The Children of Lir - Hardcover

Macgill/spirin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857140451 ISBN 13: 9781857140453

Publisher: RAGGED BEARS @, 1993

Synopsis

A haunting Irish legend, believed by some to be the basis for King Lear. A king's jealous wife puts a spell on his children, changing them into swan s, until such time as the Man from the North and the Woman from the South--two mountain peaks--are joined together. Watercolor illustrations.

About this title

About the Author:

Sheila MacGill-Gallahan is the award-winning author of many Dial books, including And Still the Turtle Watched, illustrated by Barry Moser, and The Children of Lir, illustrated by Gennady Spirin. She lives in Far Rockaway, New York. copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.
Gennady Spirin was born in 1948 in a small city near Moscow. A graduate of the Strogonov Academy of Fine Arts, he is noted for his beautiful illustrations, meticulously researched and exquisitely executed in pencil and watercolor. His work has brought him international renown as many awards, including the Gold Medal of the Society of Illustrators, the Golden Apple of the Bratislava International Biennale of children's book illustration, First Prize for Illustration at the Barcelona International Children's Book Fair, and the Premio Grafico at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. His book Gulliver's Adventures in Lilliput (retold by Ann Keay Beneduce) was chosen one of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review.

Gennady Spirin came to the United States in 1991 and now lives with his wife and their three sons in Princeton, New Jersey. copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3 Up-- This book makes a gorgeous first impression. However, compared to the traditional story of the children of Lyr as retold by Joseph Jacobs ( Celtic Fairy Tales Dover, 1968) or the collection Irish Folktales (Pantheon, 1987), it seems an irresponsible adaptation. The author's assertion that scholars connect this ancient king with Shakespeare's Lear may or may not be accurate, but it is a connection in name only. The folkloric roots of Shakespeare's Lear are found in the story of the princess who loved her father as much as salt. The one noticeable common thread from the play to this book is the king's madness, and it is not found in the traditional tale of Lyr's children. In that story, the king marries his dead wife's sister, who is jealous of his children and turns them into swans. They spend their lives this way until the spell is broken just as, old and withered, their human forms are ready to die. There is spiritual redemption, but no corporeal second chance. In this lavishly illustrated bit of fluff, readers will find the jealous aunt and the transformation into swans, but the children's story is beautified, expurgated, and given an environmental gloss that breaks down. The beasts of the air and the water, led by a jolly whale, join forces to save the four swan children--still young and pretty--and everyone lives happily ever after. Spirin's lush, detailed watercolors, glorious in San Souci's The White Cat (Orchard, 1990), alternate here between narrative miniatures and double-page spreads crowded to the point of confusion. Yes, his whales and gulls and seals and swans are well rendered, but to what purpose? Text is framed in borders of intricate design, creating an illusion of illuminated parchment--a lavish production for so little content. There is a murky "scholarly" addendum that obfuscates the story even further. Don't judge this book by its cover. --Sally Margolis, Deerfield Public Library, IL
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: RAGGED BEARS @
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1857140451
• ISBN 13: 9781857140453
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32