The illustration of the Little King is by Michael Sowa.
Most of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another: they express ideas and emotions not generally approved of or even recognized at the time; they make fun of honored figures and piously held beliefs; and they view social pretenses with clear-eyed directness, remarking - as in Andersen's famous tale - that the emperor has no clothes. Alison Lurie
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Tales of Wonder and Kings
Power and painful events often went together, and for centuries, people found some relief in tales of wonder that humanized the king. Here are three tales that range from centuries long passed to a metaphor for today.
The photo of the King Arthur sculpture is by Emily Whitfield.
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Sharing Life With a King
The narrator of the book Little King December (1993), by Axel Hacke, lives alone, works in an office, and gets occasional visits from the Little -- about three inches tall -- King. They have conversations about their different worlds. The King has experiences, insights, and questions about life. -- Here is an excerpt:
"'What do you keep in those boxes?' I asked.
'My dreams,' said King December.
'Your dreams?'
'All my dreams. One dream per box.'
'But how do you dream your dreams if you close them up in boxes?'
'In the evening, when I'm going to sleep,' said the king,' I take a box from the shelves, put it by my bed and take the lid off. Then I go to sleep and I dream. In the morning when I wake up I stay in bed for a bit and think about the night. Then I put the dream back in the box and put it back on the shelf. What did you dream about last night?' he asked. . . ."
All those from the world of the Little King, including royalty, are born small, and with time become even smaller until they can no longer be seen. When a king is born, they can write, have high mathematical ability, and have a very good memory. With each day these faculties decrease and they no longer remember or worry about past problems.
The illustration is by Michael Sowa.
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The Emperor's New Clothes
The folly and arrogance of royalty, and the fear of the ruled to speak up, has never been better demonstrated than in Hans Christian Andersen's wonderful story of The Emperor's New Clothes.
"The emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful canopy, and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed: 'Indeed, the emperor’s new suit is incomparable' . . .'But he has nothing on at all,' said a little child at last. 'Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,' said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said. 'But he has nothing on at all,' cried at last the whole people."
As Maria Tatar wrote, Andersen's story is timeless, universal, and enchanting.
The illustration is by Edmund Dulac
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Children and Adults Alike
"Andersen combined humor, Christian sentiments, folklore, and original plots to form tales which amused and instructed old and young readers at the same time. More than any other writer of the 19th century, he fulfilled what Perrault had begun: to write tales such as 'The Ugly Duckling', 'The Little Mermaid', and the 'Princess and the Pea' which could be readily grasped by children and adults alike."
Jack Zipes... Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
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The King Was Fooled by a Cat
The Marquis de Carabas, a creation of a boot wearing trickster cat, has been reinvented by Neil Gaiman as a major character in his novel, Neverwhere. In this world, created by Gaiman, the Marquis is the ultimate trickster and a major player with amplified characteristics of the cat known as Puss in Boots. The concept of the master trickster is centuries old. The mythic character Puss in Boots was the original creator of the Marquis de Carabas.
A written version of the story of Puss in Boots was first published in sixteenth century Italy by Giovanni Straparola in his collection of stories, The Facetious Nights (1553). Many other versions have appeared, most notably, in collections by Giambattista Basile (1639), and Charles Perrault (1697).
I think of people in time gone by, in a largely rural world, hearing the story of Puss in Boots, embellished for local consumption by storytellers in taverns, farmhouses, and the many gathering places of people in early times. Their difficult lives were ruled -- often cruelly -- by people with power: kings, nobles, clergy, and tax collectors. Puss in Boots was a story where a cat -- who could manipulate royal power through imagination, bravado, and words -- provided an occasion where even the peasant farmer, had an opportunity to laugh at the powerful.
The illustration is by PJ Lynch.
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The illustration of an Elf House is by Jean Baptiste Monge.
I have come back to Elizabeth Hand after being disturbed by the wild ride and conflicting thoughts I experienced from reading her novel Waking the Moon (2094). I am glad that I came back.
Waking the Moon involves the reader in visions, transformations, vendettas, bloody mayhem, spiritual chaos, fear, chilling awakenings and more. Hand is an exceptional writer, but I wasn't ready for this book. I also felt that there were sections that were over written. However, the writing was terrific.
I had previously read some terrific short stories and a novella with interesting characters in very real settings, where something was amiss. At some point, the fantastic became real. I was aware of something erie and dark revealing itself.
I was initially guided in large part by Hand’s many awards. In fact, my introduction to Elizabeth Hand was the Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning, Last Summer at Mars Hill (1994). The protagonists are all well written and interesting and two of them are facing death. Mars Hill is a very old, weathered, spiritual colony and summer retreat on the coast of Maine. And there are sometimes apparitions. The reader is fully engaged by events and Hand's ability to give them life.
Elizabeth Hand is one of American literature's finest prose poets of the fantastic. Her novels are powerfully lyrical, suffused with visionary agony and dreamlike eroticism; in her hands, myth reattains the nightmare energy of its origins, staining the present and the future with atavistic hues of blood. Nick Gevers in "Apocalypse Descending" (2002)
Patti Smith
Patti Smith had a huge influence on Elizabeth Hand and her writing. From the extraordinary short story, The Erl King to the Cass Neary series, the heyday of Rock and Roll and Metal music plays a major role.
Here is a link to Patti Smith singing Because the Night at her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Balance
I try to maintain a balance between having a vision of the world that many readers do not experience for themselves, trying to give them enough grounding in the world we are all familiar with, so they don't feel that they are completely lost in Faerie. From an Interview by Cheryl Morgan.
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The Fierce Quality of Elizabeth Hand's Writing
Below is an excerpt from an excellent review of Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, the first in a series of well-received turning point novels for Hand. There are now four successful books in the series revolving around the life journey of Cass Neary, a middle-aged noir antiheroine.
I am currently reading Generation Loss. Elizabeth hand won't let go. Graham Joyce (below) explains:
"Cass (Scary) Neary is a casualty of the punk rock generation, one of the minor figures in the vital but dangerous explosion of energy that characterized the New York scene in the late '70s. Some people played at punk while others lived it. Cass lived it and barely limped out of it. . . . Cass is a deeply unsympathetic principal character, a sour anti-hero who weeps without even acknowledging it to herself. That you don't want to give up on this unsavory and resistible figure is a testament to the fierce quality of Hand's writing. Her precise observations and eye for movement in the shadows are what make Cass worth watching; the desperate and declining trajectory of the burnt-out protagonist's soul keeps us rooted."
Excerpted from a review by Graham Joyce, The Washington Post
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Good Writing and the Unconscious
"When it comes to writing fiction, I think the unconscious and subconscious parts of our selves are smarter than the more conscious controlling parts—because that front brain, the conscious brain, is constantly trying to please people (or, if you're a different kind of person, trying to bother people), and so the front of the brain is like a fatigued hostess. . . It’s addled. So you have to get past that part of the brain. And then you can get on to something a little less self-solacing and less deformed by what you want to see and want to hear. One has to move past the stage of writing a comfort blankie for one’s self—although writing itself can be, in a serious and not easy way, a kind of comfort."
Author Riva Galchen interviewed by Hermione Hoby in Aesop,
Photo courtesy of Columbia News.
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“A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny.” ―
Illustration of the Little Mermaid is by Eddie J Andrews.
from something as simple as
live that long.
But on paper, things can live forever.
never dies."
Here is a link to the wonderful book Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming.
"A Utah company has stopped selling a kit that encases Glock handguns in Lego blocks, amid uproar and after the Danish toymaker demanded it cease and desist. . . demanding it stop producing the Block19.
Marketing the “Block19” as a “a childhood dream come to life”, Culper Precision introduced it on Instagram, saying: “We wanted the second amendment to simply be too painful to tread on, so there was only one logical solution.”
Red, yellow and blue blocks made the original weapon barely visible, disguising it as a child’s toy.
Selling the kits for $549 to $765, the company enticed adult gun users to buy the gun “made out of the Legos you got from Santa. . . According to a report from the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, the period from March to December 2020 saw a 31% increase in unintentional shooting deaths by children of themselves or others, compared with the same period in 2019. Read it all in the Guardian
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How To Change The World in Thirty Seconds An Audacious Title -- What Does It Mean?
"If you love animals and are dismayed when you see stories of animal abuse and cruelty in the news; if you ever wished you could do something about it, but you just didn't know where to start, this book has you covered. Just 30 seconds a day on the Internet can not only make a difference, but can also change the world. . . . for novices as well as experienced animal rescuers. Combining case histories with practical tips, this guide demonstrates how to use the Internet to advocate for dogs; from simple clicks to more advanced methods."
The above is from Amazon; the excerpt that follows is from an Amazon review: "While there is a focus on animal rights activism, the information provided extends to various causes and campaigns. Despite being an online activist for a long time, I found so many new resources and websites to use! Well-worth reading."
The cover design is by the author, C.A. Wulff
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Fences for Fido - Unchained. . . one dog at a time
"Fences for Fido is an award-winning, non-profit organization that builds donor-funded fences free of charge for families who keep their dogs on chains, tethers and in small enclosures. We also provide:
- A warm, insulated dog house
- Spay/neuter services
- Critical vet care
Fences For Fido has unchained over 2,200 dogs in NW Oregon, central Oregon and SW Washington!"
Here is a link to a terrific video of happy dogs -- and owners --after a visit from Fences for Fido.
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Talking Dog -- A Dog Lover's Video
Here is an affectionate, but not cloying, dog montage described as an "Ode to dogs of Maine by their human companions." Dog lovers will understand and like the caring simplicity. Voice overs by dog owners are well done. A somehow touching, understated, video of the human-canine bond.
Director/Editor-- Matt Cascella; Camera -- Nathan Golan; Composer -- Sam Kyzinat
Here is a link to Talking Dog Time 4:45
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Castle In The Mist is the second book in the Planet Of The Dogs Series -
"...Castle in the Mist is full of the same elements I enjoyed in Planet of the Dogs and Snow Valley Heroes: beautiful, detailed, soft, mood setting drawings; the fun and antics of the dogs, and the people who are discovering them for the first time; encroaching danger and suspense; the lovely fantasy of a planet of dogs who are so concerned with the people of earth; and the forgiveness, unconditional love and loyalty that the dogs are able to subtly impart."- Excerpt from a 5 star Amazon review by Lisa Harvey, Book Thoughts by Lisa...
We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. Email us with a postal address to [email protected] and we will send you the books.
To read sample chapters of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs
The Planet Of The Dogs series, including Castle In The Mist and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, is available from many Internet sources and through independent bookstores of all sizes.
The illustration of The Castle In The Mist is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty.
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"Dear God
We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent IDs, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths … what exactly do humans understand?" -- Nancy Houser, A Dog's Conversation with God on her Way Cool Dogs blog.
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