Fairy Tales

Black as Night

Book cover: Black as Night
Author(s): 
Regina Doman

This long-awaited sequel to Shadow of the Bear returns us to the life-like yet fairy tale inspired world of Blanche, Rose, Bear and Fish. Rose and Blanche have both finished high school now and Blanche is spending the summer trying to earn some money for college. Bear, unsure about what he wants to do with his life and having trouble forgiving injuries from his past, is brooding his way around Europe.

Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham

Book cover: Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham
Author(s): 
J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien has a habit of making stories that are just plain fun to read. And a sneaky little tendency to make them exceedingly rich too – offering many levels of interpretation and withstanding rigorous study by philosophers, theologians, philologists and anyone else. But all the time they remain delightful – and offer a healthy dose of poetic knowledge even to the most superficial readers. Both of these stories are 'old-fashioned' in style.

Niamh and the Hermit

Book cover: Niamh and the Hermit
Author(s): 
Emily C. A. Snyder

One frustrating thing for one who loves literature is how the term 'good literature' is starting to connote books that have good morals and no offensive content, rather than meaningful, thoughtful books that are well-written. I'm sure this is partly due to the large quantity of vile content found in the entertainment industry. But if we 'fight back' with material that we deem acceptable simply because it's 'clean', we aren't likely to win enthusiasm from those who need good literature and good entertainment the most – including our own children.