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The Buried Moon
The Moon is held prisoner in the bog by the Hidden Folk, until the townspeople miss her light and go in search of her.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 31, 2021
This is a beautifully illustrated picture book that depicts the Norfolk folktale of lights luring th weary traveler unto their doom. This was a recent plot line of an Elly Griffiths story. It is always a bonus when a fictitious story is routed in folklore, and both these tales are all the more enjoyable for it. I loved the illustrations that were reminiscent of Sibylle von Olfers.
Thank you to goodreads friend Abigail for alerting me to this book and providing a link to the internet archive so I could read this. Abigail has a much more detailed review of this book that I would highly recommend reading.
Thank you to goodreads friend Abigail for alerting me to this book and providing a link to the internet archive so I could read this. Abigail has a much more detailed review of this book that I would highly recommend reading.
January 31, 2021
Australian children's author and artist Amanda Walsh retells a traditional English folktale in this gorgeous picture-book, which is as eerie as it is beautiful. Set in the Fens, a marshy coastal plain in the eastern English counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, the story concerns a dangerous bog where the Hidden Folk - Bogles, Dead Things and Night Demons - like to lure unwary travelers to their deaths in the dark of night. Only when the moon is shining can travelers safely traverse the bog. Becoming aware of this, the moon comes down to investigate, in the form of a luminous woman in a hooded cloak, and is tricked and trapped by the Hidden Folk. With the moon now missing from the sky, the bog becomes ever more dangerous for humans, until some local villagers, consulting their Wise Old Woman, set out to rescue their heavenly friend, now buried in the marsh...
The story retold in The Buried Moon was first published in Joseph Jacobs' 1893 More English Fairy Tales , and was collected in the North Lincolnshire Carrs - the 'Carrlands' is the local Lincolnshire term for the Fens, and is related to the Danish word kjarr, meaning marshlands - in the Ancholme Valley. It is apparently one of many unusual and eerie tales from this region. I'm not sure why Walsh omitted any reference to the source material here, but leaving aside that one flaw - and I do consider it a major flaw, in folkloric retellings, to have no attribution or discussion of cultural and geographic background - this was an outstanding picture-book. The story itself is engrossing, fascinating and frightening in equal measure, and the artwork is simply breathtaking, managing to be both beautiful and disturbing. The pages are black, with each scene depicted in a light blue, with a modest use of other colors, in the details. The pages almost look like they have decorative borders, created with the twining vines and creepers from the marsh being depicted, and there are frequently frightening little creatures embedded in those vines. This is just a wonderful retelling, capturing both the beauty and the fearsomeness of its subject matter, and its geographic location. Highly recommended to all folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone who appreciates lovely, unusual picture-book art.
The story retold in The Buried Moon was first published in Joseph Jacobs' 1893 More English Fairy Tales , and was collected in the North Lincolnshire Carrs - the 'Carrlands' is the local Lincolnshire term for the Fens, and is related to the Danish word kjarr, meaning marshlands - in the Ancholme Valley. It is apparently one of many unusual and eerie tales from this region. I'm not sure why Walsh omitted any reference to the source material here, but leaving aside that one flaw - and I do consider it a major flaw, in folkloric retellings, to have no attribution or discussion of cultural and geographic background - this was an outstanding picture-book. The story itself is engrossing, fascinating and frightening in equal measure, and the artwork is simply breathtaking, managing to be both beautiful and disturbing. The pages are black, with each scene depicted in a light blue, with a modest use of other colors, in the details. The pages almost look like they have decorative borders, created with the twining vines and creepers from the marsh being depicted, and there are frequently frightening little creatures embedded in those vines. This is just a wonderful retelling, capturing both the beauty and the fearsomeness of its subject matter, and its geographic location. Highly recommended to all folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone who appreciates lovely, unusual picture-book art.
January 17, 2022
This rating is for the edition retold and illustrated by Amanda Walsh.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews