The Little Encyclopedia of Enchanted Woodland Creatures: An A-to-Z Guide to Mythical Beings of the Forest

by Jason Lancaster

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Folklore

144 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a deep dive, but an introduction. Most of the works cited are websites, so most of the information here is available elsewhere, BUT it does collect it into one small, attractive volume and I do really like the artwork. I probably wouldn’t but this one (I checked it out from the library) but if you’re someone who enjoys mythological creatures and wants a fun small book to leave on an end table this is perfect for that, and if you want a simple introduction for a grade school class this would be perfect for that as well.

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago I had the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manuel and yet to my utter surprise there are creatures in this tiny book I had never heard of! I am kind of puzzled as to where they came from but here they are. Each individual entry is short but gives you a very brief overview. Don't expect a lot of details here. In some it's just enough to wet the appetite and leave you wanting to know more. Other entries were easy to scan quickly because it really didn't say anything new. I mean everyone knows what a dragon is.

The book covers a great variety of forest dwelling beasts as well... There are the all familiar critters like the basilisk, baba yaga, bigfoot, dragons, ents, etc but also very exotic ones as well. For example there are entries in here from the Bahamas, Russia, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, Africa....

But what actually surprised me was all the creatures from North America in here. These are beasts I have never heard of. A ball-tailed cat. How is it possible I never heard of that?? Then there is a belief buzzard and a glawackus, a hugag and the Jiibayaabooz! I am puzzled as to why I never heard of these before. It almost seems like they sprung into existence from nowhere??

These days everyone has heard of the jackalope and the Jersey Devil but decades ago you didn't hear about them either...or not around here anyway.

One of the entries in here actually mentioned a rabbit that has horns. The bizarre thing is I just read about something like that on a news article!! But now it's actually on the news and not just some wild rumor... It's the Shope papillomavirus (SPV). Too bad that wasn't included in the book! Because that actually explains it.

I did notice one other odd thing about this book.. now there are a few bird entries in here including the cardinal and the owl. But do you know what was missing?? The Thunderbird! How can you not include that massive bird? From what I remember reading about it years ago online it's linked to forests too. Yet it's not in here.... It used to carry kids off as well.

Oddly enough the Hellhound is. I really don't link that dog to forests. But I suppose different people think the entrance is in different places.

If you are looking for some little known creatures you might find this useful...

The book also has some black and white illustrations.

[summer (oscar wilde’s version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute, though somewhat lacking. the formatting itself feels like the author couldn’t get enough info together to fill a whole book so decided to make the margins huge to increase the length. i’m torn between wishing there were more illustrations of the creatures and appreciating the succinct, vivid descriptions of appearances we do get. there were also a couple of weird entries that were fandom creatures rather than mythological ones, or just real everyday animals like cardinals. the conclusion states that the intent of the book was to spark imagination, which it does do beautifully, i now feel inclined to include any number of these creatures in the magical small town i’m currently writing about. i’m surprised i found it in the adult nonfiction section since it seems more like something i would’ve read in middle school. overall i had been expecting a bit more depth and a bit more atmosphere, but it’s a pleasant introduction to mythical creatures both obscure and well known

[Morrigan M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, quick read, but a fun, little book nonetheless. Gives enough description about each creature/entry to convey the gist of them, pique your interest and leave you wanting more to rabbit hole down at a later date. I also liked that there were only a few illustrations of some of the entries because I like to picture the creatures in my own head and don’t want other’s views shaping my own. That being said, the few illustrations that are there are beautiful and simple in an elegant way.

I quite enjoyed this little read.

[biscuit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a nice and quick read. It wasn’t super in depth, but it was a lighthearted read that did explain where the creature is from and some of the story. I loved stumbling across ones from where I’m from! :)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the mermaid one. It is an encyclopedia so I don’t recommend reading it all in one sitting and it is better to be enjoyed by reading a few passages a day.

[Tessa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet, a cute little introduction to enchanted fairytale creatures around the world

[Shaun Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be a good coffee table book, cool illustrations to go along with interesting folklore/ mythical "historical" story telling type creatures ... if that makes sense

[Debs · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars. Feels like it was written by AI.

[Grizel Olmilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, decent introduction to a few folkloric creatures. The descriptions themselves are unfortunately pretty sparse, but the illustrations are lovely.

[KatieLee · Rating 2 out of 5]

sorry but all the Wikipedia articles in the Works Cited section just left a lot to be desired