Toni de Gerez
Auteur van Louhi, Witch of North Farm: A Story From Finland's Epic Poem 'The Kalevala'
Over de Auteur
Werken van Toni de Gerez
Gerelateerde werken
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geslacht
- female
Leden
Besprekingen
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
Gerelateerde auteurs
Statistieken
- Werken
- 3
- Ook door
- 1
- Leden
- 118
- Populariteit
- #167,490
- Waardering
- 4.4
- Besprekingen
- 3
- ISBNs
- 7
As its subtitle makes plain, the tale in Louhi, Witch of North Farm: A Story From Finland's Epic Poem 'The Kalevala' is taken from the epic Finnish poem, The Kalevala, recorded and compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century from various oral traditions. This appears to be the only picture-book ever produced by author Toni de Gerez, a storyteller and children's librarian who lived in Mexico at the time of publication, in 1986. The illustrator, Barbara Cooney, on the other hand, was a prolific and celebrated creator of children's books, twice awarded the Caldecott Medal, for her Chanticleer and the Fox and Ox-Cart Man. One wishes the two had collaborated again, as this retelling is simply wonderful, pairing an engaging, magical narrative with gorgeous illustrations. I found the scene in which Vainamoinen is playing his harp particularly lovely:
Just beautiful! I enjoyed this one immensely, from both a storytelling and illustrative standpoint, although I did wonder why de Gerez chose to refer to the great smith as Seppo, an epithet meaning "smith," rather than by his name, Ilmarinen. After all, she referred to Vainamoinen by his name. Still, that's a minor point, and didn't detract at all from my enjoyment. Highly recommended, both to folklore enthusiasts and readers looking for children's stories from The Kalevala, and to fans of Barbara Cooney's artwork. It could pair very nicely with The Maiden of Northland: A Hero Tale of Finland, another picture-book from The Kalevala, in which Vainamoinen and Ilmarinen vie for the hand of Louhi's daughter.… (meer)