Tales from Old Ireland retold by Malachy Doyle

Malachy Doyle and Niamh Sharkey bring this collection of seven folk tales from Old Ireland to life.  Doyle, a native of Ireland himself, retells his favorite childhood folk tales with a flowing narrative that captures the reader.  In the introduction, Doyle writes of the connection he feels to the Irish oral tradition and the responsibility to keep these thousand-year-old tales living.  He succeeds in continuing the tradition.

Doyle suggests to the reader that she read aloud as she explores the folk tales because "That's how they work best."  So that I did and I found myself absorbed in twelve brothers' woes of "The Twelve Wild Geese," caught in the soul cages of the Merrow (male mermaid) of the sea in "The Soul Cages," and homesick for Niamh's homeland in "Oisin in Tir na nOg." Doyle includes seven tradition folk tales, including "Fair, Brown, and Trembling," Ireland's version of the Cinderella tale.

Sharkey's illustrations are sprinkled throughout the tales with the occasional full page illustration.  I found her illustrations occupied a perfect amount of space, as I feel the images folk tales ignite should lie mostly in the unique imaginations of its readers.  Sharkey uses oils on a gessoed background which involves painting in layers and waiting until the preceding layer is completely dry to begin the next.  "It's a slow process," Sharkey comments in an interview with Embracing the Child, "but it produces a richness of colors that other mediums would not allow."  In a review of Tales from Old Ireland, Elizabeth Kennedy writes that "The illustrations, while at first glance deceptively simple, are sophisticated in color and design."  It's the sophistication of Sharkey's illustrations that I love, as children's imaginations can take off in a million directions as they interpret the layers of the illustrations for themselves.

Tales from Old Ireland provides a wonderful method to introduce your children or students to the oral tradition of another country.  The pronunciation guide of names used throughout the tales gives the opportunity to introduce children to the musical language of Gaelic.   The concluding sources[ page gives the reader the historical context of each story which can also serve as a tool to introduce students to how we have come to know and share the folk tales we read today.

Doyle in his introduction writes that Irish folk tales "have survived so long because of the great enjoyment they give in both hearing and telling."  Indeed they did for me.  The following tales are the seven tales in Tales from Old Ireland:

The Children of Lir

Fair, Brown, and Trembling

The Twelve Wild Geese

Lusmore and the Fairies

Son of an Otter, Son of a Wolf

The Soul Cages

Oisín in Tír na nÓg

That Book Woman by Heather Henson

When the Book Woman comes to the front doorstep of Cal's Appalachian farm, the last thing Cal will do is ask to borrow one of her books.  He's not a book boy by any means.  Cal fills his days working on his family's Appalachian farm instead of reading like his sister and attending school lessons.  Only Cal's sister is excited for each visit of the Book Woman.

After the Book Woman arrives through a treacherous winter storm, Cal decides he must try out one book to see what the fuss is all about. Under his sister's tutelage, Cal becomes engulfed in the world of reading.  In the spring time when the Book Woman returns, Cal's mother givers her a homemade berry pie "for making two readers outta one."

Heather Henson's tale is a delightful story of how reading can intrigue anyone.  Henson's use of Appalacia's southern dialect adds a special touch touch and even a challenge to the reader to bring out her southern twang.  In teh concluding author's note, Henson writes how her story "Was inspired by the true and coragoes work of the Park Horse Librarians who were known as "Book Women" in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky."  With regional libraries at our fingertips, I have not often thought about access to free books prior to establishment of libraries.  The Kentucky Book Women have become some of my new heroes.  I am indebted to Henson for introducing this part of history to me.

David Small's soft watercolors somehow capture the sharp features of Cal's discontented face whenever he thinks about reading.  When Henson begins to write about the rain and snow the Book Woman travels through,  Small extends the text through darker illustrations reflecting the Book Woman's difficulty to get through the storms.  It is through Small's illustrations that we see the completed character development of Cal and how he comes to love books.

From the challenged reader who thinks reading is "not cool" all the way to the reader who absolutely loves books, That Book Woman is a joy for all.

Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

The Caldecott Honor book Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola was one of my favorite folktales of my childhood.  Strega Nona, which means "Grandma Witch," is looking for an assistant to do the chores of her home so she can focus on her magical healing powers.  Strega Nona finds Anthony and tells him "The one thing you must never do, is touch the pasta pot." While Anthony completes his chores well, his curiosity gets the better of him.  At the first opportunity, when Strega Nona travels to another town, Anthony takes the pot!

The story ravels out of control from here.  Before Anthony had tried to tell the other villagers about Strega Nona's magic pot, but no one believed him.  Anthony takes the magic pot to the time square where he is determined to make everyone believe.  Repeating the words of a spell Anthony heard Strega Nona do, Anthony fills the pot with pasta spaghetti mirroring Strega Nona's technique.  The town rushes to the square to see, and there's pasta for all.  But when Anthony tries to stop the pot once everyone has eaten, he can't do it.  Anthony had failed to see how Strega Nona did it.  The town is on the verge of overflowing with pasta when Strega Nona arrives to put a stop to it.  As a punishment for Anthony, Strega NOna makes him eat all the past that overflowed the town.

DePaola presents a humorous story about how curiosity can sometimes get the better of us.  Children will be able to relate to this original folk tale with ease.  DePaolo's watercolor illustrations provide a details beyond the text as Strega Nona uses her magical powers, Anthony cleans the house, and Anthony using the magic pot.  DePaolo reflects perhaps the Renaissance time period in his illustrations

In an article by Consumer Help, B. Redman writes that Stregna Nona was "somewhat inspired by [DePaolo's] own Italian grandmother and her endless servings of spaghetti,"  What a fabulous way to incorporate personal experience into a lesson-giving folktale.

Strega Nona has received numerous awards include the Caldecott Honor, the Horn Book Honor, and has been named an ALA Notable Children's Book.  Many tales have followed the original Strega Nona including Big Anthony, His Story which is the biography of Strega Nona's most troublesome assistant. What."  What a

Agate by Joy Morgan Dey

"What good is a moose?  Agate thinks to himself."

Agate, the awkward moose of the picture book Agate written by Joy Morgan Dey and illustrated by Nikki Johnson, asks himself that question upon meeting all his animal friends.  Agate compares himself to Garnet the crocodile's "lopsided grin," Diamond the giraffe's "long, long, legs," and Sapphire the hippopotamus' ability to stay under water "longer than Harry Houdini." Agate cannot find one good quality within himself.

It just takes a little reassurance from his friends to realize that he is just as beautiful as everyone else.  Like the jewel agate, moose just need a little time to polish the rough outside before his beautiful, crystal-shining core shined bright.

Of all the children's picture books that address the message that it's what on the inside that counts, I find this book a breath of fresh air.  Dey takes a unique approach to this theme by using the rough-surfaced agate stone as a metaphor for a person's physical appearance.  Children learn, as Agate did, that it's not the rough surface that's important, but the crystals inside.

Dey bases the twelve animals of the story on the twelve birthstones.  Aquamarine the penguin represents the birthstone for March.  Pearl the monkey represents the birthstone of June.  This serves as a fabulous introduction to children of gems.  A history of birthstones and a description of each one is even included in the back!  Johnson's illustrations brings each birthstone to life.

The true beauty behind this story lies in the originality and beauty of Nikki Johnson's watercolors.  According to an interview by Minnesota Public Radio, the story stemmed from a set of Johnson's watercolor animal sketches.  Within Johnson's style, one can almost see a child's fingertip-strokes, but Johnson adds a sophistication and detail that keeps the reader looking at the animals for ages.

Agate is a truly wonderful story about self-confidence and that what matters on the inside is what counts.

This is Dey and Johnson's second collaborated work.  They also collaborated on the illustrations of Nightlight by Jeannine Anderson.

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French

We often talk about how we as humans have become the lion of the jungle when it comes to controlling the animals of our home environment.  Have we ever considered, however, how the animals might be training us?  In the humorous story line of Diary of a Wombat, Jackie French makes children think about how some animals can just outsmart us.

French presents this theme through the daily musings of the wombat, a small, burrowing, bear-like animal that lives only in Australia (for those who have a bit of wombat-mania more information can be found here).  French takes the reader through a week in the life of the wombat, which is more or less a variation of his Monday schedule:

"Morning: Slept.  Afternoon: Slept.  Evening: Ate grass.  Scratched.  Night: Ate grass.  Slept."

Occasionally the wombat decides to burrow holes, scratch at a door to demand his dinner (his human neighbors' carrots) and fight with big, furry creatures (the human's doormat).  The wombat's human neighbors try to fend off the wombat by blocking off holes and boarding off doors, but the humans find themselves giving the wombat more carrots just to stop his ruckus of searching through trashcans in the backyard.  After a week of the battle, the wombat comes to the conclusion "that humans are easily trained and make quite good pets."

Children will have a hoot thinking about the role reversal between humans and their pets.  Perhaps children might have a few stories to relate about new puppies, kittens, or other pets when the animals seemed to be in control.  Diary of a Wombat also presents a great opportunity to talk about one of Australia's most endangered animals, and how humans have affected the species.

Bruce Whatley's illustrations top off the humor.  Whatley creates a rolly-poly huggable wombat who looks completely innocent while sleeping in a ball but up to mischief when he wakes up.  With so little text, Whatley is truly talented as he creates a story that extends beyond the words.   The humans' facial expressions when the wombat digs up their yard all the way to the drawing of the wombat's backside when he's unsatisfied with his human "pets" just will make you laugh and love the wombat even more.

The Association for Library Service to Children named Diary of a Wombat a 2994 Notable Children's Book.  Diary of a Wombat is just one of more than eighty books by Jackie French which includes children's books, adult fiction, and gardening and cook books.

The Elevator Man by Stanley Trachtenberg

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Have you ever wanted to be an elevator man?

Well, Nathan wants to be exactly that.  In a story about changing technology and fulfilling your dreams, Stanley Trachtenberg tells the story of Nathan who wants nothing more than to be an elevator man.  The old-fashioned elevator of Nathan's apartment building requires an elevator operator who Trachtenberg names the Elevator Man.  Nathan dreams of working the elevator one day.  The Elevator Man has dreams, too: he dreams of becoming a doorman.  Just as the Elevator Man's maroon suit attracts Nathan, the white gloves of a doorman attract the Elevator Man.

The opportunity for both Nathan and the Elevator Man to pursue their dreams presents itself in a cladestine manner.  One day the elevator is closed for maintenance and the Elevator Man is gone for weeks.  .When the elevator is finally fixed, Nathan finds the Elevator Man has been replaced by a completely automatic machine.  He has no time though to mourn the loss of his friend, because when Nathan runs outside he sees has become the new Doorman!  And with Elevator Man's new position, that means there's a vacancy in the elevator man position.  Do you have a guess who fulfilled that position?  Yup, that would be Nathan.

Trachtenberg incorporates our changing technological world wonderfully with the plot.  He opens the way for children to think about how technology is changing the work force by exploring how an automatic elevator changed the Elevator Man's job (find link here for lessons about this theme).  Trachtenberg as well shares a story which shows that adults and children alike have dreams which they can fulfill.  When the Elevator Man's position became obsolete, he took the opportunity to pursue the job he had always wanted.  Adult readers can be inspired just as much as child readers to pursue the careers and lives they dream of.

Paul Cox's illustrations brings the 1950s time period alive with his heavy-lined, retro drawings.  The contrast of the heavy figure outlines with the soft water colors that fill the picture give both definition and flexibility to the reader.  The reader might find himself or herself lost in the blending of the watercolors allowing him to give his own definition to the details of the characters.

Trachtenberg first children's picture book proves to be a success by presenting the larger themes of changing technology and fulfilling dreams at a relatable level for children.  Trachtenberg's other works include essays on postmodernism.