Breaking the Spell: Stories of Magic and Mystery from Scotland

by Lari Don, Cate James (Illustrator)

Breaking the Spell includes ten magical, funny, and spellbinding stories from Scotland. These whimsical tales include "School for Heroes," "King of the Black Art," "The Selkie's Toes," "Tam Linn," "Loch Fada Kelpie," "Whuppity Stoorie," "Maelbrigte Tusker," "The Ring of Brodgar," "Fire from Clouds," "The Three Questions," and "The Monster of Raasay."

Genres: Picture Books, Short Stories, Childrens, Animals

72 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 2014

About the author

I'm a children's writer based in Scotland, and most of my fiction is inspired by the Scottish landscape and local legends. I love writing fantasy adventures for 8-12 year olds, including the Fabled Beast Chronicles and the Spellchasers trilogy, but I also love creating stories for other age groups.
I've gone darker and more dangerous in my YA thriller MindBlind.
And I've worked with amazing illustrators on picture books, including a retelling of the Scottish tale of the kelpie, The Secret of the Kelpie, with gorgeous pictures by Philip Longson, and a new fable about Nessie, The Treasure of the Loch Ness Monster, with fabulous artwork by Nataša Ilinčić.
I've written collections of myths and legends, including heroine tales from all over the world in Girls Goddesses & Giants, and Scottish tales in Breaking the Spell and Viking saga tales in The Dragon's Hoard, both illustrated by the wonderful Cate James.
I'm passionate about sharing old stories, creating new ones, and inspiring new young readers and writers. And I'm writing more adventures and retelling more myths, right now!
But I'm also reading... I read a lot of non-fiction, because a lot of my fictional ideas are inspired by folklore and history. I also read a lot of children’s fiction, because kids get all the best stories! And sometimes I remember how old I am, and read books for adults.
I also love discussing books, and answering queries about my books and stories, so please do get in touch. You can chat to me here on Goodreads, or through my own website, http://www.laridon.co.uk, or find me on Twitter @LariDonWriter, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/laridonwriter, or Instagram: laridonwriter Have fun reading!

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are magical stories from Scotland. The author tells the histories of the stories, and she has wonderful skill in storytelling!

[Jane Hargrave Montaigu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories of Magic and Mystery from Scotland

This is a beautifully illustrated collection of 10 short fairy tales from Scotland retold by Lari Don, a writer and story-teller who works with schools and festivals throughout Scotland. It was published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books in 2013. There is at least high quality one full-page colour illustration for each short story as well as smaller illustrations throughout which make the book very visually attractive. It is suitable for children aged 7 or 8 upwards and would be an appealing book to have in the book corner in KS2.

There are traditional stories from various Scottish regions involving characters and creatures such as seals, warriors, witches, a kelpie, a wizard, a queen and a grumpy school-master. The titles are The Selkie’s Toes, The Story of Tam Linn, The Witch of Lochlann, The Loch Fada Kelpie, Whuppity Stoorie, The Ring of Brodgar, The King of Black Art, the Monster of Raasay, School for Heroes and The Three Questions. The author has added some notes at the end of the book with further explanations on the origins of the stories and why she chose to include them.

I particularly liked School for Heroes in which a lady Scottish warrior named Skiach and her daughter run a renowned school for warriors, teaching them how to fight with a Scottish weapon, the “Gae Bolg”. An Irish warrior hears about the school and travels across the sea to seek training. When Skiach refuses to give him the training a terrible fight ensues as they combat each other in a succession of warrior challenges lasting for days. Skiach’s daughter tries to stop the fighting by tempting them with the waft of delicious freshly baked food since she knows nobody can win given that they are evenly matched. In the end wisdom prevails and they realise it would be more intelligent to be friends. I like the fact that in this story the “boss” of the warrior school is a feisty woman and the Irish warrior cannot beat her!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really nice publication. I would be interested in buying a copy, and also looking into the others in the set (Irish and Ancient Greek tales). the illustrations are interesting and atmospheric and the storytelling voice is excellent. I really liked the practised, easy way in which Lari Don did the telling. And I also liked the personal touches during the book and at the end. The stories are ones I hadn't heard before, which surprised me. Although feel I should know Whuppity Stoorie, which is so famous, it didn't seem familiar except for its kinship with Rumplestiltskin. I love Kelpie stories and Selkie stories too. Kelpies fascinate me, since reading Alan Garner's fabulous version of a malignant black kelpie (shiver) and this story is great too.

This would be brilliant to read aloud, or as Lari suggests... improvise upon. A top class fairytale book.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ready for excitement and adventure? Ready to meet witches, kelpies, fairies, selkies, brave warriors and courageous girls?

Forget the traditional fairy tales and Greek mythology! Celtic Folk Tales are in!

This book is a wonderful treasure that holds a collection of ten magical and funny stories from Scotland, complete with fantastic illustrations that tells stories about an underwater monster that can turn itself into a white horse, a girl whose mother is half seal, half human and a boy who is turned into a fairy but saved by a brave heroine that will leave you spellbound!

Also check out An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales and Spellbound: Tales of Enchantment from Ancient Ireland if you are in the mood for some more Celtic Folk Tales.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten tales collected from Scotland provide insight into the country, its traditions, and its stories. Readers will find the expected stories about a selkie and Tam Linn, but they will be pleased to find "Whuppity Stoorie" with its similarity to Rumpelstiltskin, "School for Heroes" featuring a couple of female warriors and a very smart daughter, and "The Three Questions." I liked the stories much more than the digital collage illustrations although some of them were quite appealing too. I'm always pleased to find folktales being published today since these wonderful stories are likely to be lost otherwise.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a lovely collection. I especially like the author's notes at the end about her sources. The author is a storyteller, and used to telling these tales in front of live audiences. Her notes on the stories give such a great sense of the mutability of folktales, and of storytelling as a live tradition.

[Sharron Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated collection of Scottish traditional tales. Strong female characters, moral messages, action, adventure & gore! It’s fantastic to have these written down for younger readers but a little (big) part of me just wants to see & listen to them being performed. Really good though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great for book group activities & discussions.

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection, full of selkies and fairies, giants, witches and curses. We find out how the Standing Stones of Brogar really came to be, and there is a Scottish take on the Rumplestiltskin story, the equally wonderfully named Whuppity Stoorie. My boy couldn't get enough of these stories, so I'm going to see what else there is out there of a similar nature.

[CalamityMane · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the end, I enjoyed the tales more than I expected. My favourite by far was "The Ring of Brodgar". It is exactly what you expect from a myth/legend/tale.

Lovely illustrations (apart from the noses).

Encouraged to explore more Scottish tales.

[Noemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing. I enjoyed Don's voice and story notes. Minus one star for the weird illustrations.

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to start logging more children's books, I think. (Don't hold me to it)

A really great collection of retellings of Scottish folk tales. A nice mix of hero stories, slightly uncanny stories, stories of crafty women and strange creatures.

Short and snappy enough for my five year old to enjoy but written with a lyricism that makes it enjoyable for me to read to him. The only thing is, I'm not that keen on the illustrations - all the men look terribly grumpy - but nevertheless this was a good library discovery.

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - I could pretend I got this for my son but I got it for me. I enjoyed the stories quite a bit and was surprised there is not too much overlap with other common folktales. I enjoyed the illustrations too. My only minor complaint is I thought they were a little bit lacking in color. Very enjoyable collection.

[Louisa Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, magical tales of Scotland, well worth a read.