Hearts of Wood: and Other Timeless Tales - Hardcover

Kotzwinkle, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0879236485 ISBN 13: 9780879236489

Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher, 1994

Synopsis

A collection of fairy tales including a wooden carousel that comes alive through the magic of a troll, and a butterfly catcher who dreams he becomes a butterfly.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Collaborators Kotzwinkle and Servello have again brought out the best in each other in this collection of stories, some of which were available in a previous edition. In "The Fairy King," a logger descends into the core of the tree and becomes king of the fairies for thousands of years, and then lives out his life wondering if it was all a dream. Carousel animals enjoy freedom in the title story but return in time to aid their former owner. "The Dream of Chuang" expands on the story of the wise man who wonders if he is a man dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming that he is a man. Each of Kotzwinkle's tellings is thought-provoking and entertaining, in a language reminiscent of all fairy tales. Servello's black-and-white pictures have a tenuous quality, conveying the other-worldly aspect of the tales.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6 Five original stories in which carousel animals come alive; a butterfly collector changes professions after spending one day as a butterfly; a lumberjack becomes Fairy King; a worthless idler learns the secret of eternal life; and an artist paints horses so real that they leave the canvas. Magic elements are gracefully incorporated in these stories, each of which is finely crafted. Kotzwinkle's carefully chosen words and compact plotting have more impact when read aloud or alone than when retold. Expressive cross-hatched pen-and-ink drawings are well suited to the formal, ``literary'' style of the prose. Susan H. Patron, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0879236485
• ISBN 13: 9780879236489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Servello Joe