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!

Three D'Aulaire's Titles (University of Minnesota Press)

Today, I am reviewing three beautiful hardcover books available from the University of Minnesota Press. You may recall that back in November I reviewed another one of their lovely books, The Troll With No Heart in His Body. I admit that it is unusual to think of a university press printing children's books, but if they are going to be this high quality and gorgeous, I say keep printing them! All three of the books I will be reviewing are by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire, and they fall under the category of Scandinavian children's literature. Like me, you probably know the author-illustrators from their mythology books, but they wrote so much more than that. With this post, I hope to share with you some of their lesser known books.

Apart from their tales on mythology, Leif the Lucky is one of my favorite D'Aulaire tale. The book begins by telling us about Erik the Red and his three sons - Torstein, Torvald, and Leif. When Leif was a young boy, Erik the Red took a boat to a new land that he had "discovered." Along with 24 chieftains in 24 boats crammed with people, cattle, and food, they had to battle harsh weather on the sea. Not all the ships made the trek successfully. Some of them sank, and others turned around out of fright. In the end, Erik's boat made it with thirteen other chiefs. The land they "discovered" was Greenland. We then read of Leif growing up, travelling to Norway, and "discovering" America, which he dubbed Vinland. There are tales of Leif sending people to Vinland for commerce and tales of Leif converting his mother and people in Greenland to Christianity. All of this is very interesting and fascinating to read, because it reads like a saga or mini-epic. Apart from the story, which has a nice blend of history and legend, the make-up of this book is what makes the book. For starters, it is a 9 x 12 hardcover with a dust jacket. The illustrations make up two-page spreads, with each spread alternating between color and black and white. The pages even have an old-timey look and feel to them, which matches the illustrations perfectly. I know this is a book that I will read often to my son, and I think it would make a great addition for any parent who homeschools as well.

Ola is similar in construction to Leif the Lucky. It is a 9 x 12 hardcover with dust jacket with illustrations alternating between color and black and white. Unlike Leif the Lucky, whose subject was an actual historical figure, Ola is the fictional tale of a young Norwegian boy who goes on many adventures. The adventures start with Ola skiing and simultaneously chasing a rabbit. He wrecks on his skis and lands in a tree, where he meets a group of girls who take him to a wedding party. From there he joins a peddler of wares, who puts him on a fishing boat. On this fishing boat, he learns local legends about why codfish have beards and what makes a maelstrom. Eventually, he realizes that while his adventures were fun, he wants to go home. This was a cute story, and one that your children will find a treat to read. The Norwegian elements might be lost on them, but I love books that show your children places, cultures, and customs they might not otherwise get a chance to see.

Children of the Northlights is the story of two Sami children named Lise and Lasse. They are also referred to as Lapps in the book. Sami people or Lapps are indigenous to Scandinavia in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This book is based on the actual travels of Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire to the land of the Sami. In this tale, Lise and Lasse, are children who think they live at the top of the world, and they aren't too far from the truth. We see them getting into mischievous events, like racing reindeer or dressing up as a bear and scaring people. We also see day to day events, like them going to school or getting clean in a sauna. Like other D'Aulaire books available from the University of Minnesota Press the pages alternate between color and black and white. This publisher has done a wonderful job of making classic works like these available to readers again. Being in a hardcover means, they will stand up to many readings. The size of these books also helps illuminate the illustrations and introduce these wonderful stories to a new generation. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

These books were provided to me for free by the University of Minnesota Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here, here, and/or here and hit Yes!

The Troll With No Heart in His Body and The Terrible Troll-Bird (University of Minnesota Press and New York Review of Books)

The Troll With No Heart in His Body is a compilation of nine troll tales from Norway compiled and re-told by author Lisa Lunge-Larsen. In addition to the tale the book is named after, you will also see stories such as "Butterball," "The Boy and the North Wind," and the well known/personal favorite "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." The book begins with a note from the author, which includes the importance of folk tales, childhood memories of these Norse tales, and fifteen lessons she learned from these tales. Before she gets to the stories, she also includes a map, because when trolls die they help reshape the landscape around them.

Each story is written in large print and includes helpful features like pronunciations and BOLD font so you know when to make your troll voice loud and booming. At the end of each tale are two features. The first is the phrase, "Snip, snap, snout, This tale's told out!" This is a cute translation of a Norse phrase and is a nice touch. The second feature at the end of the tales is a little side box of text, which tells the origin of the story and what the author changed in the story (if anything). The illustrations have an old world feel to them, as they are beautiful woodcuts that seem so appropriate for this style of book. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially if you are a family with Scandinavian or if you just want to expose your children to quality literature. The book could have stood alone on its own with the stories, but the gorgeous illustrations complete it; making it a favorite around my household for both children and adults.

The Terrible Troll-Bird is another Norse book from the authors and illustrators Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire. The story focuses on Ola and his three sisters, Lina, Sina, and Trina. They are off to go get firewood one day when they spied an enormous troll-bird. The natural reaction was fear, but when they returned home they were able to slay the bird, cook it, and used its feathers for down. While cooking, trolls followed their nose and showed up. Fortunately, the sun was coming up about that time so no one was hurt/killed and the trolls were wiped out by the sun.

The illustrations are really the best aspect of this book. Some are color and some are black and white, but all of them are very harshly sketched out and felt very troll-like. Overall, the story was a little lacking, and while I'd recommend checking it out from the library, I wouldn't recommend owning it unless you found it on sale, your kids absolutely love everything troll-related, or you want to own all books by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire.

These books were provided to me for free by University of Minnesota Press and New York Review of Books in exchange for honest reviews. If you found these reviews helpful, click here and/or here and hit Yes!

d'Aulaires' Books (New York Review: Children's Collection)

When it comes to reading mythology, I have three trusted people to which I turn - Edith Hamilton and Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire. The former's book Mythology was a classic I read in high school and the husband and wife's Book of Greek Myths served as a jumping off point when I was younger. Recently, I have been discovering mythology in other cultures. Egyptian mythology has featured heavily in movies like Prince of Egypt, but lately Norse myth is gaining traction thanks to movies like Thor and The Avengers. Today, I am going to review two books that deal with Norse mythology, and possibly a third book by the same authors, if I have time, so let's get started!

D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths is a gorgeous hardcover that is approximately 12" x 9". It was originally named "Norse Gods and Giants" before New York Review Books reissued and renamed it. The book is over 150 pages long and is slammed with illustrations! On the inside of the front cover and back cover is an illustration that shows you the Nine Norse Worlds, with their original Norse names. For example, Hel & Nifl Heim is the Underworld. This illustration is very helpful in understanding Norse mythology. There is also a very useful glossary in the end with very detailed definitions, as well as page references for where the terms appear in the stories.

There are approximately thirty stories in this collection. As to be expected a great deal of them focus on Loki and Thor (two of the more well-known figures in Norse mythology). The first several stories are creation stories, which includes who the first gods were, how the world was created, and how man was created. I found these most fascinating, as I am a sucker for a good origin story. For example, man and woman were originally trees that three gods (Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur) gave life to. Unlike in Biblical accounts where people grew more sinful, in Norse mythology people grew better in every way. In fact, a disguised Odin walked among them teaching them how to behave. The book closes with the tale of "A New World." In this conclusion, there is a new sun and new earth and two people have survived. However, they don't worship the old gods anymore but God Almighty. Truly a fascinating book!

D’Aulaires’ Book of Trolls is a companion book to D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths. Both books have the same dimensions (12" x 9"), which I greatly appreciate for vain shelf placement aesthetics. In this book, we see the nighttime side of Norse mythology, for everyone knows that trolls only come out when the sun goes down. There aren't many specific tales about trolls in this book, but it is more a guide to what trolls are, what they look like, customs, etc.

Some of the things I learned in this book is that the more heads a troll had, the harder it was for him to eat because all the heads were hungry and greedy. I also learned that the number of knots a troll could tie in his tail indicated his rank among trolls. Trolls are also very rich, because they own the gold and silver under the mountains. Lastly, trolls turn to stone and shatter in the sun. Most/all of the trolls probably turned to stone, and this is why you don't see them anymore. As an adult, I enjoyed learning and reading about trolls. From a child's perspective, I could see how it might be a little frustrating to have few clear stories and instead be presented with a FAQ on Trolls. It is still engaging and full of great illustrations, so if you buy D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths, you will definitely want to pair this book with it.

D'Aulaires' Book of Animals is an exquisite book that spans approximately 30 pages, but in reality is one long front and back page. The front page is in color and shows a variety of animals ranging from whales to elephants. These color pages show the animals in their natural habitat and contain few words at the bottom describing the location where they live (like North or South) and why they live there. The reverse side is black and white and shows you the same animals, but this time the text at the bottom tells you the different sounds the animals make. I've seen the age range on this book for children ages 2 to 5, but I would say 5 is the minimum age. More rambunctious children might tear or rip this illustrious foldout page. Still a very pretty book!

These books were provided to me for free by New York Review Books in exchange for an honest review. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here, here, and/or here and click Yes!