A BOOK OF CHARMS AND CHANGELINGS

by Ruth Manning-Sanders ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1972

Transforming and transformed tales gathered from many cultures (though only in the Chinese ""Chien-Nang"" is the locale recognizable) and retold with fluent economy in the authoritative voice of a master storyteller. The magic is accomplished with breathtaking facility as the Korean ""Enchanted Wine Jug"" and the Russian handmill in ""Pancakes and Pies"" shower their owners with good fortune and the Bosnian ""Magic Bridle"" changes its possessor into a sheepdog, a mongrel and a wren in rapid succession. Even the malignant spells have a piquant appropriateness (the wicked stepmother turns her docile daughter into a white lamb), and the happy endings are neatly packaged, whether they bring a king's daughter, a handsome husband or a last minute surprise -- as when the old woman in ""The Forty Goats"" scorns her reward and, singing ""your kings may live in mazes,/ And your queens may go to blazes,"" skips home to her own little house. Though geographic specificity has been sacrificed, the stories coalesce into a world of fast-paced changes and irresistible charms.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION