Marianna Mayer’s Followers (67)

Marianna Mayer

Born

in New York City, New York, The United States

November 08, 1945

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Marianna Mayer lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.
"I see folktales and myths as humankind's first stories," says Marianna Mayer. "They are a kind of collective dreaming, filled with timeless symbols and images we can all relate to, regardless of age or culture. And, much as an oyster must be disturbed by a grain of sand in order for the pearl to be created, I often choose to retell stories in which I find unresolved fragments that are somehow perplexing to me."

Though widely known as a children's book writer, Marianna Mayer's early education focused on visual art. "It seems to me there was never a time when I didn't want to be an artist, " she says. "I liked to tell stories with pictures and compose music. My sister and I put on plays made up f Marianna Mayer lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.
"I see folktales and myths as humankind's first stories," says Marianna Mayer. "They are a kind of collective dreaming, filled with timeless symbols and images we can all relate to, regardless of age or culture. And, much as an oyster must be disturbed by a grain of sand in order for the pearl to be created, I often choose to retell stories in which I find unresolved fragments that are somehow perplexing to me."

Though widely known as a children's book writer, Marianna Mayer's early education focused on visual art. "It seems to me there was never a time when I didn't want to be an artist, " she says. "I liked to tell stories with pictures and compose music. My sister and I put on plays made up from my stories. And then I decided to start writing a book, at the age of nine." She published her first book at the age of nineteen. After college, she studied painting at the Art Students League in New York City. Her experiences as an artist provided many images that she began to incorporate into writing. Gradually, she shifted to the written word as a medium of expression. She explains, "I began to feel more freedom when using words as my paints and plots as my canvases.

"While in the midst of a writing project, I live so much in my mind that what takes place in my imagination becomes quite real to me. I try to become part of the culture of a particular tale as much as possible. While working on Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, for example, I read all I could about Russia. What I learned about Slavic mythology helped to deepen my understanding of the story. I listened to Russian music, ate Russian food (which I love!), and tried in other small ways to enter into the essence of that culture."

"My writing is deeply personal. First and foremost I write for the child who still lives within me. Then to the child in others, whether that child resides in a young person or an adult. I'm striving to reach out to that spirit of wonder within us all. The stories I was told as a child, those half-remembered folktales and myths, have become the foundation for what I continue to work on in my books. The sense of hope that books instilled in me as a child saw me through many difficult times. Because of this, I choose characters who face overwhelming odds but triumph through courage and perseverance. Similarly, myth allows a child to believe in his or her own dreams and can instill a boundless hope for the future." ...more

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Marianna Mayer’s books

Average rating: 4.28 · 16,445 ratings · 909 reviews · 68 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer, Kinuko Y. Craft (Illustrator) 4.32 avg rating — 6,225 ratings — published 1989 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beauty and the Beast by Marianna Mayer, Mercer Mayer (Illustrator) 4.34 avg rating — 5,850 ratings — published 1978 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer, Kinuko Y. Craft (Illustrator) 4.29 avg rating — 1,360 ratings — published 1994 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unicorn and the Lake by Marianna Mayer, Michael Hague (Illustrator) 4.18 avg rating — 253 ratings — published 1982 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ivanhoe by Marianna Mayer (Adaptor), Walter Scott, John Rush (Illustrator) 3.90 avg rating — 218 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Adventures of Tom Thumb by Marianna Mayer, Kinuko Y. Craft (Illustrator) 3.82 avg rating — 136 ratings — published 2001 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unicorn Alphabet by Marianna Mayer, Michael Hague (Illustrator) 4.18 avg rating — 117 ratings — published 1989 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Turandot by Marianna Mayer, Winslow Pels (Illustrator) 4.18 avg rating — 111 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Me and My Flying Machine by Marianna Mayer, Mercer Mayer 4.31 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 1971 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Black Horse by Marianna Mayer, Katie Thamer (Illustrator) 4.42 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 1984 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Marianna Mayer (?)

“I see folktales and myths as humankind's first stories. They are a kind of collective dreaming, filled with timeless symbols and images we can all relate to, regardless of age or culture.”
― Marianna Mayer

tags: folklore-and-mythology

2 likes

Polls

Favorite retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses

Entwined

Heather Dixon

46 votes, 28.2%

Princess of the Midnight Ball

Jessica Day George

25 votes, 15.3%

Wildwood Dancing

Juliet Marillier

25 votes, 15.3%

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Marianna Mayer K.Y. Craft

12 votes, 7.4%

The Thirteenth Princess

Diane Zahler

11 votes, 6.7%

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

Genevieve Valentine

9 votes, 5.5%

The Night Dance

Suzanne Weyn

8 votes, 4.9%

The Princess Curse

Merrie Haskell

7 votes, 4.3%

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Brigette Barrager

5 votes, 3.1%

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

John Cech

4 votes, 2.5%

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Ruth Sanderson

3 votes, 1.8%

Twelve Dancing Unicorns

Alissa Heyman

3 votes, 1.8%

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Rachel Isadora

3 votes, 1.8%

The Phoenix Dance

Dia Calhoun

2 votes, 1.2%

163 total votes

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