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Animal Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland
Stories and animals have long travelled the same routes. Through our heritage of charming, quirky and profound tales, you will find yourself re-acquainted with Britain's wondrous fauna. Find out how hedgehog ended up with spines and what makes him scuttle so fast, discover how pigs saved a prince from leprosy and why the wealthy lord was so intent on capturing the black fox. Sharon Jacksties' wonderful book combines traditional stories, little-known zoological facts and true anecdotes to create a treasure trove of stories for animal lovers of every kind.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 3, 2020
Short, sweet, and fun to read when you're on the go! Beautiful art and fun tidbits in this one
February 7, 2020
Sharon Jacksties, an accomplished storyteller, has gathered together animal tales from all parts of Britain and Ireland, including several fresh retellings of classics, such as the story of Dick Whittington and his cat, and other, less well-known stories. Jacksties also includes useful explanatory notes where necessary, giving the background of some of the folklore included in the stories.
Several characters and themes occur frequently here. A number of the tales feature King Arthur, while shapeshifting is a common theme. There is a delightful version of the Cinderalla story in which a princess whose nurse, who is also a sorceress, turns her into a bear so she can get out and see the world without being recognised.
A couple of stories feature witches who are able to shapeshift into hares, but in another story hare appears as the daughter of the sun and moon:
"Hare leaped and bounded across the heavens, zigzagging her way between one parent and the other. Every time one of her paws touched the sky, a star appeared. Time smiled to see how her increase was measured across the sky in countless silver tracks."
Another popular theme focuses on how the animals we know came into being for example: how hedgehog got his spines, how robin got a red breast, why magpie is a thief and how nightingale got a beautiful night time song.
Many of the stories contain disguised life lessons such as how Mr amd Mrs Mouse found the most worthy suitor for their daughter closer to home than they had ever expected.
There are stories that arise from very real issues between humans and wild animals, for example the battles between farmers and animals and the importance of managing nature. There's a modern day story about rewilding, which includes this lovely description of the piglets born from a domesticated sow who had bred with a wild boar:
"litters of piglets were born sporting stripy pyjamas and stroppy dispositions."
The book (including the front cover) is beautifully illustrated by Bea Baranowska.
This is a very engaging collection of folk tales from across the British Isles, featuring a wide variety of animal and human characters. It gives a very good overview of the way that animals have featured in out stories. I read it speedily for review purposes, but I'd recommend taking it more slowly, perhaps one or two stories a day.
Several characters and themes occur frequently here. A number of the tales feature King Arthur, while shapeshifting is a common theme. There is a delightful version of the Cinderalla story in which a princess whose nurse, who is also a sorceress, turns her into a bear so she can get out and see the world without being recognised.
A couple of stories feature witches who are able to shapeshift into hares, but in another story hare appears as the daughter of the sun and moon:
"Hare leaped and bounded across the heavens, zigzagging her way between one parent and the other. Every time one of her paws touched the sky, a star appeared. Time smiled to see how her increase was measured across the sky in countless silver tracks."
Another popular theme focuses on how the animals we know came into being for example: how hedgehog got his spines, how robin got a red breast, why magpie is a thief and how nightingale got a beautiful night time song.
Many of the stories contain disguised life lessons such as how Mr amd Mrs Mouse found the most worthy suitor for their daughter closer to home than they had ever expected.
There are stories that arise from very real issues between humans and wild animals, for example the battles between farmers and animals and the importance of managing nature. There's a modern day story about rewilding, which includes this lovely description of the piglets born from a domesticated sow who had bred with a wild boar:
"litters of piglets were born sporting stripy pyjamas and stroppy dispositions."
The book (including the front cover) is beautifully illustrated by Bea Baranowska.
This is a very engaging collection of folk tales from across the British Isles, featuring a wide variety of animal and human characters. It gives a very good overview of the way that animals have featured in out stories. I read it speedily for review purposes, but I'd recommend taking it more slowly, perhaps one or two stories a day.
December 31, 2022
This was a book located in the children's section of the library but one that most definitely will need to be moved to the adults but the content within it is truly not for children's eyes unless you as a parent review it and deem it to be okay. In two consecutive stories you get in the first an instance of rape that is hushed up since the girl was found until her dad returned and found her with child. The story then proceeds to include regicide by the resulting offspring of his grandfather and then eventually the killing of the usurper of his virulent parent for being a male invading his father's domain. Followed after this is a story about a crab connecting the bottom body parts of a couple as it was put in the woman's chamber pot although in more graphic detail and then later on an introductory poem in which a ploughboy is doing his job with the mole-catcher's wife while again also graphically told.
The writing was decent at the best and there were definitely some stories I have heard before as well as other ones that were not included. One story that was included was also a version that I had never come upon so for that reason it may be worth it for those who are adults that don't mind the normal dalliance of old folk tales.
In the end it was decent for a compilation but I felt there could have been more done, especially to ensure the right audience was named for this book instead of going based on the cover art.
The writing was decent at the best and there were definitely some stories I have heard before as well as other ones that were not included. One story that was included was also a version that I had never come upon so for that reason it may be worth it for those who are adults that don't mind the normal dalliance of old folk tales.
In the end it was decent for a compilation but I felt there could have been more done, especially to ensure the right audience was named for this book instead of going based on the cover art.
September 8, 2021
There's an account on Youtube called Hungarian folk tales which is exactly what the name implies: it uploads short animated folk tales that are charming and quick, averaging around 7 minutes each. The sort of thing that you throw on in the background or watch a couple of at a time, and this book is exactly the same. Each story one is only a handful of pages and it was really enjoyable to sit and go through a few each day. My favourite were the wealth of stories relating to King Arthur or Irish myth.
Folk tales are interesting, and entertaining, but, through no fault of Jacksties' writing, they're very simple which makes reading more than a couple at a time a bit of a slog to get through. By the time I'd gone through a fair chunk I also wanted a little more than just the reprinted stories.
Based on the introduction I thought this was going to provide a little bit of context for some of them as well, to explain where in the UK they were found or passed down, where Jacksties found them, or who told them to her – and some of them do, don't get me wrong! I think if there'd been less, and each one had been explained a little more it would have been more interesting.
All in all, it's a lovely collection of short stories that I think would be great for older children as well as adults.
Folk tales are interesting, and entertaining, but, through no fault of Jacksties' writing, they're very simple which makes reading more than a couple at a time a bit of a slog to get through. By the time I'd gone through a fair chunk I also wanted a little more than just the reprinted stories.
Based on the introduction I thought this was going to provide a little bit of context for some of them as well, to explain where in the UK they were found or passed down, where Jacksties found them, or who told them to her – and some of them do, don't get me wrong! I think if there'd been less, and each one had been explained a little more it would have been more interesting.
All in all, it's a lovely collection of short stories that I think would be great for older children as well as adults.
August 31, 2021
For readers who enjoy exploring all kinds of folktales from Britain and Ireland -- this is a book that will surely be of interest. It's a potpourri of stories -- some just a paragraph long, others fleshed out. Some familiar, others obscure. Animals of all sorts, from otters, horses, wolves to mosquitos and ants. I enjoyed browsing and found a few stories I'll happily revisit.
January 20, 2022
Actual rating: 2.5 / 5
A collection of beautiful folk tales that incorporate new and "old" characters alike to tell stories of the history of Britain and Ireland, and the important roles that animals play.
Individually, the stories were quite interesting however I did feel that the telling of them suffered due to the medium. It's pretty clear that many (if not all) were intended to be told in the oral tradition, and having them almost glossed over by being a tiny portion of a large (by comparison) collection just didn't really seem to do justice to each of the individual tales.
A collection of beautiful folk tales that incorporate new and "old" characters alike to tell stories of the history of Britain and Ireland, and the important roles that animals play.
Individually, the stories were quite interesting however I did feel that the telling of them suffered due to the medium. It's pretty clear that many (if not all) were intended to be told in the oral tradition, and having them almost glossed over by being a tiny portion of a large (by comparison) collection just didn't really seem to do justice to each of the individual tales.
February 22, 2022
I read this because i want to research have traditional tales have affected the british publics attitude to certain animal species. This was good and I liked the authors additional thoughts on some of the stories.
August 23, 2020
My 2 grandsons 7 & 10 enjoyed some of the stories better than others/ a good read nonetheless/ will recommend to book club when it re-starts
January 10, 2022
A very nice collection of animal stories. I particularly liked the short stories about the Selkies.
December 28, 2022
I enjoyed reading this book and if you enjoy folktales and/or animal stories, you will surely enjoy this book.
February 28, 2023
Excellent collection --some familiar and others less so with notes on some actual events. Stories like these need to be preserved!
August 6, 2023
enjoyable journey through animal folklore
Lots of engaging and enjoyable tales to tell that help the listener develop a deeper relationship with land and animals!
Lots of engaging and enjoyable tales to tell that help the listener develop a deeper relationship with land and animals!
May 2, 2024
DNF @ 30%
February 2, 2025
I appreciated the reflections by the author before each tale, however the tales themselves were often told somewhat unanimated.
July 14, 2024
I actually ended up listening to this book twice. I listened to it one day when I was exploring Sudbury but realised that I hadn’t taken any of it in so decided to re-listen. It is a really strange mix of tales. I didn’t really enjoy it as it didn’t flow very well. Other folk tale books that I have read have sets of similar stories or themes that run back to back but this book was a bit all over the place. It was also very pretentious in places, using words that even I had to look up. This is the kind of book that can be read to children but the wording used would make this a hard task.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews