classic Italian folktale, Leah Marinsky Sharpe has crafted a light-hearted mother-daughter fable with a moral that is sure to strike a chord with readers of all ages. The illustrations by Jane Marinsky glow with rich color and playful humor. Together, words and pictures provide a zesty treat for parents and children alike.

Leah Marinsky Sharpe has been fascinated with fairy and folk tales since she was a child. When her mother asked her to collaborate on a children’s book she thought immediately of The Goat-Faced Girl, her version of a traditional story that left an impression on her when she came across it years ago. Leah is a doctoral candidate in the University of Minnesota’s Conservation Biology program, her work focuses on management of aquatic invasive species. She grew up in Buffalo, NY and just recently moved from Minnesota to Vermont since she is apparently on a quest to find the most wintery place in the country

For many years, Jane Marinsky has been an editorial illustrator working for such publications as the Washington Post, New York Magazine, and the American Bar Association. She also has enjoys teaching illustration at Daemen College in Amherst, NY. The Goat-Faced Girl is her first foray into children’s books, but she hopes that there will be many more books in her future. Jane spends her winters in Buffalo, NY and summers in Vermont.