The Children of Lir

I was looking for a story book to have on hand for St. Patrick's Day and found this. There is a beautiful but evil queen in this tale, and a grieving father. Two sets of twins are turned into singing swans and through the efforts of their devoted animal friends find their way back to their inheritance and homeland. The author tells it with little embellishment. It doesn't need any as the unfolding of the complex plot is intriguing all on its own.The book is flush with illustrations, often two to a page with with several two-page spreads. I always admire and enjoy Spirin's work and this was no exception. As a read aloud, it can't miss.

Not true to the story but gorgeous illustrations

This is an old Irish fairy tale creatively told with a happy ending. SInce it is not a common story, my children and I have enjoyed reading it. The illustrations in the book are absolutely beautiful.

Although the story is not really true to the traditional re-telling, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous. A truly beautiful book.

Couldn't have been better. I received it right away and in perfect shape as advertized. The book jacket was a bonus.

The children of Lir is a an Irish folklore retold by Sheila MacGill-Callahan, brillantly illustrated by Gennady Spirin.The tale is about jealous stepmother, bad step mothers are staple in folklore. Such can be quite dramatic for really young children, those fairly tales of old, but the god thing is that this book -even it is a picture book-delights also 12 years old girls. Thanks to illustrations which are a little bit more grown up, and still appropriate for children.The story itself is about collaboration and help in face of severe adversity, and the heroes are animals who help humans in need, and outsmart the evil one.The very detailed illustrations by Gennady Spirin are stunning. He won international awards,and you will see why.The technique is as masterful as of the Old Masters of North Renaissance, (really!) and skillfully translated into the world of children illustration.As for retelling the story: the author states in her note that she did it loosely. Which is no problem for me if the author notifies the reader she/he took the myth as point of departure for her imagination. She also mentions a carved ancient stone slab on the island of Inniseel. The slab depicts four swans and four people, two men and two women. A very interesting and nice detail.Truly wonderful book, and it is never too early to introduce children to excellent quality art, if it not to difficult to children to relate, like illustrations in this book are...stunnig, my review will never do them justice.

Lovely book - in good condition.

While this book is beautifully presented and decorated with faboulous images the same cannot be said of the content, the legend of The Children of Lír is one of Ireland's most important legends and has been handed down faithfully for countless generations, untill now.This legend may seem rather harsh for young children and may sometimes be "watered down", stepmothers are nothing new but turning them into horrible flying beasts can be difficult to explain, as can explaining why they are jealous of the children and want to kill them . The true legend goes into great detail about the 4 children, now swans, and their trials and struggles over the 900 years of the curse. The whole point of the legend was that the children couldn't be killed, they were Tuatha De Dannan, their father was a god so they were cursed and there are some things worse than death.MacGill-Callahan does not even get the names of the children right never mind sticking to the legend, I could understand "watering it down" for younger children but to completely rewrite and still call it the Children of Lír is pushing it. This book should have a large yellow sticker on the front of it saying "BASED ON THE LEGEND OF THE CHILDREN OF LíR" because thats where the similarity ends. If you want beautiful images based on Irish myths and legends see the master, Jim Fitzpatrick, if you want real Irish legends...... see Jim Fitzpatrick for that too, or ask a real Irishman.

This is an awesome edition. the illustrations are so beautiful. It is a truly beautiful book to have. A must have for any library.

A simple, lovely fairy tail rewritten for children.

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