Fairy Tale Gifts 5: Rachel Ayers

Here is Rachel Ayers's December Giveaway: Favorite Fairy Tale Things entry. I've used calendars for art for many years for my own walls and others. I have to admit my calendar of choice this year isn't fairy tale related but my favorite standby, The Reading Woman 2012 (Pomegranate). I love these and collect images of reading women, no surprise I'm sure. The cover to this year's choice looks like it should be a cover for Anne of Green Gables. There's also the Reading Woman 2012 (Image Connection). I always have to debate between the two reading themed calendars each year.

 

From Rachel:

What a great idea! I can't wait to see other people's ideas for fairy tale inspired gift giving....

This year money is a bit tight, so while there are several fairy tale books I'd love to give out, I don't think that's going to happen. However, last year I was lucky enough to get both a James C. Christensen calendar and a Classical Literature calendar (which includes Alice in Wonderland as the most fairy tale related subject).

My plan is to go to the dollar store, goodwill, and walgreens and find some picture frames, and use those to cut out pretty images from the calendars. Then I'll match the literature up with the people who will most appreciate that, and give the Christensen art to the fairy tale lovers in my circles. All for the cost of frames, and a little time and thoughtfulness.

Hopefully it will be as meaningful to the recipients as the calendars have been to me through the year!

Rachel Ayers
http://fairylayers.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/richlayers
http://richlayers.livejournal.com

Fairy Tale Gifts 4: Vivien

Here is Vivien's entry in the December Giveaway: Favorite Fairy Tale Things.

From Vivien:

I absolutely loved The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa. That entire series (4 books) is what I'll be gifting. Such a unique twist on fairy lore.

Vivien

Fairy Tale Gifts 3: Sarah D.

Here is a  December Giveaway: Favorite Fairy Tale Things entry from Sarah D., who chose a book I posted about a few months ago on the blog, but haven't read myself.

From Sarah D.: 

I'm giving Wildwood by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis to a few people on my list. Even though it is new it has a classic feel and beautiful illustrations.

I love your blog so much!

Sarah

Heidi: Thanks, Sarah!

Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy (Editor) & Wendy Doniger (Translator)

The University of Chicago Press is having a huge sale for the holidays. Alas, their wonderful folklore collections from years back are out of print and not in the sale. There isn't much folklore with the press, but I saw one title--Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy (Editor) & Wendy Doniger (Translator) (Amazon link and U of CP link)--that may be of interest to a few of you. Some of these links are to Amazon where you can read more about it and because it is easiest for me to feed images from them. You have to use the U of CP sale brochure and link to get the special $99 price. Yes, that is expensive, but the two volume set is usually $300-$400 and this sale price for a new copy is less than the used ones--and it is a two-volume set so that's two books for $99. This is a small interest niche, but some SurLaLune readers fit in it.

About the book:

"The appearance of this monumental work in a beautifully produced and richly illustrated English edition is a publishing event of considerable significance."—Mark C. Taylor, New York Times Book Review

"The almost 100 contributors combine, with characteristic precision and elan, the arts of science and poetry, of analysis and translation. The result is a treasury of information, brilliant guesswork, witty asides, and revealing digressions. This is a work of genuine and enduring excitement."—Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

From Library Journal:

This collection of 395 articles was compiled by Bonnefoy (comparative poetics, College de France). Although it looks like an encyclopedia, it is not. Instead, as translator Doniger says in the introduction, it is "a collection of essays on some aspects of some mythologies written by a group of brilliant and philosophically complex French scholars and is highly opinionated and original." It is also highly inconsistent in coverage, having little to say about Judaism or Islam and offering only two essays on Buddhism. It often seems to be more about methodology than mythology. These criticisms, however, should not obscure the fact that this is a fascinatingly original if somewhat quirky and idiosyncratic collection of essays. As a reference book it leaves much to be desired. As a unique contribution to the study of mythology, it should be in every library with special interest in the field.

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Fairy Tale Gifts 2: Christine Ethier

And here's the second entry in the December Giveaway: Favorite Fairy Tale Things. Christine's been a longtime SurLaLune supporter--she even annotated some of the tales on the SurLaLune main site, so I am always fascinated to read anything she has to share.

From Christine Ethier:

Boy, do you like to ask the hard questions. Well, here is what should be on Santa's list in no particular order.

1. The Complete Works of Jim C. Hines (books) - Not only his Princess novels, but his Goblin Hero and three kindle books as well. His short fiction is really wonderful.

2. Nightmares and Fairy Tales (graphic novel series) - by Serena Valentino - Everyone raves, rightly, about Fables, but this comic series is really good and embraces the darkside of the fairy tales. If you like Carter, Tanith Lee, or Datlow/Windling collections, give this series a try.

3. Miss Mary Pennynickles Fairytales of Foreboding and Torment for Toddlers - Kindle books by James DeSalvo - demented retellings of various fairy tales. Zombie Snow White, need I say more.

4. Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht - takes a battle in the court of Fairy and juxaposes it with the Troubles with Ireland. Excellent book.

5. Any music by the Brobdingnagian Bards - great songwriters. Love "Do Virgins Taste Better".

6. Woad Horse of a Different Color - Clydesdale in Woad paint.

7. Breyer Model Horses or Schleich figurines - Breyer does high quality plastic models of horses. Every year they have a Breyerfest at the the Kentucky Horse Park. This year the theme was fairy tales, and there were several fairy tale related models. Schleich is cheaper, but has several lovely fairy and dragon figures.

From Heidi: Okay, so now I have to research the Breyerfest 2011 and try to find enough imagery to make a whole post on it. How do I miss these things? Because there is simply too many fairy tale things to catch them all! And I have a Schleich post coming next week, so I'll save those images until then. I like Schleich because they are more overtly fairy tale related but my husband is Papo all the way...

Fairy Tale Gifts 1: Karly Noelle Abreu

Karly had the first submission in the December Giveaway: Favorite Fairy Tale Things. I think I am really going to enjoy this and even learn about some new stuff, too. Thanks, Karly!

From Karly:

I love giving fairy tale-esque gifts. Mostly books, especially:

-Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, (an adaption of Cupid and Psyche, often considered the first fairy tale, but also has strong "beauty and the beast" overtones, and my absolute favorite book)

- Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (excellent adaption of Beauty and the Beast and an immersive read, I give it to friends often)

-Hellboy graphic novels (folklore and fairy tale inspired with a mix of steampunk and Lovecraftian horror, makes for a completely fun read)

-Porcelain by Karly Noelle Abreu (I recommend this to my friends often, it's my own collection of fairy tale and science fiction inspired steampunk stories and it's only a dollar)

For non books, I adore the Queens Dowry etsy shop: It's handmade vintage jewelry, usually fantasy pieces including mermaids, dragons and the like. I have a particularly beautiful "beauty and the beast" necklace from this shop.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

-Karly Noelle Abreu