The Green Mist

by Marcia Sewall

A retelling of a Lincolnshire, England, tale, probably eighteenth-century, in which a dying child is made well by the spring rituals intended to placate the mischievous beings hiding in the earth

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 1999

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd little pagan folktale, previously unknown to me. Although the woodcut-style illustrations were nice, I probably would've preferred an adult study on the persistence of nature worship superstitions a la Jessie Weston. The narrative voice rang completely wrong for me; I couldn't stop hearing it was one of those generic Ye-Olde type narrations one sometimes gets at the start of low grade horror or fantasy films, where some elderly-sounding voice with a generic, vaguely Celtic accent sketches out some poorly-grounded information about bad spirits or leprechauns or gargoyles. Fake old-fashioned regionalisms for color, etc. "Mischancy things, aye, laddies! Beware ye o' te Bogles!" Also, although boggans and some other sorts of supernatural creatures are mentioned as a concern of the villagers, they never feature in the story, which is just cheating.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan. The illustrations were very inconsistent - some too simplistic, some with the dreaded dot-eyes, and then there was one that looked like it had been done by an entirely different artist (the girl lying on the bed with her mother sitting). I didn't feel that the illustrations were mysterious enough for this tale of unknown forces.

I also found the story unsatisfying - it's just blind superstition without any influence or control. They do these ritual things but still bad things happen. And then things get resolved, without any explanation. And then they do these ritual things. Are we supposed to feel good and content about it? (And in the meantime, others are busy with Christianity, but we don't hear much about them.) I'd rather have a good Wicker Man.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked the theme of the earthy superstitions and the girl recovering from being ill, this story felt a bit unfocused. The illustration style seemed to vary a lot from page to page--sometimes there were lots of sketchy lines and other times not many at all.

[Aleece · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very interesting in that the green mist was responsible for good crops and health. I found that the green mist being tied to a little girls health was very sad but at the same time very intriguing.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very peculiar English folk legend. Is there really a green mist?? Very eerie.