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Geboortedatum: 1941-01
Overlijdensdatum: 1990-04
Geslacht: female
Nationaliteit: UK
Geboorteplaats: Clydebank, Scotland, UK
Oorzaak van overlijden: Road accident
Korte biografie: Moira Miller was born in Clydebank near Glasgow in January 1941 and grew up in the seaside town of Ayr. Moving to Glasgow, an administrative job with the BBC led to her having short stories broadcast on radio which she then expanded to create her first books. Over the next decade she had a successful and prolific publishing career while visiting schools and libraries throughout Scotland spreading her passion for reading and story telling to a new generation. She died in a road accident in April 1990; her stories did not.

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The Moon Dragon door Moira Miller

One of the most boastful young men in all of China, Ling Po gets his comeuppance in this fairy-tale from Scottish author Moira Miller and illustrator Ian Deuchar. When an old woman in his village grows tired of his maintaining that he can do everything better than his neighbors, Ling Po is tricked into claiming that he can build a kite capable of taking him to the moon. When this boast comes to the ear of the Emperor of China, who responds that he will greatly honor the man capable of such a feat, Ling Po has no choice but to begin building his "moon dragon..."

Published in 1989, The Moon Dragon is the seventh book I have read from Miller, and the second, after The Proverbial Mouse, that also features artwork from Deuchar. Apparently the two also collaborated on a third picture-book, The Search for Spring, which I have not yet managed to track down. In any case, I found the story here engaging, appreciating its very clear message about the dangers of boasting, rather than working hard. The artwork is lovely, with a vividly colorful palette and expressive human figures. The Library of Congress information on the colophon here lists this as a Chinese folktale, but there is no other information provided about source material, which I find disappointing. Unless personally familiar with the story, I never know in these cases if the tale in question is actually a folktale, or an original creation of the author. Leaving that critique aside, this is one I would recommend to fairy-tale lovers, and to anyone looking for children's stories about the dangers of boasting.… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

AbigailAdams26 | Jun 17, 2020 |

The Proverbial Mouse door Moira Miller

The eponymous proverbial mouse, living in a toy shop and hungry one night, goes in search of a meal in this picture-book from Scottish author Moira Miller, but finds that the objects which excite his interest are not what they appear. So it is that he mistakes a bowling pin and ball for milk and apple, and a basket of marbles for eggs. The toys in the shop share various proverbs with the mouse, at each mistake. When his antics awaken the shop cat, the mouse himself becomes the focus of attention, and must evade another hungry creature...

Published in 1987, The Proverbial Mouse is the second murine picture-book I have read from Miller, following upon her 1985 Oscar Mouse Finds a Home. It was apparently illustrator Ian Deuchar's debut contribution to the form. All in all, I found it an engaging little book, appreciating the rhythmical, not quite rhyming text, and the colorful, somewhat dark-toned artwork. The mouse hero is proverbial, not just because his adventures lead the toys around him to share their time-worn proverbs and adages, but because a mouse hunting for food in the nighttime, while avoiding his feline foe, can be said to be a proverbial figure. Recommended to fans of this author, whose work I have recently been exploring, and to anyone seeking somewhat vintage picture-books featuring mice.… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

AbigailAdams26 | 1 andere bespreking | Jun 16, 2020 |

Oscar Mouse Finds a Home door Moira Miller

Constantly pestered by his many younger siblings, Oscar the mouse decides to seek out a peaceful place where he can get some sleep in this picture-book from Scottish author Moira Miller and expatriate Polish illustrator Maria Majewska. After trying a number of places that prove less than ideal - an owl's nest in the attic rafters, a soft pillow in a human bed, a cluster of stuffed animals - Oscar finally discovers what he is looking for in an old, abandoned tin inside a cupboard...

Published in 1985, Oscar Mouse Finds a Home is a book I sought out largely because I was curious to see more of Miller's work, after enjoying some of her beginning chapter-books. That said, I ended up enjoying Majewska's detailed, richly-colored illustrations more than the story, which was engaging enough, but also made me rather uncomfortable. No doubt children will only see the quest for a cozy sleeping place here, but the adult in me couldn't stop imagining mice running over me as I slept, especially in the scene in which Oscar attempts to make his bed on a pillow, and it was not a pleasant sensation. This reaction was unexpected, as I often find mouse stories charming. It wasn't totally unprecedented however, as I had a similarly involuntary feeling of revulsion, reading Pam Muñoz Ryan's Mice and Beans, which features a mouse infestation in a kitchen. Perhaps the lesson here, at least for me, is that mice are charming when off in their own societies, but less appealing when in my house?

Whatever the case may be, this is a sweet picture-book, and is one I would recommend to those seeking picture-books about the need to get away from one's larger family, or featuring beautiful illustrations.… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

AbigailAdams26 | 1 andere bespreking | Jun 13, 2020 |

Hamish and the Fairy Gifts door Moira Miller

Scottish author/illustrator team Moira Miller and Mairi Hedderwick return in this follow-up to their Hamish and the Wee Witch, offering six more original fairy-tales featuring the eponymous Hamish and his wife, Mirren. Selections include:

Hamish and the Fairy Bairn, in which Hamish and Mirren's newborn son, Torquil, is switched with a fairy changeling when Hamish forgets to make the baby's cradle out of rowan wood.

Hamish and the Seal People, which sees Hamish dragged under the sea after injuring a Seal Man, and taken to a cave where he must remove an iron fish-hook from the seal chieftain.

Hamish and the Bogle, in which the bogle haunting Camusbuie is unhappy, and Mirren finds him a new home.

Hamish and the Green Mist, in which Hamish must end the long winter by convincing the Master of the Ice and the Laird of the Gales to stop fighting.

Hamish and the Birds, which sees Hamish led by a series of avian guides to an osprey's nest that is in danger.

And finally, the titular Hamish and the Fairy Gifts, in which a welcome party is thrown for baby Torquil, and the fairies - the Wee Folk, the seal people, the witch Grizelda Grimthistle, the Old Lady of Ben of Balvie - each bring their own gifts.

As with its predecessor, I enjoyed the tales in Hamish and the Fairy Gifts, and appreciated all of the folkloric beliefs that Moira Miller worked into her various stories. Fairy changelings and the protective qualities of rowan wood, the danger of iron for the creatures of "the old enchanted world before the Age of Iron" - these things are fascinating. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the first Hamish collection, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy fairy-tales and works of fantastic fiction.… (meer)