Folklore

Jan 14 2012

Fairy tales and Fantasies are as old as the world

N.D. Wilson in the introduction to Twilight Land by Howard Pyle:

Fairy tales and fantasies are as old as the world. This is an easy thing to forget.  It is easy to see only the stories we tell today – fresh and shiny – and then assume that they came from nowhere, that they have no ancestors, and no narrative parents whatsoever.  But today’s fantasies are built on a rich imaginative heritage, a global heritage.  As long as there has been language, there have been stories.  And as far back as we can trace, those stories have been about dragons and magic and sacrifices, fools and wise men and wizards, fate and luck and love.  What we call realism in storytelling is a relatively new concept.  It is the sapling in the wood surrounded by towering moss-covered giants as old as history, giants grown up out of myths and legends.  Fantasy.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Views • 1 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 29 2011

Little Red Cap by Brothers Grimm,Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator)

We haven’t discussed a Lisbeth Zwerger book here in a while so as we head toward 2012 lets sneak in one more book.  I picked up Little Red Cap – the story most people know as Little Red Ridding Hood – recently and, not surprisingly, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Children’s Literature review:

This is a reissue of the book that originally was published in 1987. It is a version of the beloved tale of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Once again, children become acquainted with the charming little girl who always wears the red cap that was given to her by her grandmother. One day while on her way to visit her ailing grandmother, she meets the sly and cunning wolf in the forest. He persuades her to wander off the path and gather some flowers for her grandmother, while he rushes to grandmother’s house and gobbles her up. He then pretends to be grandmother and also devours Little Red Cap. Of course, the brave and clever hunter saves both the old lady and Little Red Cap. Zwerger’s beautiful illustrations are an ideal accompaniment to the text as they portray the characters (especially the wolf) with depth and emotion. All libraries should add this to their fairy tale collection.

Unlike some of the other volumes I have covered, this one is perfect for reading out loud. The pages alternate between text – without any unique fonts – and illustrations.  Zwerger offers her reliably evocative and playful illustrations that compliment this classic so well.

As noted above, the wolf  is particularly charming with a variety of facial expressions to match his deviousness as he tricks the innocent, and naive, Red Cap. Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Nov 17 2011

Are All the Giants Dead? by Mary Norton

A story about stories and fairy tales by a famous author with great illustrations (by Brian Froud)? Yes, please. Are All the Giants Dead? by Mary Norton (famous for Bed-Knob and Broomstick and The Borrowers) was originally published in the UK in 1975 but brought to the US in 1997.  I picked up a paperback version at a local library sale for like a dollar. I think the kids calls this “winning.”

Familiar with Norton’s other books but not this volume, I was intrigued from the start:

One night, when he should be safe in bed, young James is whisked away by his friend Mildred to the fairy tale land of Happily Ever After. There Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are middle-aged gossips; Bell’s husband, the Beast, spends his days hunting dragon and unicorn; And Jack-the-Giant-Killer and Jack-of-the-beanstalk while away their retirement telling yarns about slaying the last of the giants.

But the two Jack’s aren’t quite telling the truth: one fierce man-eating giant still lives. And to spare his friend Princess Dulcibel from have to marry an enchanted toad, James must steal something from the dreaded giant’s bone-strewn lair, a place where even the veteran giant-killers fear to tread.

Sucked in by this back of the book blurb, I decided to read it right away not really knowing what to expect.  It turned out to be a clever, if simple, story about courage and belief; and about fairy and folk tales. In classic fairy tale form James faces his fears and saves the princess – just not in exactly the way he might have imagined.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Nov 15 2011

The Merry Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel by Heinz Janisch , Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator) , Anthea Bell (Translator)

The Lisbeth Zwerger tour continues here at CM. Today it is Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks by Heinz Janisch.  Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger and translated by Anthea Bell.

Hans Christian Andersen Medalist Lisbeth Zwerger cunningly illustrates 11 folktales about Till Eulenspiegel, the famous sixteenth-century German folk hero, popular in legend as a shrewd trickster. In this handsome reissue, she chronicles Till’s pranks from his triple dunking at his baptism, to his funeral, at which he leaves a last trick for his mourners. Zwerger’s celebrated wit and insouciant style are the perfect complements to the antics of this notorious merrymaker.

I will be honest: I bought this one mostly for the art. I have a growing collection of folk tales and story books for children but I am not sure my kids would enjoy this one.  It is an interesting reference point for German folklore but it is mostly the art of Zwerger that drew me to the book.

And the art is playful, colorful and evocative.  As PW says, “Both art and text are distinctly quaint and European.”  This is another book that I would be tempted to cut up in order to use the illustrations as prints. But I am too much of a book person to perform something so sacrilegious.

The stories are simple and silly – so maybe they are exactly the sort of thing children would love. Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Feb 18 2010

Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill

For some odd reason my kids love to visit Barnes & Noble. They love to hang out on the stage in the children’s section or play with the train set. My son in particular likes two story stores but that is just because he loves to ride on escalators.

The problem with this is that it only leads to trouble on my part (as if I don’t already have a book problem, right?). And it can be frustrating too. Standing there in the Children’s/Young Adult section one is tempted by the ever more creative and interesting books that are out there for young people. And the kids always beg to stay longer.

It was on one such trip that I noticed Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill on an end-cap and made a note to put it on the wish list. Due to financial constraints that we – like so many – are feeling I avoided the temptation to buy it and instead checked it out from the library (sorry B&N, publishers & authors).

Having read it, however, I can cheerfully suggest you purchase it should you have the necessary discretionary funds to do so (yikes, starting to sound like a lawyer here). It is a creative and intelligent mix of myth, mystery and coming of age stories.

Here is the publishers blurb:

The Pied Piper had his reasons for enchanting the children of Hamelin and stealing them away—ones rooted in a deep history of wild magic. Mari and her brother Jakob are among the children who followed the piper’s song, and they are now trapped in a beautiful but cruel world inhabited by a horrid Beast. They must remain there until he finds the right child, the chosen one, who can lift his century old curse. But the price of breaking the curse is a terrible one. This fast-paced, richly fantastical continuation of a familiar tale is a powerful story of a family torn apart by tragedy, and the magical adventure that heals them.

More of my take below.

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By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , ,

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