Enchanting Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Sharon Jacksties and Bea Baranowska (Fiction, Folktales, 9/10E)

February 2020, The History Press, 192 pages, Hardback, Review copy 

Book summary

 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.

Nayu's thoughts 

This took a bit of time to read because for some peculiar reason it takes me longer to read folk tales, memoires, and other stories which may be fictional, they may not. Even though it is written in English I seem to need to concentrate more on the words than what I call regular fiction. Regardless, what you can't easily see from the cover photo is how beautiful it is to look at. The colours and texture of the hardback is ever so inviting. 

Folk tales are not known for having happily ever after endings, or being wholesome tales. There are some rather dark ones that I confess to skipping once I realised where the tale was heading - some folk tales, as is known from the Brothers Grimm versions, may as well be called horror fiction, so scary is the tale within despite animals being involved. Not all animals are cute and cuddly! 

Sometimes justice is served - I loved those tales a lot, as well as what classes as an ok ending. It was fascinating learning so many tales about deer, seals and foxes. The prince saving pigs reminded me of the Aesop's Fables book I had when I was a child, these tales are meant to be read more than once to understand the full meaning of them. It makes a fascinating read, and one that will be on my reread shelf, with a long time period between each read because of the horror factor. I learnt so much which yes I have promptly forgotten due to a rubbish memory, but while I read the tales it made me more appreciated of nature, and this wonderful world which God created (the book is not religious in any form, that is me). 

Find out more about Sharon's website and Bea's website.

Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami (Contemporary fiction, Children's, Folktales, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 March 2016, Segilola Publishing, 28 pages, Ebook, Review copy

Book summary

Death is wicked . . .

Follow Yetunde as she narrates her mother's ode to her grandmother. It is the Yoruba praise poetry for a mother known as Oriki Iya

This is a short story dedicated to past, present and future mothers. 

Nayu's thoughts

I defy people to read this mother themed book without getting a lump in their throat. I'm enjoying watching Yetunde grow up a little from her previous book, Yetunde, some of the statements she says are profound and heart warming. It examines what its like to be a mother teaching a child about her home county, and also coping with grief of losing her own mother. It must be so hard bringing up a child without having your mother their to give wisdom and advice I think many readers will be able to relate to this. It was fun when chocolate cake appeared as it's a familiar food for me, unlike some of the other dishes mentioned. Oh, I must mention the book is currently free!

Find out more on Segilola's website. 

Review + Q&A: Yetunde by Segilola Salami (Children's, Folktales, 9/10E)

  August 2015, Amazon Media, 34 pages, Ebook, Review copy

Content: humour

Book summary 

 Yetunde is a series of stories that follows the every day life of 6 month old Yetunde as she's narrated African folktales by her mom Iya Yetunde whilst growing up in London. Iya Yetunde also tries to improve her Yoruba speaking ability, so we see a nice mish mash of Yoruba and English. The folktales are of West African origin.

Nayu's thoughts 

This is an intriguing life journal from a a baby's viewpoint with traditional stories woven in. I liked it because when I was younger I adored Aesop's Fables, even if they are a bit weird, so was interested in learning about African folktales, which are as weird as Aesop's, although I mean that in a positive way. Folktales aren't like fairy tales, the ending isn't necessarily happy, but the story always teaches a lesson; this can be on how to behave to others, which characteristics are positive for society, that kind of lesson. 

The lessons are fun to read about because of the stories behind them, and I enjoyed the folktales within this book. More than that I loved the style of the book. I don't remember ever reading a book quite like it, with the point of view being from the baby in first person, rather than third person. It made me smile ever so much! Yetunde is a lively character who knows what she likes and doesn't like. Her insightful perspective makes the book an addictive read. 

The reason the book didn't get full marks is because there are a few words which didn't sit right with me for young children to hear in a book, even if one case they were accurate ones. Also it woud have been nicer to have more of a translation for the Yoruba sentences - sometimes they were explained smoothly in the story, other times I was a bit unsure what was being said. 

Find out more on Iya's website and her social media channels: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7OL37UtAJ-ULNnDGB0SiTg

http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk (under construction)

https://www.facebook.com/Yetunde3DAnimation/

https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1

https://plus.google.com/103288041981911142302/posts

You can buy Yetunde from any good book retailer can order it or you can find it on Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014164Z0E/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014164Z0E/

 

Suggested read 

If you enjoy folktales and fairytales then I'm sure you'll love this story collection: The Story Collector: The Emperor's Nightingale and Other Feathery Tales by Jane Ray (Children's, 9 years +, 9/10E)

Question and Answer session with Iya

A cute hot chocolate which is relevant to the final question!

Nayu here! In addition to reviewing this fun book, it's been exciting for me to have interviewed Iya about her book. Thank you Iya! 

1) I remember reading fables when I was little and enjoying them. How did you decide which to put in the story, and which to leave out?

 Iya:   I simply started with the first story that popped into my mind that I thought was interesting

2) Yetunde is fun to read and looks at life from a point view which I can’t remember reading before now; it’s a fresh writing style – what made you use the viewpoint of Yetunde rather than talk about her in 3^rd person?

I always wondered what a baby thought as they couldn't speak. So I wrote it this way as I felt this is what a baby would say if she could talk

3) I love the cover with the contrast of a real life background and cartoon like characters on the front: what made you choose this cover instead of having it all illustrated with no real life images? 

The cover image reflects one of the stories in the book. I felt it would give the reader an idea of what to expect from the book

4) Will there be more adventures with Yetunde? If yes what can we expect? What are you working on at the moment?

 Definitely, Yetunde is growing up and so is her vocabulary. I am still working on the marketing of this first book

5) Where’s your favourite place to write? Is there anything in particular that you like to eat or drink while you write?

Favourite (or should I say convenient) place to write is in bed in the middle of the night when my little girl is asleep. Most times I take nothing but sometimes I have toast and a hot chocolate drink before I start (Nayu: hot chocolate is the best drink ever!)