Meet Archer

from Tangled in Magic by Kim Ellis

Illustration by Alison Gagne Hansen

Archer, the gyrfalcon, is one of the main characters in my book, Tangled in Magic. She is intelligent, opinionated, and sometimes sarcastic. When Agatha flees Underhill Manse to search for her brother, Archer insists on accompanying her. She proves to be a helpful, reliable companion.

The gyrfalcon’s natural habitat is the Artic coast and tundra, where its plumage is white with black markings. The largest of the falcons, gyrfalcons prey on ptarmigan and waterfowl.

(February, 2017)

 

Recently I began reading my way through the Newbery award winners. Each year the Association for Library Service to Children awards the Newbery Medal to

“…the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”

This award began in 1922, with the first Newbery Medal winner, which was The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon.   I may check this one out, if it’s still in print. It sounds like a textbook, though, doesn’t it?

If you’re interested in finding out which books won this year, go to

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal

 

I read The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, a 2008 Newbery Honor Book (published by Scholastic).

 

Confession: I take life far too seriously. When I find a book that makes me laugh out loud, I consider it a treasure. The Wednesday Wars is funny. It’s also a little hard to believe, especially the part about the rats. Still, I love the voice of our hero, Holling Hoodhood, and his hilarious progression through seventh grade at Camillo Junior High on Long Island, N.Y.

 

All the kids in Holling’s class leave school early to go to religious studies. All except Holling, who is left alone with Mrs. Baker, his English teacher. She assigns Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice for Holling to read. What a surprise for Holling! He actually enjoys Shakespeare.

Schmidt cleverly weaves a story that includes the current events of 1967, including the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

This book is so good that I might even read it twice!

 

What are you reading? Send a comment and let me know.

The Origins of Faeries

 

Where did faeries come from? One theory suggests that they were the Tribes of the Goddess Danu, or Tuatha de Danaan, a seafaring people who lived near the Aegean Sea. The Danaans were a magical race, and adept at blacksmithing. Invaders drove them northward, out of Greece, and eventually they arrived in Ireland.

The legend says that the Danaans came to Ireland on a ship of dark clouds. They brought with them three treasures: the stone of destiny, the spear of Lugh, and the sword of Nuada (Light).

More than two centuries later, when the Milesians invaded, the Danaans retreated into the hills and mounds (sidhe). They made their homes in raths (circular enclosures surrounded by an earthen wall), invisible to human eyes.

Thus, the Danaans became the faery folk of Ireland, also called “aes sidhe” the people of the mounds, or the “grey ones.”

source: http://www.kelleyheckart.com/Tuatha_de_Danaan.html

 

The Bunyip

The bunyip is a creature from Australian Aboriginal legends. Its name means “devil” or “spirit.” According to the legend, the bunyip is a water monster that lives in rivers, swamps or billabongs. The early Aboriginal drawings depict the bunyip as a beast with a horse tail, tusks, and flippers.

Said to be nocturnal, the bunyip comes out of the water to snatch and eat all kinds of animals, including women and children.

The bellowing cry attributed to the bunyip could also be the calls of other animals, like the koala or barking owl.

Is the bunyip real or imaginary? You decide.

 

Image from planetetheria.com

(A bunyip appears in my book, Pursued by Magic)

Welcome to the Tangled Magic Blog

where we will have:

• fantastic and legendary creatures
• reviews of good reads
• stories of wonder
• ideas for writers

and whatever else is crazy, magical, and interesting.