The Little People’s Pageant of Cornish Legends

Books : Fantasy : Cornish Folklore Delightful Artwork

 

Both the writer and the illustrator live in Cornwall and spent many days together while preparing this collection of legends. Eric Quayle retold the tales to his artist friend Michael Foreman while they visited the sites and villages so the drawings could be rendered with a faithful portrayal of the primitive starkness of the granite outcrops and ancient stone hedges so laboriously built by generations of Cornishmen way back through the mists of time.

Published by Simon & Schuster, Inc. (1986) and manufactured in Italy this book holds delightful treasures for the reader and the listener to enjoy. It’s from Robert Hunt’s seminal work of 1865 that the plots of most of the stories in the book were taken and embellished by the tales to Eric Q. by the present-day old folk of remote villages in West Penwith. One other source was Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, 1870, 1873, 1880 b William Bottrell (1816 80) a 3-volume work that complemented and added to Hunt’s earlier collection.

For reading to young people this book full of interesting stories, fantastical drawings and retells the history of Cornwall’s folklore. For the reader old enough to read to themselves it offers adventures in words and pictures that they can in turn enjoy using to develop their own writings and artwork. Imagination is such a funny thing. It can be turned up with words and with drawings which is what I feel the writer and the artist have captured in this book of legends.

The size of the book is 7 ½ x 9 ¾ and the Jacket Cover is a repeat of the Book’s Cover. This is a tale of Celtic children’s folk tales, fantasy and folklore legends with watercolor illustrations.

Item ID: RL 83