Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 62

Art Thursday: Cinderella and the Birds, 1868

The artist for Cinderella and the Birds, 1868 is unknown. What appealed to me the most in this painting? That Cinderella looks healthy, that perhaps she has some benefits from her manual labor. That was my first impression.

Info about the painting:

Cinderella and the Birds, 1868, English School, (19th century) / Private Collection / © Gavin Graham Gallery, London, UK / The Bridgeman Art Library

Cinderella and the Birds,... Buy From Art.com

New Release: Fairy Tales Search and Find by Holly Brook-Piper

(US/UK Links)
Fairy Tales Search and Find by Holly Brook-Piper is released this week in both the US and UK. See Fairy Tales Search and Find (UK Link). Bright and colorful illustrations of fairy tale characters with searches. I think I need this one to read with my two-year-old nephew.


Book description:

In FAIRY TALES SEARCH AND FIND, kids will have a ball searching for over 500 items!

In FAIRY TALES SEARCH AND FIND, kids will have tons of items to discover and count! This engaging book will encourage children to learn their numbers from 1 through 10 while they search for over 500 objects (such as princesses, wands, flowers, witches, etc.) to spot, identify, sort, and count. This book is ideal for expanding vocabulary and progressing language skills as well as aiding storytelling skills.

The Grateful Dead Folktale: Questions?

The next SurLaLune title soon to be released is The Grateful Dead Tales From Around the World. This is a departure for SurLaLune and myself in many ways. For one, this is the first tale collection not supported by an annotated tale on the SurLaLune site for the past several years. I am debating putting the tale up on the site because it is a rather complicated one to offer up for annotation. It can be done, of course, but choosing a definitive tale is problematic to start and then the challenges build from there.

My query here is this: I will be posting about Grateful Dead folktales in the coming weeks with the book's release and wanted to know what you, the loyal SurLaLune readers, know and want to know about Grateful Dead tales, ATU 505 (and other types too). These days I realize most people hear the term and think of the band and Deadheads--if they are even aware of the band, which the younger generations today are fairly oblivious to in my experience--but this is a folktale with a history stretching back millenia with virtually nothing in common with a rock band other than the name the group got from the tale.

To be honest, I would fail a listening quiz of the band's music--I could place the era and maybe successfully guess the band, but I think I could only be definite for one actual song and even then I wouldn't bet my last dollar on my answer. That is not my area of interest although I am always curious about how folklore is absorbed by all forms of popular culture or subculture. So that is not where my studies and the new book's focus goes AT ALL. One brief band reference in the first paragraph of the introduction to prove I know the band exists and that is all. Didn't want readers thinking I was completely oblivious to that cultural touchpoint. I'm not.

I started the book and have worked on it in fits and bounds since 2010 when I discovered The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story by Gordon Hall Gerould while researching Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World. I started out knowing virtually nothing about the tale and have learned more than I ever expected or planned when I started collecting variants and reading and reading and reading. I was just going to collect some tales and offer them up in a book. But familiarity has bred affection for the tale, something I expect now after editing so many books and a website, as well as a fascination with how it has traveled through the centuries to us today. So I kept researching and growing the book into the 828 pages it is now. And that's after cuts of material.

My new book shares the text of Gerould's book and then offers about 50 variants of the tale in full text as well as other scholarship and information on the tale type which is itself rather complicated, in the way Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast are complicated, not sticking to one tale type for everyone's convenience. I miss simple, but I think I am in the wrong field for that.

And if you aren't interested in Grateful Dead folklore, I hope to spark an interest. It really is fascinating, I promise. So stay tuned and keep reading. There are hopefully some interesting surprises in store for folklore lovers. After all, I never expected to edit a book about the tale and now I have. And I don't do that unless I find enough to keep myself interested long enough to complete a book.

New Book: Alaska's Snow White and Her Seven Sled Dogs by Mindy Dwyer

Alaska's Snow White and Her Seven Sled Dogs by Mindy Dwyer was released last month, just in time for all of the publicity of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to hit the news. Mindy Dwyer has several Alaska themed fairy tale books of which this is the latest.


Book description:

The evil Ice Queen, threatened by Snow White’s beauty (“lips redder than a salmonberry”) sends an assassin musher, then disguises herself as a trapper to deliver a constricting fur coat. Finally, she gets to Snow White as a friendly homesteader offering a peppermint drink that freezes our heroine. Thank goodness the Great Race means a handsome young musher finds Snow White—and warms her with love and a cozy fire. They mush happily ever after when the Ice Queen’s rage makes her skate right through the ice to her demise. Children and adults alike will enjoy this Alaskan take on the classic Snow White fairy tale.

Today Only: Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) by Jim C. Hines for $1.99

Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) by Jim C. Hines, all around great guy, is on sale today only in ebook format for $1.99. If Hines sounds familiar to you here at SurLaLune, he is also the author of the Princess series that retold several fairy tale princess stories, starting with The Stepsister Scheme (PRINCESS Book 1). I myself am an eternal fan just alone for his contributions to the discussion about the Cover Posing issues on book covers.

Book description:

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.

With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic. . . .

Or a better one from Jim's blog:

Isaac Vainio has spent the past two years working at the Copper River Library in northern Michigan, secretly cataloguing books for their magical potential, but forbidden from using that magic himself…except for emergencies. Emergencies like a trio of young vampires who believe Isaac has been killing their kind, and intend to return the favor.

Isaac is a libriomancer, brilliant but undisciplined, with the ability to reach into books and create objects from their pages. And attacking a libriomancer in his own library is never a good idea.

But vampires are only the beginning. This was merely the latest in a series of attacks against members of Die Zwelf Portenære, a secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats. Among the casualties is Ray Walker, Isaac’s friend and mentor in magic.

Complicating matters further is the arrival of a dryad named Lena Greenwood. Along with a neurotic fire-spider named Smudge, Isaac and Lena set out to find and stop whoever is behind the attacks. But things are worse than Isaac imagined. An unknown killer of unimaginable power has been torturing and murdering humans and vampires alike. And Gutenberg, now more than six hundred years old, has disappeared. If Isaac is to have any hope of preventing all-out war, he will have to truly master the magic of libriomancy.

Assuming he doesn’t lose control and wipe himself from existence first.

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Advance Info Service: Snow White

Advance Info Service: Snow WhiteGood story deserves good ending. AIS Book donations for children.
Not a brand new concept if you've been reading the Fairy Tales in Advertising features here on SurLaLune for a while but some really dark illustrations this time. And The Little Prince is a surprise. Another one that would be lost on most of the audience in the U.S. but works in countries where French influence is stronger. Didn't expect it in Thailand, I admit.

Campaign info from Ads of the World:

Advertising Agency: Matchbox, Bangkok, Thailand
Creative Director: Vinai Ngamphathipong
Art Director: Ngamnade Pongrakananon
Copywriters: Vilasinee Malyanon, Kraichit Chargonpanish
Illustrator: Neab Niyom
Published: May 2008

Advance Info Service: Pinocchio

Advance Info Service: The Little Prince

The Tale of the Dragon: An Unexpected Sleep Test Story

I have been VERY SLOWLY updating some of the pages on SurLaLune. Today I added a new tale to the Tales Similar to Princess and the Pea page. While the tale is not an authentic ATU 704 Princess on the Pea story, it bears enough similarities including the presence of a pea and a sleep test. The pea disturbs the sleep, too, but not for a reason you have probably ever read before. Unless you have read this particular tale. Since a dragon and a riddle challenge is also found within, there's much to enjoy in this short tale. The story will also permanently reside at The Tale of the Dragon.


The Tale of the DragonA Grecian Tale
ONCE on a time there was a man who, as he was walking along, found a pea, and said to himself, "I will plant this pea and when the pea-stalk grows up it will bear many peas, and so I shall be able one day to lade ships with them, perhaps even the twelve ships of the King. With that thought in his head he got up and went to find the King and have an audience with him. So he presented himself before him and asked him for his twelve ships, that he might lade them—with his one pea! which he had in his shoe.

When the King heard the words of this young hero, he said to him, "If it please you I have a daughter whom I think worthy of you."

But I forgot to tell you that this man, as he was going to see the King, met with a dragon, who said to him, "Whither away?"

"To seek my fortune," he replied.

"Your fortune is made if you prove able to answer me ten questions," answered the dragon, "but otherwise you are lost. And if on the other hand you do answer the ten questions, you will be presented with that palace that you see there, as it is, with all its belongings, gardens and estates, and I shall burst asunder as soon as you answer me all my questions."

Let us leave the dragon, then, who had made this bargain with Penteclemas (for so the young man was called), and let us come to speak of the King who desires him for a son-in-law.

Now poor Penteclemas thought if he were to say "No!" the King would not believe his word and would not let him have the ships. So he thought he had better say "Yes!" and see how things turned out. When he had given his consent, the King, in order to assure himself whether he was rich or poor, gave orders to a servant to put ragged sheets and a torn coverlid on his bed, for Penteclemas to pass the night on. And when night fell he said to him, "Go to your chamber, for it is time to sleep." The King told the servant to watch all night long to see whether he went to sleep or not.

"For," said he, "if he sleep, it is a sign he is poor; but if he do not sleep it shows he has been accustomed to new bed-clothes and cannot sleep on rags." In the morning the servant tells him that Penteclemas was restless all the night and never closed his eyes. Then the King orders him on the following night to lay the bed properly and with due regard to comfort. And not to make a long tale of it, in the good bed our young hero sleeps as sound as sound could be, because he had no fear of losing his pea in this bed. So the King was satisfied that he was a youth of good birth, and married him to his daughter.

But the reason why he had not slept the first night was not because of the ragged bed-clothes, but only because he was afraid of losing the pea and not being able to find it.

After a time he began to think of what he should say to the dragon, since the time was drawing near—forty days' grace having been fixed.

When the wedding had taken place about three days, our young hero wished to leave home, and the Princess desired to accompany him. Accordingly a considerable retinue followed in her train, and her husband, Penteclemas, went to the dragon's castle in order to learn his fate, and see what would befall him. He went on in front, and a short distance behind followed his wife with her train of attendants. Penteclemas said to them, "If the Princess asks whose are these estates, mind you tell her they belong to Penteclemas. This can do you no harm." And as luck would have it the Princess actually did ask once or twice about the estates, and when she heard they belonged to her husband she was very much pleased. But the unfortunate Penteclemas kept thinking over the words of the dragon, and what sort of questions he would ask him; for the time allowed was drawing to an end.

When they arrived at the dragon's castle, he and his wife went up the steps, and the rest of the company took their leave. Penteclemas was very thoughtful. His wife said to him, "What ails you?"

"Nothing," said he, for what should he answer her, and how was he to tell her what was going to happen, when the time for the dragon's approach drew near? At last an old woman from the neighbourhood saw the wife of Penteclemas sorrowful.

"What ails you?" she asked.

She answered, "Seeing my husband sad and thoughtful, I am sad as well."

Then the old woman goes to Penteclemas and puts the same question to him. What had he to hope from the old woman? So he hid his thoughts from her, till at last she got impatient, and then he told her. The old woman consoled him, saying, that when the dragon came she would answer the questions he put, and that he was never to mind the dragon at all, but only to comfort the Princess who was so sorrowful.

When the dragon came he called out, "Are you there?"

"Glad to see you!" shouts the old woman, pretending to be Penteclemas. Then they close the doors and the dragon and the old woman are shut up together in the castle.

The dragon cries, "What does one stand for?"

"One stands for God!" cries the old woman

Dragon: "What does two stand for?"

Old Woman: "Even-handed justice!"

Dragon: "What does three stand for?"

Old Woman: "The three legs of the trivet that they put the pot on."

Dragon: "What does four stand for?"

Old Woman: "The four teats of the cow."

Dragon: "What does five stand for?"

Old Woman: "The five fingers of our hands."

Dragon: "What does six stand for?"

Old Woman: "The six stars in the constellation Pleiades."

Dragon: "What does seven stand for?"

Old Woman: "A dance of seven damsels."

Dragon: "What does eight stand for?"

Old Woman: "The eight tentacles of the eight-footed octopus."

Dragon: "What does nine stand for?"

Old Woman: "Nine months your mother bare you."

Dragon: "What does ten stand for?"

Old Woman: "Why that's your own number. Burst, dragon, burst!"

So the dragon burst, and Penteclemas inherited the castle and all its belongings, and lived happily with the Princess, and they loaded the old woman with money.

Source:

Geldart, Edmund Martin. Folk-Lore of Modern Greece: The Tales of the People. London: W. Swan Sonnenschein and Company, 1884.

New Release: Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School) by Jen Calonita

(US/UK Links)
Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School) by Jen Calonita is released this week in the US and UK. See Fairy Tale Reform School: Flunked (UK Link).

Remember how I mention trends in fairy tale retelling publishing sometimes? Fairy tale schools are definitely an official trend. We've had The School for Good and Evil and Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends and don't forget the Fairy Tale High Dolls which are NOT Ever After High.I think there are a few mores but those are the ones I remember as I spend a few minutes composing this post.

Book description:

Flunked is an exciting new twisted fairy tale from the award-winning author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series. "Charming fairy-tale fun." -Sarah Mlynowski, author of the New York Times bestselling Whatever After series.

Gilly wouldn't call herself wicked, exactly...but when you have five little brothers and sisters and live in a run-down boot, you have to get creative to make ends meet. Gilly's a pretty good thief (if she does say so herself).

Until she gets caught.

Gilly's sentenced to three months at Fairy Tale Reform School where all of the teachers are former (super-scary) villains like the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother. Harsh. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there's more to this school than its heroic mission. There's a battle brewing and Gilly has to wonder: can a villain really change?

New Release: The Crow of Connemara by Stephen Leigh

(US/UK Links)
The Crow of Connemara by Stephen Leigh is released this week in the US and UK. See The Crow of Connemara (UK Link). This is billed as drawing from mythology and folktales, but nothing specific, but that's enough to warrant a mention here.

Book description:

The Crow of Connemara is a contemporary Celtic fantasy set primarily in Ireland. Picking up threads from ancient Irish mythology and folktales, this story is fantasy, drama, and tragic romance all at once, a tale caught in the dark places where the world of ancient myth intersects our own, where old ways and old beliefs struggle not to be overwhelmed by the modern world.

Colin Doyle is young Irish-American musician from Chicago, whose interest is traditional Irish music. Maeve Gallagher is an Oileánach, an "Islander" from Ireland's west coast. Islanders are outcasts treated with suspicion by the locals, who think them responsible for wild and strange happenings in the area. Colin soon discovers that he's connected to Maeve in ways he never could have imagined.

Wonderlands: Reading/Writing/Telling Fairy Tales and Fantasy Symposium

Wonderlands: Reading/Writing/Telling Fairy Tales and Fantasy Symposium5/23/2015
When: 5/23/2015
Where: University of Chichester
Chichester
United Kingdom

DETAILS

The 'Wonderlands: Reading/Writing/Telling Fairy Tales and Fantasy' symposium draft program has now been released--you can view it here. If you would like to register to attend this all-day event on Saturday 23 May, tickets are on sale here. For more information, please contact wonderlands.symposium@gmail.com.

Heidi's note: The schedule looks wonderful and I wish I was going to be there! I wasn't able to copy and paste it from the program but do click the link to see the scheduled sessions.