THE LITTLE PEOPLE'S PAGEANT OF CORNISH LEGENDS

by Eric--Ed. & Adapt. Quayle ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1987

Twelve traditional Cornish tales collected and retold in literary style, with pleasantly eerie illustrations in pen and ink and watercolors. Awareness of the unseen permeates each of these tales--belief in magic and the existence of ""the little people"" combines with the commonplace details of everyday life to give an intriguing glimpse into unfamiliar Cornish territory. Several of the tales are variations of familiar stories: ""The Piskie Threshers"" is a Cornish ""Elves and the Shoemaker""; ""Duffy and the Devil,"" a Cornish ""Rumpelstiltskin."" ""The Shawl Ghost"" is a chilling moral tale of what happens when promises to the dying are unkept, while ""The Good Dog Devil"" shows what common sense and courage can accomplish. Quayle is a conscientious collector/reteller who describes the written sources of his material and his personal collecting with Foreman among the ""present-day old folk"" of West Penwith in his introduction. Although some of these tales are less fluid in style than others, the most successful lend themselves to retelling in a time when many librarians/storytellers must learn their tales ""backwards""--from the written page to the spoken word. Easily book-talked, this is a good addition to folk-tale collections at any level.

Pub Date: April 1, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 108

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1987

Categories: CHILDREN'S