Pixies, Fairies, and Imps
Tales for the Telling
Joy Fleishhacker, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 3/13/2008
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Traveling Tom and the Leprechaun (Bateman) |
Too Many Leprechauns (Krensky) © 2007 by
Dan Andreasen
That Elusive Pot o’ Gold
The little folk are famed for sequestering their riches at a rainbow’s end, but did you ever wonder how this practice originated? Stephen Krensky offers a feasible and funny answer in Too Many Leprechauns (S & S, 2007). Finn O’Finnegan returns home to Dingle to discover that leprechauns are everywhere, hammering out shoes to sell to the fairies, and the resulting racket has kept the villagers awake for weeks. With a combination of cunning and luck, Finn tricks the gold-greedy cobblers into revealing the whereabouts of their fairy coins, squirrels the treasure away, and makes a bargain for its return. Although infuriated at being fooled, the wee men adopt Finn’s hiding place as their own. This lighthearted tale, illustrated by Dan Andreasen, is peopled with droll characters and painted in deep, rustic hues. Have your students come up with their own porquoi tales to explain this or other folklore customs.
In Traveling Tom and the Leprechaun (Holiday House, 2007), a wandering minstrel must perform a seemingly impossible task—obtaining a pot of gold in one day’s time—to win the hand of fair Princess Kathleen. The silver-tongued musician proves his mettle by locating a leprechaun, regaling him with songs and stories gleaned during his rambles, and persuading the diminutive man to head off to see the world…leaving his treasure behind. Teresa Bateman’s tongue-pleasing text and Mélisande Potter’s opulent summer-shaded illustrations create an entrancing and entertaining tale.
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That's What Leprechauns Do (Bunting) © 2005 by Emily Arnold McCully |
As rain clouds gather, three green-coated men scurry across the countryside to do their official duty: putting the pot of gold at rainbow’s end, for That’s What Leprechauns Do (Clarion, 2006). However, leprechauns also like to make mischief, and Ari, Boo, and Col can’t resist pulling a few pranks along the way. Eve Bunting’s lissome language and Emily Arnold McCully’s delightful watercolor depictions of the endearing elves and their antics make for laugh-out-loud fun.
Resourceful Lasses
When the king of the leprechauns seals all the luck in Ireland into an oak chest, the big folk are left with nothing but hunger and misery. However, a quick-witted young woman originates a plan to outsmart the avaricious monarch and restore fortune to the land. Bateman’s effervescent text and Kelly Murphy’s flawless folk-art paintings—featuring a charming assemblage of tiny folk—demonstrate that Fiona’s ingenuity is much more potent than Fiona’s Luck (Charlesbridge, 2007).
Curious about what lies beyond the sea, Brave Margaret (S & S, 1999) leaves her County Donegal farm to seek adventure aboard the ship of handsome Prince Simon. During the journey north, the two fall in love. However, Margaret must summon all of her courage and confidence to face fearsome foes, including a club-wielding giant, before she and Simon can find their happy ending. Robert D. San Souci’s edge-of-your-seat retelling of this Irish folktale is complemented by Sally Wern Comport’s swirling pastel paintings.
Magical Creatures Large and Small
Jim Murphy’s Fergus and the Night-Demon (Clarion, 2006) introduces a “lazy, good-for-nothing lad” who chooses to head out for a night of fun rather than help with chores. As he saunters down the road, he’s confronted by a frightening figure who declares, “It is your time, Fergus O’Mara,” but the young man dismisses the vision as a bad dream. The tension builds as the phantom appears repeatedly—each time growing in stature and attitude—until Fergus finally realizes that he’s being haunted by the terrible Night-Demon. Fergus escapes a frightening fate with some quick thinking and afterward vows to be “the hardest working lad hereabouts.” The sprightly text blithely blends suspense, scariness, and comedy, a satisfying mix echoed by John Manders’s dramatic, lightened-by-humor paintings.
Licia Oddino’s fanciful Finn and the Fairies (Purple Bear, 2006), illustrated with Alessandra Toni’s airy soft-edged paintings, introduces a narrow-minded tailor whose problems are smaller in scale than Fergus’s night-demon, but just as daunting. A royal ball is planned to help a local prince find a wife. Finn labors nonstop sewing gorgeous gowns for the village maidens, falling asleep when finished. He’s awakened by a tiny winged individual who asks him to make dresses for the fairy girls, too. Flabbergasted (he doesn’t believe in “foolish superstitions”), the tired tailor agrees, but instead dozes off again. In the morning, an irate fairy retaliates by shredding all of Finn’s fine work. The adversaries must resolve their differences in time to make more gowns for the ball, a challenge that results in an unexpected friendship. Have students compare this story to “Cinderella” or “The Shoemaker and the Elves.”
A modern-day girl meets an oversize “wee man” in Sean Callahan’s Shannon and the World’s Tallest Leprechaun (Albert Whitman, 2008). Although she’s been diligently practicing for the St. Patrick’s Day step dancing contest, Shannon doesn’t think she can win with her homemade dress and second-hand shoes. Frustrated over a broken heel, she tries out an old superstition and is astounded when Liam, a five-foot-eleven leprechaun, appears and grants her three wishes. Although the wish-making doesn’t go quite as expected, Liam shows Shannon that hard work and heart matter more than appearances. This upbeat tale is accompanied by Kathleen Kemly’s robust illustrations.
A Bit More Lore
The aptly titled A Pot o’ Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of Course) Blarney (Hyperion, 2004), selected and adapted by Kathleen Krull, is jam-packed with enticing read-aloud choices, including traditional tales, rhymes, recipes, and limericks, all vibrantly illustrated with David McPhail’s color-splashed paintings. This opulent anthology is a wonderful way to explore a rich cultural heritage. Leprechaun Luck: A Wee Book of Irish Wisdom (S & S, 2003) offers artfully worded maxims, rhymes, and blessings, accompanied by Catherine O’Neill’s spirited cartoons. With sayings such as, “As you slide down the banisters of life,/may the splinters never point the wrong way,” this small book can inspire students to create their own tidbits of whimsy and wisdom.
Complete your foray through the Emerald Isle with Bunting’s S Is for Shamrock: An Ireland Alphabet (Sleeping Bear, 2007), an A-to-Z look at landmarks, customs, folklore, and historical highlights, illustrated with Matt Faulkner’s colorful, textured artwork. From “B is for Blarney Stone” to “P is for St. Patrick,” each subject is introduced with a buoyant rhyming verse and further elucidated with explanatory paragraphs.
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