Giants

by Sarah Teale (Editor), Juan Heller, Julek / Scarce, Carolyn / Wijngaard (Illustrator)

Giants

Genres: Fantasy, Art, Fiction, Childrens, Mythology, Folklore, Reference

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely coffee-table book with beautiful illustrations (by 3 different artists). I picked it up used at a library book sale and enjoyed the writing. It is written as if giants actually existed, giving their history in different parts of the world and their quirks, both good and bad. An easy read but fun.

[Paul Groos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a Dutch edition. Five stars for the illustrations, three for the writing. A haphazard collection of story snippets, fictional history and bits and pieces of literature. It's never coherent or anywhere near the quality of Poortvliet's Gnomes. The illustrations make this book worthwhile.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books I own.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard not to compare to the Gnomes and Faries book done in the same style.
The art was sometimes very lovely and I greatly enjoyed the recounting of Norse mythology.

[My Bookish Delights · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had this book since I was a child and I remember looking at the pictures quite frequently. I never read the book though. So I decided to do that today and I was underwhelmed. The illustrations are what make this book in my opinion. The text is kind of weird. Its random snippets of tales with random sentences thrown in to make it seem as though it’s evidence of giants. It’s quirky and could be fun, but the actual writing is stale and boring. This book is all about nostalgia though so I won’t be getting rid of it. I won’t be reading it again though either. The illustrations are what bumped it up to a 3. The writing alone was probably a 1 or a 2.

Challenges:
2019 Goodreads Challenge
2019 Mount TBR
2019 Pop Sugar Challenge - A book with no chapters/unusual chapter headings, etc.
A Book for Every Year - 1979 (my edition says it was published in 1979 even though Goodreads has it listed as 1980)

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible artwork.

[Kirby Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "Gnomes" knock-off, though not of the same quality.

[Py · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a dry read, but the illustrations are delightful.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice collection of art and stories/legends regarding giants. Some truly beautiful art on each and every page.

[Katherine Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are there still giants among us?

[Jamie Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, on one level, is a phenomenal collection of various stories regarding giants, culled from cultures around the world. On a second level, it's an aggregate of artist's visualizations of that subject matter. And, just as with the famous 'Faeries,' by Alan Lee and Brian Froud, the illustrations will certainly carry the day for fans out there. However, my taste runs to more realistic, less kitschy renderings--such as Lee's unforgettable art in the aforementioned book. In the end I find that I don't really like a large enough percentage of the images in 'Giants' to want to keep it in my collection, as well as agreeing with other reviewers that the writing style is pretty lackluster.

[Abigail McCandless · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giants is a collaboration of art and prose, written as a historical overview from the perspective that giants are real (who says they aren’t?). Part story, part history, part art collection, this book is a beautiful read that takes you to a place of whimsy and imagination. It is somewhere between a children’s picture book, coffee table book, and art book. I would recommend this book to anyone longing to connect to their inner world and a place of childlike wonder and openness.

[Phoebe Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh..
Not what I expected. It has nothing to do really with the lifestyle of giants. It's more of a bunch of short stories about giants.
If you are looking for that, then it would be a perfect book. But considering I was looking for facts and info about the mythical creature.... Disappointing..

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate this one. Story(ies): 2 stars because they were shorts taken from novels like Gulliver's Travels and fables like Jack the giant killer. Stuff I'd heard before. Illustrations: 5 stars! Made reading the words easier.

[Heather Shaw]

In the spirit of Poortvliet's Gnomes, this book is genre-busting and super fun. Beautifully imagined and illustrated.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and full of stories from different mythologies.

[roseaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great collection of illustrations and legends.