Marguerita RudolphRezensionen

I found this book interesting, explaining how a shirt grows in the field. A little boy wonders how a shirt can grow in a field from seeds and he watches everyday thinking. I will have a shirt from this? This book is a classic, I found out from reading the notes inside the book. I can see why. It explains every step it takes to make a shirt, from the seeds to the drying, threading, sewing, embroidery. The boy's excitement and curiousity gets the reader feeling the same anticipation.

It is now my favorite storybook story. It is about a little girl who has everything except a mother and she thinks of a clever way to have one.

Marguerita Rudolph and Imero Gobbato - the author/illustrator team who also collaborated on The Brave Soldier and a Dozen Devils: A Latvian Tale - here present a folktale from the Lithuanian tradition, one which follows the story of two very different brothers, one wealthy and one poor. When the two brothers head to market one day, they meet with the usual difference in fortune - the wealthy one fills his sack with coins, while the poor one finds his mare and wagon have been stolen - but the return trip leads to a surprising change in circumstances, after the poor brother meets his misfortune, and manages to outwit it. Will both brothers now prosper, or will the jealousy of one lead to yet another change in fortune...?

Folk and fairy-tale readers will know the answer to that, of course, as the mean-spirited and greedy always get their just deserts in such tales. In many ways, I Am Your Misfortune follows the standard plot-line for this tale-type - the poor and humble sibling is elevated, while the wealthy and unkind one is undermined (usually by his own malice) - but I was interested to see the way in which misfortune is made into an actual creature here. The white shaggy creature in Gobbato's illustrations reminds me of something, but I can't think what... In any case, this is an enjoyable tale, from a folk tradition that doesn't always get the attention it deserves. Recommended to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those with an interest in the Baltic.

A poor young boy leaves behind his loving parents in order to earn something extra for the family, in this Lithuanian folktale, agreeing to work as the shepherd for a prosperous farmer. But when his summer and fall of labor are done, and he is paid - a bag of beans, a bundle of flax, and three pennies - he finds that the three beggar-men he meets on the road home are in even greater need than he, and he gives everything he has away. The last of the beggars gives him a sack, a stick and a fiddle - gifts that his parents initially scorn, but whose magical qualities change all their lives for the better...

The Magic Sack is an example of a fairly common tale-type - one in which the hero or heroine is generous with their scanty resources, and is rewarded with magical items that change their fortune for the better - but it is the first example I have seen from the Lithuanian tradition. Of course, I haven't read much Lithuanian folklore - one of the reasons I was so excited to happen upon this book, as well as Marguerita Rudolph's I Am Your Misfortune: A Lithuanian Folk Tale - so I can't say whether it is common, in the folklore of that country. Still, this is an engaging story, one which is paired with appealing engraving-style illustrations by Ralph Pinto, and would make a good selection for young folklore enthusiasts!

Having finished his years of service in the army, a brave young soldier sets out to find his place in the world, in this retelling of a traditional Latvian folktale. Encountering three threadbare, impoverished old men, one after another, as he walks down a lonely road, the soldier's generosity with his few coins is amply repaid with the extraordinary gifts he is given in return: a pipe that never runs out of tobacco, a wine bottle that never runs out of wine, and an empty bag that 'grabs' anything which it is commanded to seize. With these unusual items, the soldier is able to defeat the twelve devils he later encounters, at the home of a wealthy man who isn't quite as friendly as he seems...

Author Marguerita Rudolph and illustrator Imero Gobbato - who also teamed up on I Am Your Misfortune: A Lithuanian Folk Tale - created an engaging folkloric retelling in this picture-book. Many of the motifs - the three old men encountered, the magical rewards for generosity shown, the devils vanquished - will be familiar to those who reads folktales with any regularity, although I don't think I've ever seem them combined in just this way. Gobbato's black-and-white artwork was somewhat hit or miss - I didn't care for his human figures so much, but his devils were very well done - although the overall effect was appealing. All in all, a worthwhile addition to the library of any young folklore enthusiast, particularly one with an interest in the Baltic.

A little peasant boy watches and waits as the change of seasons and the harvest and treatment of the flax soon bring him a long promised new shirt.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age(s): 8-12

The Magic Sack is about a young poor boy who goes to be a shepherd to earn a bag of bean, a bundle of flax and three pennies to provide for his mom and dad. On his journey home the boy passes three beggars even poorer than himself he gives each one of them one of his earnings. The last beggar in return gives him an empty sack, a stick and a fiddle.The beggar tells the boy to order anyone he does not like into the sack and to rap them with the stick. The boy takes these items and returns home with nothing to provide to his parents. The boy sets off into the world to earn some money for his family. During his journey he meets people who treat others harshly and he orders them into the sack and makes them promise to do the right thing before he lets them out. This is a journey about the gifts of generosity, empathy and sympathy.

I wish everyone could be as kind hearted as this little boy. An amazing tell of sharing even if it is all you can spare.

This tale could be used to teach children the gift of sharing and how rewarding giving to those less fortunate than yourself can be. The gift of giving always comes back ten fold.