The Glass Mountain: Tales from Poland

Gr 3–4—The Pieńkowski-Walser team exuberantly present eight dramatic Polish folktales featuring the violence, evil, and heroism characteristic of the genre. The stories are well told and paced, as heroes and villains face death, transmutation, and the devil. Tales include "The Fern Flower," "The Krakow Dragon," "The Frog Bride," "The Miller's Daughters," and "The Trumpeter of Krakow." Among the themes are the importance of unselfishness and love for family and homeland and the shame and dishonor of greediness and thoughtlessness. A thread of darkness runs through these unusual pieces, and Walser doesn't soften disturbing details and the occasional unhappy ending. The text is enhanced by the attractive illustrations, rendered in cut-paper collage and mixed media. The use of black silhouettes with bright colors on mostly white backgrounds lets the images pop. There is a pronunciation guide to help with the Polish vocabulary and forewords by Pieńkowski and Walser, which reveal their folklore backgrounds and their approaches to the book. A solid addition to libraries where folktale collections circulate well.—Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA