TITLE: A Natural History of Magical Beasts
AUTHOR: Emily Hawkins and Jessica Roux
PUBLISHER: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 9780711278806
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
A Natural History of Magical Beasts, written by Emily Hawkins and illustrated by Jessica Roux is part of a series of books coming from the Francis Lincoln stable which seem to have an aim of providing an entertaining introduction to the world of folklore, magic and mythology for children from the age of 6 upwards.
The text purports to come from a recently rediscovered book found in the Central Library of Athens detailing a global expedition undertaken by zoologist Dr Dimitros Pagonis to find and record in the wild creatures from around the world which are thought by most to be nothing but folklore or fable. Records and field notes on centaurs, hoop snakes, basilisks and all points in between are found within the full colour pages of this large format book, beautifully bound in red cloth which is not unlike running your hands across the wallpaper of a country mansion house.
Hawkins takes a blended approach to her writing, including plenty of real-world folklore about the creatures whilst also embellishing this with extra information from her own active imagination. This helps to provide a fun and accessible approach for younger readers, maybe acting as a springboard for them to explore some of the creatures and myths further.
What of the real-life author and illustrator of A Natural History of Magical Beasts? Hawkins was at one time a children’s book editor and her experience in the field over many years demonstrates her understanding of the audience for whom she writes. She has featured on the New York Times Bestsellers list and has won the Children’s Travel Book of the Year Award. She has over fifty books to her name including other titles in the Natural History of series such as Mermaids and Dragons.
Jessica Roux is a Nashville-based artist with a specialism in flora and fauna illustration. Her renderings of wildlife and plants from the world around us are exquisite, but she can turn her hand just as easily to the fantastic as the fully illustrated pages of this book show. She has an extensive list of clients from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian to Urban Outfitters and a range of publishers and newspapers and a long list of accolades which should come as no surprise considering the quality of her work.
I have in the past bemoaned the lack of good books for children in the field of folklore, but the past couple of years have seen a big changeround in the quality of this market. Whilst I probably have little part to play in that, I am happy to acknowledge it and it is wonderful to see so much new material for younger folklorists in the making of the sort of quality of A Natural History of Magical Beasts.
Whatever your age, I recommend reading a copy of this title.
AUTHOR: Emily Hawkins and Jessica Roux
PUBLISHER: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 9780711278806
PODCAST EPISODE: None
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
A Natural History of Magical Beasts, written by Emily Hawkins and illustrated by Jessica Roux is part of a series of books coming from the Francis Lincoln stable which seem to have an aim of providing an entertaining introduction to the world of folklore, magic and mythology for children from the age of 6 upwards.
The text purports to come from a recently rediscovered book found in the Central Library of Athens detailing a global expedition undertaken by zoologist Dr Dimitros Pagonis to find and record in the wild creatures from around the world which are thought by most to be nothing but folklore or fable. Records and field notes on centaurs, hoop snakes, basilisks and all points in between are found within the full colour pages of this large format book, beautifully bound in red cloth which is not unlike running your hands across the wallpaper of a country mansion house.
Hawkins takes a blended approach to her writing, including plenty of real-world folklore about the creatures whilst also embellishing this with extra information from her own active imagination. This helps to provide a fun and accessible approach for younger readers, maybe acting as a springboard for them to explore some of the creatures and myths further.
What of the real-life author and illustrator of A Natural History of Magical Beasts? Hawkins was at one time a children’s book editor and her experience in the field over many years demonstrates her understanding of the audience for whom she writes. She has featured on the New York Times Bestsellers list and has won the Children’s Travel Book of the Year Award. She has over fifty books to her name including other titles in the Natural History of series such as Mermaids and Dragons.
Jessica Roux is a Nashville-based artist with a specialism in flora and fauna illustration. Her renderings of wildlife and plants from the world around us are exquisite, but she can turn her hand just as easily to the fantastic as the fully illustrated pages of this book show. She has an extensive list of clients from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian to Urban Outfitters and a range of publishers and newspapers and a long list of accolades which should come as no surprise considering the quality of her work.
I have in the past bemoaned the lack of good books for children in the field of folklore, but the past couple of years have seen a big changeround in the quality of this market. Whilst I probably have little part to play in that, I am happy to acknowledge it and it is wonderful to see so much new material for younger folklorists in the making of the sort of quality of A Natural History of Magical Beasts.
Whatever your age, I recommend reading a copy of this title.