Breaking the Spell is a collection of ten stories brought together by story-teller Lari Don, all with a special Scottish feel to them. Drawn from all over the country, from the Borders to Skye in the west and Orkney in the north, some are about traditional Scottish creatures such as selkies or kelpies, others have more universal origins such as riddle-guessing or the tales that account for the making of stone circles. Some I found familiar; some I hadn't heard before.
The stories include - School for Heroes, King of the Black Art, The Selkie's Toes, Tam Linn, Loch Fada Kelpie, Whuppity Stoorie, The Ring of Brodgar, The Three Questions, The Monster of Raasay and the Witch of Lochlann - all stories that the author has told many times at story-telling events in schools, libraries and elsewhere around Scotland. There are stories of witches and giants, warriors and fairy queens, and, of course, the human boys and girls who manage to out-wit them.
Accompanied throughout by quirky cartoon-style illustrations by Cate James, this is the sort of book that can be read for the very young, maybe as bedtime stories as like all good fairy stories they all have a happy ending, or older children could read them for themselves.
Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Frances Lincoln
Genre - picture book, folk tale, Scotland
Buy Breaking the Spell: Stories of Magic and Mystery from Scotland
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