The Children of Lir

If one is not familiar with the traditional Irish myth/legend of the children of Lir, one might be able to enjoy Sheila MacGill-Callahan's very loose and very much changed retelling without reservations. Both the narrative and the illustrations are charming, evocative of love, jealousy, sadness,

Show More

adventure (combined with a typical, but clever happily-ever-after fairytale ending). However, although legends and myths undergo many changes, an author should clearly indicate wether his/her retelling, his/her version of a folktale, a legend is a radical departure from known and accepted versions. And in my opinion, with The Children of Lir, Sheila MacGill-Callahan has somewhat failed to do this. Yes, she does indicate in a rather rambling author's note that her reworking of the Fate of the Children of Lir is loosely based on an Irish myth. But her version of the story (with the happy ending, the deus ex machina of the rescuing whale, the different spelling of Aoife's name etc.) is so fundamentally different from traditional Irish lore that it really is no longer only a retelling, but an almost completely original story, one that uses the characters of the original tale (and even with these characters, there are changes), and the general concept of the children of Lir being changed into swans by a jealous stepmother, but not much else. Also, as the Fate of the Children of Lir is considered one of the most sorrowful and poignant tales of Irish folklore, of Irish storytelling (their curse of having to live 900 years as swans, their final release by a Christian monk, their immediate death from old age upon release from said curse), Sheila MacGill-Callahan's version, with its fairytale-like happy ending, seems almost a bit of an affront to Irish culture and lore (as though the author made use of the general theme but did not really care or understand that some myths, some legends should not be tampered with, should be treated with respect).

As a tale in and of itself, the story is lovely and quite moving, and the illustrations are truly wonderful, stylish, artistic, expressive. However Sheila McGill-Callahan's The Children of Lir seems to have evolved into more of a Central European fairy tale; it no longer appears as the powerfully poignant, sorrowful tale of Irish (Celtic) legend it originally was meant to be. I would still recommend this book to children who enjoy fairytales and folktales, especially tales of children being changed into animals (older children, as there is quite a lot of text), but with a major caveat that this retelling of the Fate of the Children of Lir is to be approached more as a stylised "Kunstmärchen" refurbishing of the Irish original.

Show Less

Gorgeously illustrated book, with a fairy tale that Shakespeare's King Lear was probably based on

Another fairy tale about an Evil Queen jealous of her stepchildren. This book was loosely based on an irish folklore. It was written beautifully and the artwork was amazing. I would recommend this to a student if they enjoy fantasy.

Based upon an Irish legend, this is yet another folktale of the wicked step mother who despised her husband's children. Turning the four children to swans, she captures them and they are secluded.

There is a happy ending, and of course with the illustrations of Gennedy Spiring, the images are lush

Show More

and incredibly rendered.

Show Less