Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 144

New Book: Computational Fairy Tales by Jeremy Kubica

Under the category of "Fairy Tales Are Used EVERYWHERE," I offer Computational Fairy Tales by Jeremy Kubica, exhibit 95,371. Yes, that is a random number I made up. Although I could make it accurate if I wanted to try that hard. And even the book description made clear to me that my computer science knowledge is woefully lacking. I probably need this book...

Book description:

Have you ever thought that computer science should include more dragons and wizards? Computational Fairy Tales introduces principles of computational thinking, illustrating high-level computer science concepts, the motivation behind them, and their application in a non-computer—fairy tale—domain. The goal of this book is not to provide comprehensive coverage of each topic, but rather to provide a high level overview of the breadth and excitement of computer science. It’s a quest that will take you from learning the basics of programming in a blacksmith’s forge to fighting curses with recursion. Fifteen seers delivered the same prophecy, without so much as a single minstrel to lighten the mood: an unknown darkness threatens the kingdom. Suddenly, Princess Ann finds herself sent forth alone to save the kingdom. Leaving behind her home, family, and pet turtle Fido, Princess Ann must face goblin attacks, magical curses, arrogant scholars, an unpleasant oracle, and rude Boolean waiters. Along the way she must build a war chest of computational knowledge to survive the coming challenge.

There is a fine review by Jenny Williams of the book online at GeekMom on Wired:

“Have you ever thought that computer science should include more dragons and wizards?” – Computational Fairy Tales

Whether our kids go into computer science as a career or not, learning the basics of programming is a good way for their brains to be trained in certain critical ways of thinking. But especially at an early age, keeping their interest and attention while they are learning is key.

A new book by author Jeremy Kubica, called Computational Fairy Tales, introduces dozens of aspects of computational design. Aimed at junior high and high school students, it gives an overview of these aspects, whetting the appetite to learn more. Using analogies from fairy tales, Mr. Kubica inspires readers to take in each concept and then extend their learning on their own. The book gives a starting point for kids to learn more about the parts that interest them.

The story is about Princess Ann, who goes on a solitary quest to rid her kingdom of “the darkness” that has befallen it. She soon learns that she can follow a quest algorithm to help her find her way. Ann is new to questing, and feels a bit in over her head. But along the way, she learns about computer science, which serves as the magic in her land. Some of the concepts she learns are:

•Algorithms
•Variables
•If else
•Loops
•Binary numbers
•Boolean algebra
•Arrays, linked lists, and pointers
•Binary search trees
•Big O notation
•Recursion
•Insertion, bubble, and merge sort
•The traveling salesman problem
•Depth first search
•Commenting
•Stacks

There's more of the review, too. But I thought this part really helped explain the book so I had to share this much of it to encourage clicking through.

Celebrating the Mythic Life Conference

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Oh noes! This one got left in draft mode from last week, better late than never. And thanks to Joan for the heads up! This one is for Joseph Campbell fans.

Celebrating the Mythic Life – October 5th to the 8th, 2012

A Three-Day conference experiencing and cultivating Myth, Creativity, Introspection & the art of Following your Bliss to be held Friday October 5rd through Monday 8th 2012 at the Center for Symbolic Studies in the heart of the Hudson Valley: New Paltz, New York.

The intention is to pay homage to the continuing legacy of Joseph Campbell; most notably a look back at the last 25 years of vibrant work and a forward peek into what the next 25 years may have to offer in the studies of of myth, archetype, symbol, story & various arts.

GrimmFest at University of Florida

   
GrimmFest is a program at the University of Florida to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Grimms publication. The event series is spread out over the semester, not one weekend as you can see from the existing dates below. That makes it harder for those of us not in Florida.

From the University of Florida's Department of English page:

10/30/12

Jerry Griswold presents “Beauties & Beasts @ Halloween” as the first installment of GrimmFest, an event series celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Brothers Grimm, co-sponsored by the Center for Children’s Literature and Culture and the Baldwin Library for Historical Children’s Literature. Stories and observations about: How fairy tales became gothic. Why scariness is fun. And how our monsters are not what they used to be. Jerry Griswold is a specialist in Children’s Literature and in American Literature and Culture. The author of seven books, he has published more than 200 essays in the national press (Nation, Paris Review, New Republic, et al.) and is a frequent contributor to the New York and the Los Angeles Times. The former Director of the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, Griswold was a professor at San Diego State University, UCLA, UCSD, and the National University of Ireland in Galway. 7 PM. Smathers Library East, Room 1A.

11/13/12

Maria Tatar presents “Mythical and Magical: 200 Years of the Brothers Grimm” as the second installment of GrimmFest, an event series celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Brothers Grimm, co-sponsored by the Center for Children’s Literature and Culture and the Baldwin Library for Historical Children's Literature. Prof. Tatar will trace the evolution of fairy tales from the fireside to Kindle and reflect on the resurgence of fairy tales in new media today—Hollywood productions in particular. “Hansel and Gretel,” “Briar Rose,” and “Beauty and the Beast” will be used as examples to demonstrate the “enduring appeal” of fairy tales and how they depend on paradox and contradiction for their cultural power. Maria Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages & Literatures and Folklore & Mythology at Harvard University. She is the author of the new bicentennial edition of The Annotated Brothers Grimm and edited The Fairies Return, both published in 2012. She has published many other books, including volumes on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, on childhood reading (Enchanted Hunters), and on Weimar Germany (Lustmord). 7 PM. Smathers Library East, Room 1A.

Unless otherwise noted, all events are open to the public and free of charge.

Fairy Tales at University of Florida

The Center for Children's Literature and Culture at University of Florida (Gainesville) has a new webpage devoted to fairy tales, including a resources page (SurLaLune is listed!).

From the site:

Fairy Tales are those ancient stories that have been worn smooth from millenia of telling -- as someone once said, like the stones in a riverbed. These tales are rounded, compact, unencrusted with descriptive edges, or the specific angularities of any literary styles or mannerisms. They are usually short and, at least with the traditional tales, anonymous. The Grimms and other collectors and compilers have edited the tales, but they are not their authors. Writers like Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde, E. T. A. Hoffmann and George MacDonald, e. e. cummings and J. K. Rowling have written what are referred to as Kunstmärchen or artistic fairy tales -- stories that have been created by a known author who brings their unique style to the narrative.

Traditional fairy tales have their roots in our oldest stories, in myths and legends, in those primal tales that were formed when human beings first began to speak, in the myriad folktales that were and are still told in the oral tradition. For nearly two centuries, though, fairy tales in the West have been written down and often illustrated. No longer as listeners do we have to create for ourselves a picture of the maiden in the tower or the hero stealing the golden goose from the giant’s castle. For over half a century there have been films that retell the tales for us on screens bigger than our own powers of imagination -- with the music and visual effects to accompany them.

There is substantial debate about how to interpret fairy tales. Are they manifestations of our collective or individual unconscious? projections of our wishes? expressions of our longings for fairness and decency in a world that often does not seem to support these values? Is one of the principle functions of the tales, as some have suggested, to cast a branch of hope and comfort upon the often troubled waters of life?

However we may wish to define fairy tales, they remain an inescapable part of our psyches and our cultures. They are why we celebrate the underdog, and secretly acknowledge "The Ugly Duckling" as our own autobiography. Through their flights of fantasy, fairy tales set us free to seek our happiness, to follow our bliss -- if only for the few minutes we are enfolded in a particular tale. For many people, fairy tales are sustaining paradigms of conduct and possibility that inform their lives. To use James Hillman's phrase, they "restory" us, whether we're adults or children (and many fairy tales were originally meant exclusively for adults). In the end, fairy tales offer the reader something sublimely simple: a rare and absolute sense of justice. The wicked are punished, the good triumph, and the world is set in balance again.

In honor of the 200th Anniversary of Children’s Household Tales (1812), we have compiled a page about all things “fairy tale.” Read about the Brothers Grimm, find links to fairy tale blogs, browse recent films with fairy tale themes and more. Also make sure to check out the Baldwin Library’s collection of Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Event: GRIMM TALES: TELLING STORIES with Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman

 
From Neil Gaiman's blog:

I'll be in Conversation with Philip Pullman, talking about fairy tales and writing, on October the 29th at London's Cambridge Theatre. Details are at See Tickets and tickets are going ridiculously fast, which is why I thought I'd better nip on and mention it now.

And from See Tickets:

Please note: this event is suitable for children aged 12 and over.

GRIMM TALES: TELLING STORIES
Philip Pullman in conversation with Neil Gaiman

'Swiftness is a great virtue in the fairy tale.
All we need is the word "Once." and we're off'

5x15 and Penguin Books invite you to discover the dark fascination of fairy tales at a unique evening with two of the world's greatest storytellers.

To celebrate the publication of Grimm Tales for Young and Old, Philip Pullman's enchanting new retelling of the Grimm Brothers' stories of wicked deeds and otherworldly romance, this one-off event will bring together the award-winning authors, Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman. This is an unmissable opportunity to hear two of the most distinctive voices in modern fiction discuss their own work and the enduring appeal of fairy tales, along with a reading from the book by Philip Pullman.

The event will take place in the magical surroundings of the Cambridge Theatre, home to the West End production of Matilda - a fitting setting for an evening dedicated to the power of books and stories - making it a perfect Halloween night out for older children and adults alike.

There will be a limited signing after the event, for books purchased on the night.

New Release: Straparola's The Pleasant Nights Volumes 1 and 2

 
The Pleasant Nights: Volume 1 (Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library) was released in August and The Pleasant Nights: Volume 2 (Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library) will be released in November.

Ah, Straparola! It's time this book was republished with a new treatment. I spent many an hour scanning The Facetious Nights by Giovanni Francesco Straparola translated by W. G. Waters (1901) back in 2005 before Google Books was a powerhouse and before anyone else had made this available online. That's how I used to spend my free time, silly me. Then the internet grew even bigger and other people started doing that kind of work for me even if they didn't know it was for me... If I had just decided to wait a few years, I could have spent more time watching TV. But scanning and editing is a great way to grow intimate with a text--only translating is more intimate.

This new translation draws from the Waters edition but hopefully translates the French bits which were considered too racy to be put into English in the Waters edition. Yes, that happened once upon a time in publishing land, the racy bits were offered in French for the well-educated who would be "mature" enough to handle them, I guess, or hopefully not be offended. Interesting topic during Banned Books Week, too, and that was just serendipity.

But these are definitely on my wishlist although not an immediate buy thanks to the understandable pricing. New houses and all that stuff plus an already sizable SurLaLune budget just to keep me current keep me from impulse buying...

Should I devote some posts to Straparola after the second volume is released?

Book description:

Renowned today for his contribution to the rise of the modern European fairy tale, Giovan Francesco Straparola (c. 1480–c. 1557) is particularly known for his dazzling anthology The Pleasant Nights. Originally published in Venice in 1550 and 1553, this collection features seventy-three folk stories, fables, jests, and pseudo-histories, including nine tales we might now designate for ‘mature readers’ and seventeen proto-fairy tales. Nearly all of these stories, including classics such as ‘Puss in Boots,’ made their first ever appearance in this collection; together, the tales comprise one of the most varied and engaging Renaissance miscellanies ever produced. Its appeal sustained it through twenty-six editions in the first sixty years.

This full critical edition of The Pleasant Nights presents these stories in English for the first time in over a century. The text takes its inspiration from the celebrated Waters translation, which is entirely revised here to render it both more faithful to the original and more sparkishly idiomatic than ever before. The stories are accompanied by a rich sampling of illustrations, including originals from nineteenth-century English and French versions of the text.

As a comprehensive critical and historical edition, these volumes contain far more information on the stories than can be found in any existing studies, literary histories, or Italian editions of the work. Donald Beecher provides a lengthy introduction discussing Straparola as an author, the nature of fairy tales and their passage through oral culture, and how this phenomenon provides a new reservoir of stories for literary adaptation. Moreover, the stories all feature extensive commentaries analysing not only their themes but also their fascinating provenances, drawing on thousands of analogue tales going back to ancient Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic stories.

Immensely entertaining and readable, The Pleasant Nights will appeal to anyone interested in fairy tales, ancient stories, and folk creations. Such readers will also enjoy Beecher’s academically solid and erudite commentaries, which unfold in a manner as light and amusing as the stories themselves.

You can read an excerpt from the Introduction of Volume I of The Pleasant Nights, ‘The Straparola Dilemma, or the Biography of an Invisible Author’ by editor Donald Beecher here.

Free Ebook: The Fairy Tale Fiction of Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie

The Fairy Tale Fiction of Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie is free in ebook format through Friday, October 5th. This price should appear in all the international Amazons, too.

Book description:

FAIRY tales have long been an important part of the world's history and literature, especially for women whose voices have often been trivialized, ignored or made anonymous. Old wives' tales, fairy tales, and folklore-whatever terms are chosen-are part of our earliest literature and have often provided the medium for women's voices, for women's stories. Like the women of the French Salons who used traditional stories to create and recreate tales that both inspired and criticized their world and its expectations, women writers have long been recording and rewriting fairy tales for their own generations. The practice continues up to current times and will easily continue on past our own generations into a distant future.

One such author from the Victorian era was Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray. Ritchie rewrote nine fairy tales into short stories and novellas, exploring and reinterpreting the tales for the audience of her time. She wasn't the first to do so--and certainly not the last--but she firmly belongs in this literary legacy, one in which she has all too often been overlooked.

Edited with a new introduction by Heidi Anne Heiner, this volume includes Anne Thackeray Ritchie's nine short stories and novellas from Five Old Friends and Bluebeard's Keys and Other Stories: "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Jack the Giant-killer," "Bluebeard's Keys," "Riquet á la Houppe," "Jack and the Bean-stalk," and "The White Cat."

Additional materials include Ritchie's introduction to The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy and "Bluebeard's Ghost" by William Makepeace Thackeray, Ritchie's father.

New Book: Ironskin by Tina Connolly

 
Ironskin by Tina Connolly is officially released today, October 2nd, in both the US and in the UK. Same covers this time, as you can see above. While the novel isn't a straight fairy tale retelling, it will certainly appeal to most fans here as it skirts around the edges, primarily since it is slated as steampunk Jane Eyre with fey. And we all know that Jane Eyre is considered both Beauty and the Beast and Bluebeard, too.

Book description:

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It's the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain -- the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation" -- a child born during the Great War -- Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn't expect to fall for the girl's father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life -- and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

The only bummer--or perk depending on attitude--is that this is slated as part of a trilogy with a new book due out next year. But I know my interest is whetted! I admit I preordered it a few months ago as soon as I read that description as well as this blurb:

This is an astonishing book: an evocative re-imagination of Jane Eyre that concerns itself with beauty, love and social upheaval. Jane Eliot is an unforgettable protagonist, and the setting is strange and familiar at the same time. Connolly's fey creatures manage to be both ethereal and menacing. This lyrical and utterly marvelous debut is one of the standout books of the year.

-- Natalie A. Luhrs of RT Book Reviews, 4 & 1/2 Stars, Top Pick!

For once, a blurb cinched the deal for me. That's not very often, I admit, but I was hooked. It should have delivered to my Kindle sometime overnight.

Bargain Ebook: The Wide-Awake Princess by E. D. Baker

The Wide-Awake Princess by E. D. Baker is $1.99 in ebook format, most likely to help promote Baker's new release which I posted about earlier today, Unlocking the Spell: A Tale of the Wide-Awake Princess, which is the sequel. I can't see if it is discounted in other countries.

Book description:

In this stand-alone fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie-blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic-can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen’s true love to kiss her awake.

But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn’t possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father’s guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own.

New Release: Unlocking the Spell by E. D. Baker

 
Tomorrow is the official release date for E. D. Baker's Unlocking the Spell: A Tale of the Wide-Awake Princess, the sequel to The Wide-Awake Princess. It has a simultaneous release in the UK, too, which makes things easier, yes?

While The Wide Awake Princess drew inspiration from Sleeping Beauty, the astute reader will see that this new title draws heavy inspiration from an unexpected tale, Snow White and Rose Red. And since I know there are many fans of that tale here at SurLaLune, this book should be of particular interest to you!

Book description:

Bears, princes, witches, dwarves, and other fanciful fairy tale creatures step out in this charming story about Annie and her sister Gwendolyn ... and Gwendolyn’s beloved prince, Beldegard the Bear. You see, Beldegard is only human when he’s near Annie, so Gwendolyn is desperate to find the evil dwarf who turned Beldegard into a bear in the first place, and reverse the terrible spell. But Annie has just traipsed all over the kingdom to free her sister from the Sleeping Beauty spell...will she want to set out on a magical quest once more? Or has she had enough of watching her sister gaze lovingly into Beldegard’s eyes?

With trademark humor and many delightful twists, E. D. Baker brings us back to a magical land that offers many layers of fun and fantasy.

About the Author

E. D. BAKER is the author of The Wide Awake Princess, Fairy Lies, Fairy Wings, and the (eight) Tales of the Frog Princess including The Frog Princess, which was the inspiration for Disney's hit movie "The Princess and the Frog." She lives with her family and their horses in rural Maryland.