Pages

Tuesday 19 November 2013

The Emperor's Nightingale and other feathery tales by Jane Ray

 review by Maryom/The Mole

Written and illustrated by Jane Ray, this book brings together 12 stories and poems from around the world with a 'feathery' theme; some familiar - The Owl and the Pussycat, Noah's Ark or Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince - some less so Heron and Hummingbird - a feathery Native American version of Tortoise and Hare - or The Jackdaw of Rheims.

Illustrated using a scraperboard technique that gives an image similar to engraving or woodcuts, the pages don't have that instant colourful look that attracts younger children but I think will appeal to older ones more.

Being a mix of stories and poems, they vary a lot in length - from as short as two pages to as long as thirty and not all of the stories enjoy happy endings which make some of them not suitable for bed time reading. Each tale has a short introduction explaining it's origins and many illustrations - some small, some full page - each with one or two colours.

The series is entitled "The Story Collector" and I am sure this book will appeal to an older generation of collectors who will be able to add to their collection in 2014 with The Little Mermaid and Other Fishy Tales  followed later by Hairy Tales and Whiskery Tales.


Publisher - Boxer Books
Genre - short stories, folk tales, children's illustrated story book

Buy The Emperors Nightingale and Other Feathery Tales from Amazon

No comments:

Post a Comment