LORE OF THE WILD

This collection of legends, creation stories, and traditional tales from around the world focuses on nature and omens.

Stories and lore are grouped thematically into categories: animals; birds; bugs; flowers, plants and trees; weather lore; omens. Each of these six sections begins with a folktale or creation story from a particular culture and then groups additional concepts and beliefs into spreads containing short paragraphs on particular subjects. Each spread shares ideas hailing from cultures, religions, and belief systems from around the globe, and from ancient cultures to more recent ones, with an emphasis on European traditions such as Irish, Celtic, Roman, and Norse mythology. Legends from different cultures about similar topics can be compared side by side, such as the European beliefs that goats are stubborn versus the Middle Eastern and African traditions that consider goats to have dignity. The sheer amount of trivia included can keep readers busy for hours, and the bright, artful illustrations give each spread a pleasing design that allows the eyes to rest in between the paragraphs of text. Some readers will skim while others will pore over every fact over and over again. As a whole, this collection offers an illuminating look at the human relationship with the natural world as well as our tendency to find meaning in what we see.

Engaging and informative.