Rhyming verse and delightful illustrations by a 7 year-old, make this colorful children's book about the months and changing seasons fun for every girl in your family. From January's snowfall to December's celebrations, children of all ages will delight in traveling through the year celebrating with the playful fairies. This whimsical and colorful fairy book was created by a mother and daughter team. Seven year-old Kaiya, illustrated all 12 fairies and her mom Heather, colored them and wrote the verse to celebrate her daughter's art. This light-hearted journey for mother and daughter makes for wonderful bedtime memories.
This two-volume set collects 300 of the most entertaining and important folk and fairy tales of Giuseppe Pitré, a nineteenth century Sicilian folklorist whose significance ranks alongside the Brothers Grimm. In stark contrast to the more literary ambitions of the Grimms' tales, Pitré’s possess a charming, earthy quality that reflect the customs, beliefs, and superstitions of the common people more clearly than any other European folklore collection of the 19th century. Edited, translated, and with a critical introduction by world-renowned folk and fairy tale experts Jack Zipes and Joseph Russo, this is the first collection of Pitré’s tales available in English. Carmelo Letterer's illustrations throughout the volume are as lively and vivid as the stories themselves, illuminating the remarkable imagination captured in the tales.
Books are as much a part of the furnishing of a house as tables and chairs, and in the making of a home they belong, not with the luxuries but with the necessities. A bookless house is not a home; for a home affords food and shelter for the mind as well as for the body. It is as great an offence against a child to starve his mind as to starve his body, and there is as much danger of reducing his vitality and putting him at a disadvantage in his lifework in the one as in the other form of deprivation. There was a time when it was felt that shelter, clothing, food and physical oversight comprised the whole duty of a charitable institution to dependent children; to-day no community would permit such an institution to exist unless it provided school privileges. An acute sense of responsibility toward children is one of the prime characteristics of American society, shown in the vast expenditures for public education in all forms, in the increasing attention paid to light, ventilation, and safety in school buildings, in the opening of play grounds in large cities, in physical supervision of children in schools, and the agitation against the employment of children in factories, and in other and less obvious ways. Children are helpless to protect themselves and secure what they need for health of body and mind; they are exceedingly impressionable; and the future is always in their hands. The first and most imperative duty of parents is to give their children the best attainable preparation for life, no matter at what sacrifice to themselves. There are hosts of fathers and mothers who recognize this obligation but do not know how to discharge it; who are eager to give their children the most wholesome conditions, but do not know how to secure them; who are especially anxious that their children should start early and start right on that highway of education which is the open road to honorable success.
Well, gentlemen, here’s a tale that people have told time and again . . . . So begins the title story in this collection of fifty Sicilian folk and fairy tales edited and translated by noted folklore scholar Jack Zipes. But while some of the stories may sound as if they’ve been told time and again—such as variations on Cinderella and Puss in Boots—many will enchant English-language readers and storytellers for the first time. From “The Pot of Basil” to “The Talking Belly,” “The Little Mouse with the Stinky Tail” to “Peppi, Who Wandered out into the World,” the stories in Catarina the Wise range from simple tales of getting a new dress or something good to eat to fantastical plots for outwitting domineering husbands, rescuing impoverished fathers, or attracting wealthy suitors (frequently the Prince of Portugal). Many feature strong, clever women (usually daughters who become queen). Many are funny; many are wise. Some are very, very strange. As Zipes relates, the true story of their origins is as extraordinary as the tales themselves. Born to a poor family of sailors in Palermo, Giuseppe Pitrè would go on to serve with Garibaldi, become a traveling country doctor, and gather one of the most colossal collections of folk and fairy tales of the nineteenth century. But while his work as a folklorist rivaled that of the Brothers Grimm, Pitrè remains a relative unknown. Catarina the Wise highlights some of the most delectable stories at the heart of his collection. Featuring new, original illustrations, this book is a beautiful, charming treasure for any fan of story, storytelling, and heroines and heroes living happily ever after—sometimes.
This book is a journey through the fairy-tale wardrobe, explaining how the mercurial nature of fashion has shaped and transformed the Western fairy-tale tradition. Many of fairy tale’s most iconic images are items of dress: the glass slippers, the red capes, the gowns shining like the sun, and the red shoes. The material cultures from which these items have been conjured reveal the histories of patronage, political intrigue, class privilege, and sexual politics behind the most famous fairy tales. The book not only reveals the sartorial truths behind Cinderella’s lost slippers, but reveals the networks of female power woven into fairy tale itself.
The myths and legends of the Fair Folk are the oldest in Britain and our Fairy lore is unique to this island. Meetings with Faery are well recorded. Humans have always been aware of a form of life called Fairy, but how exactly do we meet these beings? What is their physical form and nature, and how and where do they live? Here is a deep analysis of the traditional knowledge of the nature of Fairies, and their importance to us, combined with an examination of our interaction with Faery.
In the four provinces of Ireland there are thirty-two counties. Each county and its people have their own traditions, beliefs and folklore – and each one is also inhabited by the Sidhe: an ancient and magical race. Some believe they are descended from fallen angels, whilst others say they are the progeny of Celtic deities. They go by many names: the good folk, the wee folk, the gentle people and the fey, but are most commonly known as ‘the fairies’. These are not the whimsical fairies of Victorian and Edwardian picture books. They are feared and revered in equal measure, and even in the twenty-first century are spoken of in hushed tones. The fairies are always listening. Storyteller Steve Lally and his wife singer-songwriter Paula Flynn Lally have compiled this magnificent collection of magical fairy stories from every county in Ireland. Filled with unique illustrations that bring these tales to life, Irish Gothic Fairy Stories will both enthral and terrify readers for generations to come.
The subject of fairies in Celtic cultures is a complex one that seems to endlessly intrigue people. What exactly are fairies? What can they do? How can we interact with them? Answering these questions becomes even harder in a world that is disconnected from the traditional folklore and flooded with modern sources that are often vastly at odds with the older beliefs. This book aims to present readers with a straightforward guide to the older fairy beliefs, covering everything from Fairyland itself to details about the beings within it. The Otherworld is full of dangers and blessings, and this guidebook will help you navigate a safe course among the Good People.
