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A Forest of Stories: Magical Tree Tales from Around the World

by Rina Singh, Helen Cann, illus.

Trees are the oldest living things on earth, says Toronto writer Rina Singh in the introduction to her engaging collection of seven magical tree tales. Respect for trees, and for what they contribute to human life, is the underlying theme of the collection, though the tales are whimsical rather than didactic, and fantastical rather than realistic.

Since the stories range from Asia to Africa and Central America, the trees range from cypress to palm to pomegranate, and each tree proves its worth in the course of the tale. A Japanese girl finds comfort in a chestnut tree, and when the chestnut is cut down to build a ship, the ship will not let itself be launched until the girl speaks and releases it (thereby winning the love of the prince, in good fairy-tale fashion). A Nigerian boy uses magic to make a date palm dance into the marketplace, and the magic of love gives a Guatemalan girl the courage to persuade the kapok tree to release a youth he had turned into wood.

A beautifully illustrated page of information about each tree faces the opening page of each story, so although this is a story book rather than an informational book, it does help raise awareness about the world’s trees and makes us less inclined to take them for granted.

In a list of sources Singh explains that some of her stories are closer than others to a folk tale original, but all draw their details from the cultures in which they are set. Helen Cann’s splendid illustrations also give a rich sense of local colour through the patterns of fabric in clothing, village buildings, and ornamentation. In its environmental and multicultural sensitivities, and in its lovely presentation, A Forest of Stories is a valuable and appealing book.

 

Reviewer: Gwyneth Evans

Publisher: Barefoot Books

DETAILS

Price: $19.99

Page Count: 65 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 1-84148-963-8

Released: Sept.

Issue Date: 2003-11

Categories:

Age Range: ages 8-12