Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain and Ireland

Gr 6 Up–Poet/author Crossley-Holland’s collection of European folktales culled from versions written down during the Industrial Revolution introduces a cast of strange characters and puzzling story lines. This volume classifies the tales to include something for everyone: ghosts, fairies, magic, adventure, power, and laughter. Passed down from generation to generation, the author has filled in the stories with rich, compelling language to enhance the sometimes pointless narratives. The stories mostly steer clear of moral lessons; some have ambiguous endings (e.g. from “The Green Children:” “And nobody knows—unless you do—whether the green girl lived on Earth to the end of her days or whether, one day, near the wolf pits, she simply disappeared.”) lending themselves to further analysis and discussion. The author invites interpretation and contextualization to answer the overarching question: what is intrinsic to this story that makes it worthy of sharing and passing on? The book’s strengths include the more lyrical entries, like “Sea Tongue,” which starts from the point of view of a tolling bell’s tongue, then passes to the bell ringer, on to the larger landscape, and eventually back to the original bell. Readers will be kept guessing what creature or inanimate object will be subject or narrator of each story, or what unusual powers await them. The haunting black and white woodcut-style silhouettes by Castle add to the eerie, archaic tone.