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A Concise Compendium of Wonder
A radical collection of reimagined fairytales from three incredible Australian authors, for readers of all ages.
In the middle of a great famine, two siblings are cast out into a forest that holds both danger and beauty. Perpetual winter descends upon a giant’s garden after rowdy children are shut out by a massive wall. In the year 3099, humans find themselves stranded on the Moon and turn to their one remaining tree for wisdom.
At the centre of each of these stories is an urgent question about humanity’s relationship with nature. But there is also a tiny seed of hope.
Based on the Brothers Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel, Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, this epic collection from award-winning authors Ceridwen Dovey, Ursula Dubosarsky and Jennifer Mills is destined to be a favourite for all generations.
A Concise Compendium of Wonder is published to coincide with the Slingsby theatre production of the same name, premiering at the Adelaide Festival in March 2026, and includes illustrations by Lorelei Medcalf.
In the middle of a great famine, two siblings are cast out into a forest that holds both danger and beauty. Perpetual winter descends upon a giant’s garden after rowdy children are shut out by a massive wall. In the year 3099, humans find themselves stranded on the Moon and turn to their one remaining tree for wisdom.
At the centre of each of these stories is an urgent question about humanity’s relationship with nature. But there is also a tiny seed of hope.
Based on the Brothers Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel, Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl, this epic collection from award-winning authors Ceridwen Dovey, Ursula Dubosarsky and Jennifer Mills is destined to be a favourite for all generations.
A Concise Compendium of Wonder is published to coincide with the Slingsby theatre production of the same name, premiering at the Adelaide Festival in March 2026, and includes illustrations by Lorelei Medcalf.
90 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2026
About the author
Ceridwen Dovey
34 books148 followersCeridwen Dovey grew up in South Africa and Australia, studied as an undergraduate at Harvard, and now lives in Sydney. Her first novel, Blood Kin, was translated into fifteen languages and selected for the US National Book Foundation’s prestigious ‘5 Under 35’ award. J.M. Coetzee called it ‘A fable of the arrogance of power beneath whose dreamlike surface swirl currents of complex sensuality.' Her second work of fiction, Only the Animals, will be published by Penguin in 2014 (Australia) and Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2015 (USA).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 6, 2026
This slim little book, subtitled A Triptych, includes three fairytale retellings by Ceridwen Dovey, Ursula Dubosarsky and Jennifer Mills. Each author wrote their story separately, and yet there are overlaps in themes and some details.
Dovey rewrites The Little Match Girl, which has to be one of the absolute saddest story. Her retelling is very original and layered, and has a little bit of hope which is missing from the original.
Dubosarsky presents The Selfish Giant, and this story was the more conventional of the three.
Jennifer Mills takes on Hansel and Gretel in a blending of historical fiction and Peter Pan - there's definitely a touch of Neverland to the setting the siblings discover in the forest.
All three stories are centred around a large, old, wise tree, and juxtapose the built world with nature. My favourite would be Dovey's, which is set in the future and has parallel storyline and a fair bit of ambiguity. At the end of the book are the three original stories, which is a nice touch.
Special mention must also go to the artwork, which is gorgeous and highlights the tree motif, using sliced treetrunks for the prints. Each one reflects one of the stories.
This was my final book for February and a beautiful read by three brilliant, Australian writers.
Dovey rewrites The Little Match Girl, which has to be one of the absolute saddest story. Her retelling is very original and layered, and has a little bit of hope which is missing from the original.
Dubosarsky presents The Selfish Giant, and this story was the more conventional of the three.
Jennifer Mills takes on Hansel and Gretel in a blending of historical fiction and Peter Pan - there's definitely a touch of Neverland to the setting the siblings discover in the forest.
All three stories are centred around a large, old, wise tree, and juxtapose the built world with nature. My favourite would be Dovey's, which is set in the future and has parallel storyline and a fair bit of ambiguity. At the end of the book are the three original stories, which is a nice touch.
Special mention must also go to the artwork, which is gorgeous and highlights the tree motif, using sliced treetrunks for the prints. Each one reflects one of the stories.
This was my final book for February and a beautiful read by three brilliant, Australian writers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review