Review; Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary by Lynn Curlee

Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary
by Lynn Curlee
Picture Book, Mythology
published: 2008
For: Once Upon a Time Challenge
3 of 5 stars

About

A guide or encyclopedia for the mythological creatures from ancient Greek mythology. Each spread has one page of illustration and one fairy length block of text. There are descriptions of the creatures and a story (or the story) in which that creature is involved.

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I was struggling to fulfill the mythology category in my Once Upon a Time Challenge, having already checked 2 different books out of the library and not reading them. I discovered that while I was interested in Norse myths, that interest wasn't enough to keep me awake in the evenings while I tried to understand the cosmos according to Vikings. So while back in the myth section at the library I seized upon this picture book. Surely I could handle a picture book!

It also gave me the opportunity to show pictures of these creatures to my kids. Why? Well, they have been exposed to many of them through Fablehaven, Disney's Hercules, The Lightning Thief, and even the Narnia movie. I thought they would appreciate a better visual and little a history.

They did. At least the older ones did. The younger ones would start to squirm as we read through each wordy page. I had not realized it would contain some of the myths. I thought it would be more, "Here's this creature, ain't it ugly!" But the book actually contained quite of few details. It was fun interesting to read it out loud.

Here's my warning - it contains some of the mythology. Yes. I've said that uber times already. I'll now remind you that those myths are full of murder, man-eating things, adultery, jealousy, and married siblings. I don't normally blink at an eye at this, Greek mythology is what is it. But I saw it all from a different perspective while reading it cold out loud. Gack.

Thank heavens I can read quickly. We got through most of it with very few questions. The three-headed and half-man creatures detracted from the husband protecting his lover and the wife contracting out murder. Definitely for those older kids.

The pictures were simplistic and functional. They gave a clear depiction of each creature in all its weirdness. Not perhaps my favorite style, but "educational" nonetheless.

Review: Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
by Gregory Maguire
Fairy Tale
372 pages
published: 1999
For: Once Upon a Time Challenge
4 of 5 stars

About

In the lives of children, pumpkins can turn into coaches, mice and rats into human beings.... When we grow up, we learn that it's far more common for human beings to turn into rats....
We all have heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave among the ashes.But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty . . . and what curses accompanied Cinderella's exquisite looks?
Extreme beauty is an affliction
Set against the rich backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister.
Clara was the prettiest child, but was her life the prettiest tale?
While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, burning all memories of her past, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household--and the treacherous truth of her former life.
God and Satan snarling at each other like dogs.... Imps and fairy godmotbers trying to undo each other's work. How we try to pin the world between opposite extremes!
Far more than a mere fairy-tale, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister is a novel of beauty and betrayal, illusion and understanding, reminding us that deception can be unearthed--and love unveiled--in the most unexpected of places. - from Goodreads

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I enjoyed this retelling immensely. The author reinvented every character in the story, added background and feeling, and spun the narrative around to resemble no other telling of Cinderella I have encountered. The characters felt real, with personal crosses to bear, their own world view, and near overwhelming flaws. I loved not knowing how the fairy tale was going to mature from that fertile ground. I loved the lack of parallels between this retelling and the standard versions. I cared about Iris, the younger stepsister, and wanted very much for her to find some happiness.

I find retellings that remove much or all of the "magic" and "explain" the magical story by mundane means to be fascinating. Such stories make me wonder about the real world origins of our fairy tales. Park of me wants to think that each one had a "real" version way back when about "real" people, which over time got changed and added to and inflamed to be what we have today. I doubt this is the case, and I don't actually care...but thinking and imagining are the best time ever.

This book explored good and evil and the motivations of each. I loved that through most of the book I saw the stepmother as wrong and misguided, but not necessarily evil. I loved that "Cinderella" was not the most sympathetic character despite, or because of, her beauty. I enjoyed the discussions of beauty.

My favorite quote: "Perhaps charity is the kind of beauty that we comprehend the best because we miss it the most." page 313

The writing was easy and approachable - nothing that stood out or detracted. It was mostly clean (as to language, violence, and sex) save some references toward the end. Though the subjects were mature enough for me to recommend for older teens.

My only complaint was about the narrative twist at the end. And it's not that I didn't enjoy it - it added great depth to the story, answered some questions, and who doesn't love a little surprise? My complaint has more to do with plausibility. I'm afraid that this little gem of a line has been floating through my head since: "I got better." (Don't forget the brogue and the glottal stop.)

(This is from Monty Python's The Holy Grail. I could NOT edit this video, and I know you don't want to watch the whole thing, and will get lost as to my point if you do, so PLEASE fast forward to 1:20 and play until 1:32. It's AWESOME.)

Yah. Check this book out. Then youtube The Holy Grail. You know you want to.

Once Upon a Time Challenge

I have held off on signing up for challenges this year due to lingering embarrassment from last year. (I had signed up for hundreds than fell off the boat...baby...moving...ya know...) But thank you Suey for pointing me to this one. I am going to do it. I am going to focus. I have been reading fairy tales like there's no tomorrow anyway and I love the artwork. Good motivation, huh?

There is Quest the First: Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time IV criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

And Quest the Second: Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology. This proves to be one of the more difficult quests each year merely because of the need to classify each read and determine which books fit into which category. I am not a stickler, fear not, but I am endlessly fascinated watching how folks work to find books for each category.

Then there is Quest the Third: Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream OR a viewing of one of the many theatrical versions of the play. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the reading of this farcical love story.

Now that I'm copyin' and pastin' I see that the important conjunction word is or. This whole day, and it really does take me a whole day to put up a post, I've been thinking and. I'm still taken with the and concept.

So here are my Goals:

Quest the First:

1. Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
2. East by Edith Pattou
3. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
4. Confession of an Uglay Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
5. The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey

(I will be focusing on fairy tales since there are so many I've been pointed to recently. I read fantasy all the time and it would not be anything of a challenge.)

Quest the Second:

1. Fablehaven: The Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull (Fantasy)
2. Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen (Fairy Tale)
3. Hush by Donna Jo Napoli (Folklore)
4. Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary by Lynn Curlee (Mythology)

 Quest the Third:

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream (reading)
2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (watching)

But, in case things get hairy, let's keep in mind that it is truly an or.

It starts March 21st and ends June 20th.

Wish me luck! And then come JOIN US!