MYTHICAL BIRDS AND BEASTS FROM MANY LANDS

From the British pair behind Magical Tales from Many Lands (1993) comes a sparkling collection teeming with monsters, myth, and magic. Mayo lends the oral cadence of a storyteller's voice to these tales of enchantment inhabited by unicorns, mermaids, dragons, and sea serpents. In place of the characteristic catalog of creatures, she skillfully fleshes out full stories about the phoenix rising from the ashes, the Native American Thunderbird, the Chinese dragon. Many are origin stories—the story of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, tells how music came to the world; a Scandinavian story about a giant sea serpent details the formation of the Orkney Islands, Iceland, and volcanoes. From the more familiar Greek myths to lesser-known Burmese folktales, heroic deeds, spells, wishes, and magic objects abound. All the stuff of imagination will engage readers and listeners alike, but those looking for happily-ever-afters will find revenge, greed, anger, and the wrath of the gods playing dramatic roles. Ray's gilded, collage-like tapestries splendidly capture these creatures of land, sea, sky, and elsewhere, in all their glory and ferocity. Framing both text and artwork are ornamental borders and sidebars decorated with motif-like shapes and images befitting the mythical qualities of the stories. (notes) (Folklore. 7-12)