The Children's book of Irish Folktales by Kevin Danaher

 It's a story that must be told this one. 
Weeks ago removing some books from bookshelves I rediscovered Favourite Poems we Learned in School by Thomas F. Walsh. I started to read some of them.
It was an used book this one and the person who had firstly bought it, did it at An Café Liteartha in Ireland. 

The publishing house is the Mercier Press. I visited their website a day I had some spare time, discovering a good bunch of books I would have wanted to read. I so contacted the publicist and they sent me some of them. What I love of Ireland, a country never visited, but constantly loved by me, are in particular their legends, their traditions, lost in the night of the times.

The first book I read has been: The Children's book of Irish Folktales

by Kevin Danaher. I read it in a few hours. Wonderfully well illustrated, these 14 folktales represent stories shared by friends, relatives and neighbors of Danaher, during the nights, they sat close to the fireplace for spending time together: in that occasions they loved to share fantastic stories or stories with a strong touch of truth.

So, we will meet histories of punishment like the one of the lady with a pig headed child, or story of a girl in grade to change her destiny still built only in the mind, true, but maybe possible if she wouldn't have too pride: the story of the wise men of Muing an Chait is hylarious and with a wonderful happy-end. There is the folktale of Séan, who becomes the mayor of a town, removing himself from a miserable existence without having done it ...directly: the one of a tailor and the hare woman will let us understand that every person we meet leave inside us something (in his case, outside, eeek): then there is the story of another tailor this time busy in the killing of three giants. A folktale I found particular suggestive was the one of the Griffin.

It's a wonderful pleasant reading this one because you will discover the simplicity with which you'll enter in a dimension of fantasy and story-telling where you would want to remain as more as possible.

Anna Maria Polidori