A Book of Sorcerers and Spells

by Ruth Manning-Sanders, Robin Jacques (Illustrator)

1. Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What (Russia)2. The Sleeper (Ireland)3. Manikin Spanalong (Germany)4. The Foam Maiden (Gypsy)5. The Palace of the Seven Little Hills (Ireland)6. The Great Bear of Orange (Ireland)7. Oda and the Snake (Austria)8. The Three Ivans (Russia)9. Foni and Fotia (Sudan)10. Sorcerer Kaldoon (Transylvania)11. The Magic Monkeys (Italy)12. The Mossy Rock (North Africa)

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Fairy Tales

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Ruth Manning-Sanders, youngest daughter of an English minister, describes her childhood as “extraordinarily happy. . . with kind and understanding parents and any amount of freedom.” She read omnivorously, and she and her two sisters wrote and acted their own plays. A Shakespeare scholar at Manchester University, she later married Cornish artist George Manning-Sanders. They began married life in a horse drawn caravan, and traveled to all parts of the British Isles.
Mrs. Manning-Sanders has collected folk and fairy stories from around the world and she published more than 90 books during her lifetime.

Reviews

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy tales about the world, with country sources (but no more) and nice illustrations, retold for children.

A description that allows virtually every fairy tale to past muster. So we have the man set off on an impossible quest because the tsar wants his beautiful and magical wife; a tower-imprisoned stepmother cursing her stepson with the aid of a raven; three young Ivans born after their mothers ate a magical fish, and more.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent collection of stories! My favorites included "Go I Know Not Wither and Fetch I Know Not What", "The Three Ivans", "The Foam Maiden", and "The Palace of the Seven Little Hills".

[PlrBrLvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in the 70s, good little book of short stories.