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Celtic Tales, Told to the Children
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Social Science / Folklore
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1910
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 13, 2017
Title
Celtic Tales Told to the Children: The Starry-Eyed Deirdre
Author
Louey Chisholm
Illustrator
Catherine Cameron
Category
Traditional and ICDL
Copyright Date
1910
Estimate of age level of interest
Adult
Estimate of Reading Level
Adult
Brief Description
Classic celtic stories retold in English.
The Starry Eyed Deirdre: A princess with an ominous prophecy gets exiled from the kingdom. A suitor and his 2 brothers try to save her. A king takes revenge and Deirdre is left alone once more.
2 characteristics of genre and how they appear in the book.
Reflect the country and culture of origin:
There is some mention of the authenticity of these tales. They were taken from a variety of sources. However, they seem to be Westernized. These tales are told in English and don’t have any references to traditional Gaelic language that would have been the original language. There are details in the story that make reference to Ireland. The characters travel to various locations around “Green Isle” and “Erie.” They are described at the mountains and the seaside. The folk tales are described as bittersweet and lack a happy ending, which based on my own experience with other collections of Celtic tales, is fairly typical.
Characterization: There is little character development and the princess along with the king and 3 brothers fit archetypal roles. Deirdre is a damsel in distress who is deemed dangerously beautiful. She has a maid who takes care of her and givers her wisdom. The brothers are brave and determined. Deirdre and Nathos, her suitor, love each other unconditionally. The king is vengeful and fails to listen to a wise man.
Critique of how well book fits intended audience
This book does not serve today’s children well. While I think it’s really interesting to compare the “bittersweet” tales of the Celtic region to other happy ending folk tales that kids are more familiar with, the archaic language and complexity of this text is either not accessible for many of the readers it is intended for or it is simply not engaging enough to hold the attention or imagination of the age range it’s intended for. The illustrations simply recreate random events in the story rather than support the development of the story. The characters are bland with no real exciting qualities.
I did appreciate the author’s note in the beginning where he directly addresses young readers to seek out books that are deemed too dark or sad for them. He seems to get that children have hardships too and do not always want to be amused and that it’s ok to find enjoyment in just reading a story because it’s beautiful. I think it’s a great message that still resonates today.
Awards
none
Citations
none
February 24, 2011
I would have to say that I have no claim to the authenticity of whether or not these are really celtic fairy tales. The stories themselves are pretty good. The lessons one should learn from them are not very apparent if indeed they exist. the main reason I say that this is not for kids is that the archaic language will be hard for adults to even understand.
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July 27, 2017Title: Celtic Tales - The Starry-Eyed Dierdre
Author: Louey Chisholm
Illustrated By: Katherine Cameron
Goodreads Star Rating: 3.44
Categories/Genres: Traditional Literature/Folktale/ICDL
Copyright Date: 1910
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: Young Adults/Adult
Estimate of Reading Level: Young Adults to Adult
Brief description:
This story is an Irish folktale about a maiden who was spared her life but had to live in exile all her life. She is to be the future wife of King Concobar. Deirdre does not want to marry the king so runs away with her suitor and two brothers who try to save her and themselves from the king’s wrath. In the end the king takes revenge and Deirdre is again along.
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book.
This story is an Irish folktale where the the main character runs off to be with her love to pursue happiness but unlike most folktales, it has a sad ending which seem to be typical of Celtic Tales. These stories are about Ireland and have some reference to the various locations. However, the story is told in English with no Gaelic language. It is hard to tell whether the text is authentic but does have an author’s note...
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
I don’t feel that book would be well received by young children. The text is very difficult for even adults to understand. The characters seem boring, and the illustrations are random and don’t really support the story. The author noted that although this book was written for young readers; he was told that young readers might find the stories sad and lacking a purpose, however, he did state that sometimes just reading a story because it’s beautiful, is enough.
Awards: None
Citations for Published Reviews: None
Author: Louey Chisholm
Illustrated By: Katherine Cameron
Goodreads Star Rating: 3.44
Categories/Genres: Traditional Literature/Folktale/ICDL
Copyright Date: 1910
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: Young Adults/Adult
Estimate of Reading Level: Young Adults to Adult
Brief description:
This story is an Irish folktale about a maiden who was spared her life but had to live in exile all her life. She is to be the future wife of King Concobar. Deirdre does not want to marry the king so runs away with her suitor and two brothers who try to save her and themselves from the king’s wrath. In the end the king takes revenge and Deirdre is again along.
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book.
This story is an Irish folktale where the the main character runs off to be with her love to pursue happiness but unlike most folktales, it has a sad ending which seem to be typical of Celtic Tales. These stories are about Ireland and have some reference to the various locations. However, the story is told in English with no Gaelic language. It is hard to tell whether the text is authentic but does have an author’s note...
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
I don’t feel that book would be well received by young children. The text is very difficult for even adults to understand. The characters seem boring, and the illustrations are random and don’t really support the story. The author noted that although this book was written for young readers; he was told that young readers might find the stories sad and lacking a purpose, however, he did state that sometimes just reading a story because it’s beautiful, is enough.
Awards: None
Citations for Published Reviews: None
April 9, 2020
Far Off Fairy Tales
Thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the names are a little difficult to get used to pronouncing while reading, but good fun. Not really fairy tales as we think of them, but great stories nonetheless.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the names are a little difficult to get used to pronouncing while reading, but good fun. Not really fairy tales as we think of them, but great stories nonetheless.
October 6, 2020
I got to read several different stories that was magical. I have always like hearing stories around the world and this was good. I felt closer to my Irish heritage after reading this book.
February 26, 2009
This was originally published in 1910 I think (the book doesn't say but that date was penciled in by someone). I read a digitized online version from the Library of Congress. It contains an interesting version of the Deidre/Deirdre story and I'm crazy about the illustrations by Katherine Cameron. I'm printing some of them so I can mat, frame, and hang them.
January 29, 2013
Historias Celtas bastante cool. Son faciles de leer y entretenidas. Me encante la manera de escribir, aun mas archaic que Tolkien, que es lo mas archaic que he liedo en ingles. Me cuadro que son historias tristes y bastante sufridas... hay heroes pero siempre les va como un culo... reyes, reinos, magos, magia... una lectura para descansar un rato.
January 20, 2013
The was short, 74 pages in iBooks. It consisted of three stories: "The Star-Eyed Deirdre", "The Four White Swans", and "Dermat and Grania". They were all depressing. That's not why I gave it only two stars, though. It just... wasn't memorable. The writing was wooden. Oh well.
April 2, 2012
This book has parts of Celtic Lore. It's quite interesting. I'm looking forward to reading more.
March 10, 2013
Interesting in a lot of ways, but felt incomplete--possibly because the tales were for children. Overall enjoyable.
April 20, 2015
I enjoyed this book, but it could not keep the attention of my 5 year old.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews