Winter reading

The holidays are over and I am back with another wonderful collection of fairy tales. I don't know about you, but for me winter is always about snuggling up in cozy chair, soft blanket and a fairy tale book. So here it is a book of Serbian Fairy Tales published in 2013 by Flying Fish Publications. The collection contains 20 stories, selected and translated by Jelena Ćurčić, edited by Sam Quinn and featuring illustrations by Rosanna Morris. It is part of a larger project  supported by Arts Council England and Serbian Council of Great Britain.

Here is part of the description offered on their internet site: "Serbian fairy tales were first compiled in 1821 by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, 'father of the study of Serbian folklore', who was a collaborator, friend and a well-known contemporary of Brothers Grimm and Goethe...The book also contains a wealth of information about the origin of the tales, about Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian folk lore and mythology and Serbian language, shining a light on the material previously not available in the UK."

And this is part of a review published on amazon by a reader: "the translation is easy to read, which makes the decision to leave key elements of Serbian folklore untranslated (Vila, and Zmaj, and Azdaja, and even Tzar) a gentle reminder that these are not English fairy tales, after all!"

For little naughty princesses and princes

The Tale of Sigismunda and Krpimir is written by Sanja Lovrenčić, translated in English as a joint effort of the author and Peter Carrier, and illustrated by Pika Vončina.

This tale is about princess Sigi, the baker’s apprentice Krpi and the two rival kings, Muk and Mrachak. The last two try to win Sigi's hand in marriage and are eager to make war to show who's best. But violence is not the way to make a princess like you, and it can be expensive too, especially if you use elite water dragons. After all, princess Sigi really only likes Krpimir.

This is another book selected for the White Raven list  for 2004 and won a prize as a theater play.