Title: Lore of the Land: Folklore & Wisdom From the Wild Earth (Nature’s Folklore #2)
Author: Claire Cock-Starkey
Illustrator: Samantha Dolan
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Genre: Older children’s/middle grade non-fiction, Folklore
Book format: Pre-publication digital copy
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Unearth the secrets of our natural world with theLore of the Land, a richly illustrated compendium of folklore and wisdom from the land, skies, and seas.
From thundering rivers to shady groves, flickering marshes to lightless caves, and from snow-capped mountains to the depths of the ocean, discover the folklore of Earth’s wildest places. Stories and spirits abound in these land- and seascapes, where traditional wisdom and mysterious magics have intertwined over centuries.
Each of the six chapters covers a different natural landscape, revealing the worldwide folklore surrounding Woodlands, Seas & Oceans, Wetlands, Mountains, Rivers & Streams,and Hills & Caves. Beginning with tales from cultures spanning the globe, each chapter then dives into the legends of how these places were formed, their place in the human imagination,and their natural and otherworldly denizens.
Learn how the forests hold up the sky in Māori tradition; how in Ireland, seaweed was once thought to predict the weather; and that the ancient Greeks believed Mount Etna housed the fiery forge of the gods. All this and more is accompanied by beautiful artwork based on real folklore, uncovering the secrets of our natural world as never before.
A treasury of fascinating tales and ancient wisdom, the Lore of the Land is sure to fire the imaginations of young nature-lovers, and delight anyone who has ever wondered whether there is more to our natural world than meets the eye.
*Free copy provided by publisher for review….
Review: This is a fun book teaching children all about the different and interesting folklore that exists around the natural world and contains some interesting folk tales and legends. The book is split into sections with each section beginning with a folktale from somewhere around the world. What I love about these individual folktales is that I have never heard any of them before and they are all very different and from different parts of the world. The first tale is Czech and is about a young woman called Betushka who lives with her mother in the woods and what happens when she comes across a young lady who wants to dance with her who turns out to be a wood maiden. Each tale is different and not very long and after this the rest of the section of the book is made up of short chapters which are a double page or two long featuring some interesting and different facts about various folklore to do with woodlands, mushrooms, etc.
The book is really fun to read, the illustrations really bring the magical folklore to life and you can imagine some of the different creatures and characters from the illustrations. The folklore creatures and things you learn about are all very interesting and I love how the folklore in this book covers all parts of the world including Africa and the Americas. The facts about the different creatures or superstitions and things that you learn are short, a sentence or two about the various different aspects of folklore, such as a fact about Yggdrasil, the tree of life from Norse mythology, but each one is fascinating and I can imagine will inspire some children to want to learn more about them. I particularly liked the chapters on the different creatures found in the seas and waters like the sea gods and sea monsters, and the chapter on fungi, lichen and moss.
Overall this book isn’t too long a read, but it has some interesting folk tales and some fun facts about so many different folk legends and creatures that I would love to look at this book again in future as I’ve not heard of a lot of these despite being a fan of various folklore like Norse. I think this book will be enjoyed by many children, and is a great way of introducing the magic of folklore as well as teaching them about different tales and legends that exist today, and to see where they come from. Overall a great and fun read, with illustrations which really help add to the magic of the stories and facts.
What do you think of this book? Are you interested in folklore? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
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