CELTIC MYTHS
adapted by Sam McBratney & illustrated by Stephen Player
From McBratney (The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, 1996, etc.), brief retellings of 15 stories from the British Isles, with appearances by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Children of Lir, a Selkie story, and an interesting version of King Midas. Every one is accompanied by a full-page painting and several smaller ones; McBratney often provides comments for his competent, workmanlike retellings, but variations of all the stories are widely available. The illustrations are odd: The technique is rich and confident, and Player is skilled, but he makes the faces almost uniformly ugly, even when the text describes the characters as handsome or beautiful. The paintings don’t match the text in other ways as well, e.g., a boy described as seven or eight appears to be about sixteen. (index) (Folklore. 9-12)