Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools
I really love Julia Sarda's art, and I'm hoping to read a couple more books she's illustrated this year. First up is Leina and the Lord of the Toadstools, an children's book that blends aspects of European fairy tale and American tall tale to tell a new story that has an uncanny feeling of being familiar and old.
Leina is the ferry woman for a small town on the bank of a river 'out west.' Every morning, Leina boats people across the river to the forest to chop wood and forage, and every evening she boats them home. Leina has a crush on Oren, who is kind to her, but she's too shy to talk when she's around him.
One evening, Oren isn't there to catch the ferry home, and doesn't return the next day either. This isn't the first time someone's disappeared this way. There's a storm, and Leina goes across to look for him, but instead meets a man-sized toad wearing a suit. He introduces himself as Mr Spadefoot, the Lord of the Toadstools. Leina takes him to town to do business, but the townspeople drive him off. Leina boats him back to the forest, and he invites her to his house for dinner.
At Mr Spadefoot's house, Leina discovers that he's been turning townspeople into animals and keeping them in cages. She realizes he means to do the same to her. If she wants to save Oren, and herself, she'll have to find a way to get the better of him...
Mr Spadefoot is a pretty good villain! In a few short pages, he reminds me of Bluebeard, Rumpelstiltskin, even the Devil making trades over fiddle contests at the crossroads. There are also themes of hospitality, and a sense that while the townspeople don't deserve exactly what's happening to them, they do need to do better, both to the forest and to any visitors they receive. We don't learn a lot about Leina, but she gathers her courage when she needs to, and remains curious and clever, even in the face of a monster who scares her.
Sarda's art is delightful. The forest scenes are full of detail, Mr Spadefoot's house appropriately strange and maze-like. Some of the smaller pictures are framed in boxes where Sarda has used repeating patterns on the edges, which gives those images an older, storybook feel.
Leina is the ferry woman for a small town on the bank of a river 'out west.' Every morning, Leina boats people across the river to the forest to chop wood and forage, and every evening she boats them home. Leina has a crush on Oren, who is kind to her, but she's too shy to talk when she's around him.
One evening, Oren isn't there to catch the ferry home, and doesn't return the next day either. This isn't the first time someone's disappeared this way. There's a storm, and Leina goes across to look for him, but instead meets a man-sized toad wearing a suit. He introduces himself as Mr Spadefoot, the Lord of the Toadstools. Leina takes him to town to do business, but the townspeople drive him off. Leina boats him back to the forest, and he invites her to his house for dinner.
At Mr Spadefoot's house, Leina discovers that he's been turning townspeople into animals and keeping them in cages. She realizes he means to do the same to her. If she wants to save Oren, and herself, she'll have to find a way to get the better of him...
Mr Spadefoot is a pretty good villain! In a few short pages, he reminds me of Bluebeard, Rumpelstiltskin, even the Devil making trades over fiddle contests at the crossroads. There are also themes of hospitality, and a sense that while the townspeople don't deserve exactly what's happening to them, they do need to do better, both to the forest and to any visitors they receive. We don't learn a lot about Leina, but she gathers her courage when she needs to, and remains curious and clever, even in the face of a monster who scares her.
Sarda's art is delightful. The forest scenes are full of detail, Mr Spadefoot's house appropriately strange and maze-like. Some of the smaller pictures are framed in boxes where Sarda has used repeating patterns on the edges, which gives those images an older, storybook feel.
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