written and illustrated by Laura J Merrill ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2014
An unusual, fact-filled appreciation of the natural world blended with ventures into mysticism.
In the second installment (Secret Voices: The West, 2012) of her mystical nature series, New Mexico-based author Merrill profiles several varieties of trees found on the North American midcontinent, categorizing them regionally and offering herself as their translator.
For each tree she explores, Merrill offers several components—a rich illustration followed by a first-person monologue personifying the tree and what lesson it would teach humans if that American Elm or Boxelder could speak our language. She also provides drawings and explanations of other animal and plant species that share the tree’s habitat. A compatible poem written by Brian Mitchell accompanies each entry. The overall aesthetic effect is accessible and pleasing, but the combination of informed nature writing with the work’s fantastical elements, which depart wholly from realism, may be challenging for some readers. To add to the unusual mix, the author salts the text with memorable factoids; e.g., “rabbits burrow, hares live above ground; rabbits are born blind and furless, hares are born fully furred, eyes open.” Such details show the writer’s expertise, which may persuade more concrete nature-loving readers to at least consider her forays into mystical and even mythical worlds. These forays center on the author’s “readings” of trees, which Merrill offers as an alternative term for the wackier sounding “talks” to the trees. She describes her own method of communication with them as follows: “I ask a series of questions, the ‘answers’ come as images, emotions or concepts, often wordless....Then I turn it all into prose that (hopefully) hangs together.” Such “readings” offer insights into the organism’s past lives and thought processes and often touch on reincarnation; e.g., the sumac dreams of being “part of a chorus of ladies reaching for the Moon, waving and dancing as it passes overhead,” and the spruce recalls once being a glacier or polar bear.
An unusual, fact-filled appreciation of the natural world blended with ventures into mysticism.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9848299-2-7
Page Count: 177
Publisher: Myth & Magic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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