The Maiden on the Moor - Hardcover

Grade 4-6?Singer weaves a haunting, poetic tale from an anonymous medieval verse. Two shepherd brothers find a maiden lying on the snowy moor. Fearing enchantment, the elder man flees to his comfortable house, but the younger one takes her home, where he and his three dogs tend to her for a week. The lonely young man begs her to awaken and be his companion; when she does not respond, he sinks into a grief-stricken sleep. Only then does she stir. She takes the smallest dog with her to the moor where, as a flock of snow geese flies overhead, she asks it to kill her. As she dies, she returns to her original form of a snow goose and the dog turns into a young woman who gladly becomes the shepherd's companion. As a poet, Singer knows how to distill words into images, and she conveys the bleak beauty of the setting with clarity and precision. While more literal-minded readers might puzzle over how the maiden got on the moor in the first place, the tale is sure to spark imaginations as it transcends ordinary fairy-tale conventions. The story is romantic without being sentimental, and the resolution is satisfying. Howell's colored-pencil illustrations, many of which are double-page spreads full of texture and detail, capture the mood, employing mostly icy tones that bring alive the winter atmosphere. Text is set in boxes decorated with either a tiny illustration, a border with Celtic knotwork designs, or other motifs reminiscent of medieval tapestries. A unique contribution to any folklore collection.?Donna L. Scanlon, Lancaster County Library, PA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Embroidering upon a medieval English verse, Singer (The Painted Fan; The Golden Heart of Winter) turns out a finely wrought fairy tale. Two shepherd brothers, the elder married and prosperous, the younger alone and poor, find a dark-haired maiden lying unconscious on the moor in the dead of winter. The elder shuns her, but the younger takes her to his cottage and, for seven days and nights, takes care of her. On the last night, while the younger brother sleeps, the maiden finally awakens and sets in motion various plans to ensure that each brother will receive his just deserts. And then she slips away, assuming the form of a snow goose. Howell's (The Ugly Duckling) misty colored-pencil drawings of the bleak moor, the young shepherd's rustic cottage and the maiden's surprising transformation are suitably romantic but lack sufficient momentum to convey the full drama of this story. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.