75 Full-Color Illus. The unique charm of the Irish shines through this delightful collection of blessings, poems, legends and inspirational wishes. Also incl. the legends of the shamrock, the leprechaun, the Blarney Stone, more. Deluxe gift edition with full-color illus. and printed endpapers. 96 pages. 4 3/8 X 7.
This collection of Irish blessings in verse is a pretty book, but it felt like a case of less would have been more, as there was quite a bit of repetition of style and sentiment. The result was a kind of blurring together of a lot of rhyming verse that felt like it came out of Hallmark greeting cards.
The short retelling of legends, the few poems that were attributed to their authors, and the fragments of the Breastplate of Saint Patrick were highlights in between what felt like a lot of filler.
The illustrations were lovely, but even those were repeated in places.
"Thin." And by that I mean nothing special. ZMaybe I'[m wrong but it just seems like a lot more could iave been done with this subject. I just thought this little book fell short - even for what it was, a little book of Irish blessings - I still felt it was lacking (Although I did copy down a couple of blessings that I thought were very nice.)
A collection of Irish blessings, prayers, toasts and legends? Confession time: most of my life, I've wanted to be Irish--or at least have some Irish ancestry to claim. I've none of it, though, being staunchly Germano-Slavic with a thin layer of English for icing. So no luck--but I embrace Ireland and its customs and history and beauty anyway. This little book makes me smile and remember the Emerald Isle; miss it terribly, really. The book is cute, and lovely, and fun, and very accessible. A good gift-type book just to flip through, as it's a bit small for coffee tables. An end table treasure, perhaps?
This is a really neat little volume. It has sat on my Irish grandparent's bookshelf my entire life. I always loved to pick it up and read through the blessings, and at one point I went through and memorized several of them. A lovely bit of Irish folk literature!
BTSYA / Teen Reader (15): There is no plot to be found, but the contents are short and sweet. It is a book for all ages that can be enjoyed any day, but especially when you need some hope and happiness.