When the Root Children Wake Up

Originally published in 1941 by Lippincott, and then reprinted by The Green Tiger Press in this newer edition in 1988, Helen Dean Fish's When the Root Children Wake Up is (to the best of my knowledge) the first version of Sibylle von Olfers' 1906 picture-book, Etwas von den Wurzelkindern

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("Something About the Root Children"), to be made available to English-language readers. It pairs Fish's prose adaptation, based loosely upon von Olfers' original poem, with von Olfers' Art Nouveau style illustrations, and is a charming retelling of a story that, in German-speaking parts of the world, is considered a children's classic.

The story of the Root Children - little cherub-like beings in the care of the Earth Mother - who emerge with the coming of the Spring, decorating the flowers and tiny creatures (beetles, ladybugs, grasshoppers) for the season ahead, and surfacing upon the earth to frolic and play, this tale is the epitome of anthropomorphism, and envisions the forces of nature being assisted by child-like creatures. Those who find such things abhorrent will want to skip it, while those who enjoy them - or who appreciate similar efforts by authors such as Elsa Beskow - are recommended to obtain a copy. For my part, I sometimes like this sort of things, and then again, sometimes I don't. In the case of von Olfers' tales, I've decided that I do!

The approach used here, of pairing von Olfers' artwork with a prose adaptation of, and expansion upon the original story, is also the one favored by those responsible for the more recent The Story of the Root-Children, although that version is presented as if it were a straight translation (with von Olfers listed as the author). I prefer the decision made here, to acknowledge the act of adaptation, and recommend this version to all those readers looking for a prose edition of the story. Those searching for a translation of the original poem itself might want to take a look at Jack Zipes' Mother Earth and Her Children: A Quilted Fairy Tale.

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