D'Aulaires' Book of Norwegian Folktales (University of Minnesota Press)

Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire are, in my opinion, the most underrated children's authors/illustrators of all time. They are best known for their books of mythology, both Greek and Norse, but they also brought us their Book of Trolls, Leif the Lucky, Children of the Northlights, and Ola, which doesn't even cover their American Folktales. Today, I am lucky enough to present to you their Book of Norwegian Folktales.

D'Aulaires' Book of Norwegian Folktales was originally published in 1938 with the title East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It begins with an introduction on Norway, and the couple's decision to translate a selection of the 100+ tales. They quickly realized that there were already near perfect translations available so they relied on an old Norwegian edition, Dasent's translation, and their own translation to perfect the stories. That was they "easy" part. The hard part was narrowing it down their selection and only including 21 tales in this book.

The most recognizable story in this book is "The Three Bushy-Billy Goats." This tells the tale of the troll bridge and the three goats crossing his bridge. I think nearly every child knows that story, but I wager that 99.9% of them didn't know it was Norwegian in origin. One of the shorter, cuter tales told why the bear had a short tail. In short, it was because, he tried to go ice-fishing with his tail, but he kept it in there too long and it was frozen off. The tale I most enjoyed was the one that shared the original name of this collection, "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." It told of a prince who had been cursed and was turned into a bear. He found a poor girl to be his bride, but she messed things up, so he had to leave her and marry someone else. This devastated the girl, so she vowed to come find him, and where she had to look for him was east of the sun and west of the moon.

This book was classic d'Aulaires and had that familiar Norwegian feel, like other books they have authored/translated. This was most visible in the ending of some tales, "Snip, snap, snout, and now this tale is out!" The stories were easy to read and very fascinating, because it exposes the reader to a culture they might not understand, but also might not get a chance to experience otherwise. The only thing that was lacking in this book was a lot of illustrations, like you are used to with their other books. They explain this in the introduction, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. That complain aside, I would still highly recommend this book and even further recommend pairing it with some of the titles I listed above.

This book was provided to me for free by University of Minnesota Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Bears! and Here, Kitty, Kitty! (Fireside Games)

This week Indianapolis, Indiana is hosting the biggest gaming convention in the United States - Gen Con! Tens of thousands of people will flock to Lucas Oil Stadium to play and buy games. I, unfortunately, will not be going and will be instead a member of GenCant. But just because, I can't go, doesn't mean I can't play games with friends and tell you about some fun games for the whole family. Today, I am featuring two games from Fireside Games (makers of Castle Panic and located at Gen Con Booth #743). The games are entitled Bears! and Here, Kitty, Kitty! Let's start with Bears!

Bears! is a push your luck dice rolling game for 2-4 people ages 7+ and retails for about $20.

Setup - Setup is super-easy.
1. Place five Camp Dice (white dice) per person in the middle of the table, also known as the Campsite.
2. Give each player five Player Dice (black dice).

Game Play
1. Now, you simply roll the Camp Dice and then have each player roll their Player Dice. Then, the mad scramble begins.
2. You try and make one of three possible combinations with your Player Dice and the pool of Camp Dice. - Gun and Bear, Runner and Bear, or Tent and Sleeping Bag. (Note: You can only claim one Camp Die at a time, but you can re-roll you Player Dice as many times as necessary until paired.)
3. The round ends and is scored when the last tent or bear dice is removed and someone yells, "Bears!"
3. Scoring is as follows: Gun and Bear = 1 point. Runner and Tent = 2 points. Sleeping Bag and Tent = Five points if there were only tents dice left at the Campsite or -2 points in there were only bears left at the Campsite. Unpaired Player Dice = 0 points. Improperly paired Player Dice and Camp Dice = -1 point. (As you can see, your best reward is Sleeping Bag and Tent, but it could come back and bite you if you're wrong, and by it I mean the bears.)
4. First person to 100 points wins the game.

Review
There a few games out there, which are similar to Bears!, but this one is better (in my opinion). For starters, all players are acting simultaneously. Other press your luck dice rolling games, involve one player rolling and then another. That creates a lot of down time and gets more boring the more players you add. You don't have to worry about down time here, if you are going to slow, you'll find others are safe in their tents, but your campers got eaten. I also like the fact that you can accumulate points safely, but occasionally gamble. In other games, your greed will completely hinder you and get you no points. With this one, there are ways to for sure score points, and there is only one way that will give you a big reward or a big loss. Lastly, the game is infinitely scale-able. (Okay maybe not infinitely, that'd be a lot of dice), but for every game you own, you can play four players. So if you want to play with eight players, just get two copies of the game. Easy! If the game ever gets too easy for you, pick up the expansion die Bears! Trail Mix'd and it will change the way each round is scored to give you an ever-changing game.

Here, Kitty, Kitty! is a cat-collecting game for 3-6 players age 10+ and retails for about $25.

Setup
1. Give each player a Property card.
2. Place all 40 Cats in the center of the table. This represents the Neighborhood colony of cats.
3. Remove all Instant cards (red border) from the deck and shuffle the remaining cards. Deal three to each player, except in a 6-player game, where players are dealt two cards.
4. Shuffle the Instant cards back into the deck and place the deck in the center of the table next to the Neighborhood.

Game Play - First player is given to the player who owns the most cats.
1. Perform two of the following actions (knowing that you can perform the same action twice:
a. Move one cat - Cats can be moved one space for one action
b. Play one card - Instant cards must be played instantly when drawn, but the player gets to draw a replacement card once the action is resolved. Standard cards require using an action to gain the card's effect. Defensive cards offer protection against the other two types of cards.
c. Discard one to three cards from your hand.
2. After you have performed your two actions, draw back up to three cards (two in a 6-player game).
3. The end game triggers when the last card is drawn. Everyone then gets one final turn.
4. Scoring is based on who has the most cats in the different locations, who has the most of each color, etc. Highest score wins.

Review
We all know someone in our life who would be classified as a crazy cat person, be it neighbor, friend, or family. In Here, Kitty, Kitty!, you are that crazy cat person, and that's a pretty fun theme. What really makes this game is the miniature cats. There are 40 cats in four different colors and three different poses, and they really make the game pop. At first blush, this game looks like a silly little filler, but there's some area majority, set collection, and "Take that!" elements to it. So if you are looking for a fun, quick game where you can hoard cats without that awful smell, check out Here, Kitty, Kitty! It's good fun for adults and kids.

These games were provided to me for free by Fireside Games in exchange for honest reviews.

Mother of the Redeemer (Pauline Books and Media)

On March 25, 1987, Pope John Paul II, released one of his greatest encyclicals - Redemptoris Mater or Mother of the Redeemer. This marked the 2000 anniversary of the birth of Jesus and helped prepare for the coming millennium. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this encyclical, Pauline Books and Media released a special anniversary edition with commentary by Sr. Jean Frisk.

The text is presented in its entirety with each portion concluding with three sections - Ponder, Pray, and Act. in the Ponder section Sr. Frisk presents the reader with reflections on Jesus, Mary, the Church, and Pope John Paul II. She also provides questions for reflection. The Pray section contains an original prayer that is both personal for Sr. Frisk and appropriate for all. The final section, Act, provides a very brief directive. For example, "When you have no will to get up, remember love's first glow, rest in it, examine God's personal call to you in your vocation, renew it, and be the first to love again."

As someone who grew up Southern Baptist and converted to Catholicism, Mary was always my biggest stumbling block. I've read many books on her and I don't doubt her importance in salvation history, but I am still working on developing a more personal relationship with her. I believe it will come in time, and I believe I am making progress, but it is slow going, but the best things in life usually are. The words of Pope John Paul II on Mary show a great devotion and love for her and have helped me inch closer in my relationship with her. If you would like to read the words of a great saint on an even greater saint, then I recommend you pick up a copy of Mother of the Redeemer.

This book was provided to me for free by Pauline Books and Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!