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Tales
Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales
Selkies, wyverns, witches, and giants. Perilous quests, true love, and animals that talk.
The traditional stories of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales transport us to the fantastical world of Celtic folklore. These timeless tales brim with wit and magic, and each on is brought to life with elegant silhouette art in this special illustrated edition.
The traditional stories of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales transport us to the fantastical world of Celtic folklore. These timeless tales brim with wit and magic, and each on is brought to life with elegant silhouette art in this special illustrated edition.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published August 30, 2016
About the author
Kate Forrester
12 books15 followersKate Forrester is a freelance illustrator, designer and hand-lettering artist based in Brighton, UK. With over 10 years experience in the industry, she has worked for a wide range of international print and design clients on book covers, packaging, advertising campaigns and much more. Kate’s recognisible, hand-drawn style and creative approach have led to many commissions from big commercial brands to small private clients.
Having graduated from Brighton University in 2005 she has since worked for an extensive range of international clients, combining her detailed, organic illustrations with words in a diverse range of projects, adorning hundreds of book covers, several HGVs, a handful of chocolate bars and a billboard or two!
When she’s not in her studio, Kate can be found pottering round Brighton with her naughty twins (usually to be found running in opposite directions), drinking too much coffee and attempting to master Muay Thai.
SELECTED CLIENTS include: Diet Coke, Chronicle Books, Hachette, Cafe Direct, Marks and Spencers, YouTube, Barclays, Crate and Barrel, John Lewis, Victoria’s Secret, Faber, Barnes and Noble, Always, Moonstruck, McDonald's, Waitrose, Harvey Nichols, Tiffany NYC, Simple skincare and Penguin Books.
Having graduated from Brighton University in 2005 she has since worked for an extensive range of international clients, combining her detailed, organic illustrations with words in a diverse range of projects, adorning hundreds of book covers, several HGVs, a handful of chocolate bars and a billboard or two!
When she’s not in her studio, Kate can be found pottering round Brighton with her naughty twins (usually to be found running in opposite directions), drinking too much coffee and attempting to master Muay Thai.
SELECTED CLIENTS include: Diet Coke, Chronicle Books, Hachette, Cafe Direct, Marks and Spencers, YouTube, Barclays, Crate and Barrel, John Lewis, Victoria’s Secret, Faber, Barnes and Noble, Always, Moonstruck, McDonald's, Waitrose, Harvey Nichols, Tiffany NYC, Simple skincare and Penguin Books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
March 9, 2021
I've read and reviewed another book of this series last month. This, while being part of the myth series, was pretty different as I was happy to discover - if only due to the vastly different art style.
This book collects some exemplary tales from Scotland, Brittany, Scotland and Wales. I thus learned of tricksters, quests, romance and the sea in equal measure (those are the main topics, at least as presented here). There were witches, sea monsters / dragons, fairies and other fantastical creatures populating these stories.
As with the other book(s) in this series, this really is just a taste as the mythologies of the various areas are very rich and plentiful so it was almost impossible to put them all into one book. But like with most fairytale collections, they make no claim to being complete or all-encompassing - instead, they want to wet one's appetite, make you hungry for more and give you an idea as to the culture(s) which has/have birthed these tales.
I was honestly surpised about the art as I hadn't expected there to have been different artists working on the different books in this series. While this wasn't as much of a hit with me as the art in the one I read previously, it was still nice:
So yeah, I enjoyed myself following the colourful array of beings and learning about their exploits/fates.
This book collects some exemplary tales from Scotland, Brittany, Scotland and Wales. I thus learned of tricksters, quests, romance and the sea in equal measure (those are the main topics, at least as presented here). There were witches, sea monsters / dragons, fairies and other fantastical creatures populating these stories.
As with the other book(s) in this series, this really is just a taste as the mythologies of the various areas are very rich and plentiful so it was almost impossible to put them all into one book. But like with most fairytale collections, they make no claim to being complete or all-encompassing - instead, they want to wet one's appetite, make you hungry for more and give you an idea as to the culture(s) which has/have birthed these tales.
I was honestly surpised about the art as I hadn't expected there to have been different artists working on the different books in this series. While this wasn't as much of a hit with me as the art in the one I read previously, it was still nice:
So yeah, I enjoyed myself following the colourful array of beings and learning about their exploits/fates.
March 10, 2017
I am so glad I spotted this book in the Scottish books section in Waterstones! I loved reading these Celtic tales, especially the tales from Brittany and Wales as I hadn't read any of those before. Some of the tales from Scotland and Ireland I had read previously, but it was nice to read them in a book.
The book was split into sections with tales about tricksters, the sea, quests and romance. The stories about the sea and romance were definitely my favourites although I enjoyed them all. I can't review folklore, so all I can really say is that I enjoyed this book and if you like folklore you probably would as well! The stories are adaptions of original folklore so you may notice a few changes if you are an expert (unlike me).
This is such a beautiful bind up and I am so happy I found it. I'll definitely keep my eye out for any future bind ups of folklore from Chronicle Books!
The book was split into sections with tales about tricksters, the sea, quests and romance. The stories about the sea and romance were definitely my favourites although I enjoyed them all. I can't review folklore, so all I can really say is that I enjoyed this book and if you like folklore you probably would as well! The stories are adaptions of original folklore so you may notice a few changes if you are an expert (unlike me).
This is such a beautiful bind up and I am so happy I found it. I'll definitely keep my eye out for any future bind ups of folklore from Chronicle Books!
December 19, 2018
The slight retelling of these tales made them more enjoyable to read than most original fairy tales. The simplistic illustrations were lovely. I wish there were more of them. I've read versions of these tales before, so not all were new stories for me. I enjoyed the romances the best.
March 4, 2020
So yes, if I were to just, if I were to only be giving my actual reading pleasure and appreciation opinion on the collection of Celtic fairy and folk tales chosen by illustrator and I assume also chief editor Kate Forrester (whose simple but lovely artwork, with one illustration for each featured story, is equally and truly a wonderful visual accompaniment to the presented narratives), I would most certainly be granting a full five stars for Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales. For not only is there a delightfully diverse and engagingly interesting selection of stories being offered to readers, I have also been very pleasantly surprised at how many of these tales actually have strong to even extremely strong counterparts in Western Europe and even on a global scale, how for example the Irish folktale of The Clumsy Beauty and her Three Aunts is very very much alike to the Brothers Grimm story of Die drei Spinnerinnen (the three spinners) which in turn is actually a humorous and much less creepy variant of the Rumpelstilzchen thematic and how the Scottish Assipattle and Mester Stoorworm obviously combines a male Cinderella type with the concept of both the dragon slayer and a so-called pourquoi type of tale (as the story also attempts to show that the Orkney and Shetland Islands, as well as Iceland and its constant volcanism are the result of Assipattle killing the stoorworm by lighting a fire inside of it). However, it is also the very fact that as I was reading and enjoying Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales and indeed noticing from my own fairy and folktale reading and research just how very many of the included tales actually do tend to show such a strong pan Indo-European core which has kind of made me rather annoyingly disappointed in so far that Kate Forrester has sadly not provided an author’s note detailing and describing the similarities of many of the featured Irish, Scottish, Breton and Welsh tales to German, French, Russian, Scandinavian etc. stories. For while I am of course glad that Ms. Forrester has at least provided the specific literary sources for her selections, for me and my folkloric and origin of folklore interested self, in order for Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales to be a true five star rating, there also and definitely would need to be supplemental information and details provided on the genesis of the featured tales themselves and yes, how they compare and contrast to both each other and to Indo-European lore and indeed folklore and tradition in general.
August 8, 2023
I know nothing about Celtic fairy/folk tales despite always being fascinated by Irish myth and lore, so this book was a really good place to start!
I enjoyed most of the stories though a few were a bit odd and the illustrations added a nice touch to the overall book though they’re in no way the type of art style I like. And for some odd reason I think I might have read some version of The Witch of Lok Island before? Parts of it seemed super familiar though I have no idea where I would have read it before. 🤷🏼♀️
All in all I think this is a good place to start if you want to get into Celtic fairy tales but don’t know where to start.
I enjoyed most of the stories though a few were a bit odd and the illustrations added a nice touch to the overall book though they’re in no way the type of art style I like. And for some odd reason I think I might have read some version of The Witch of Lok Island before? Parts of it seemed super familiar though I have no idea where I would have read it before. 🤷🏼♀️
All in all I think this is a good place to start if you want to get into Celtic fairy tales but don’t know where to start.
March 18, 2018
This was a great collection of tales, and it's fascinating to see how fairy tales from different countries relate with one another.
February 8, 2020
“”Birds fly straight to the cornfield,” said he, “and bees to the flowers for their honey. A man ought to have as much sense as a winged creature.”
Though I did find some stories underwhelming and some individual conclusions seemed rushed, I enjoyed the majority of the stories, my favorite being ’The Witch of Lok Island’. Overall a great collection of short stories originating from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales!
Though I did find some stories underwhelming and some individual conclusions seemed rushed, I enjoyed the majority of the stories, my favorite being ’The Witch of Lok Island’. Overall a great collection of short stories originating from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales!
November 18, 2020
Despite this book's beauty and interesting subject, I cannot say I was captivated by it. Far from that honestly. The writing was flat and absolutely none of the legends stuck with me.
May 8, 2023
3.5
An interesting compilation with stories of all varieties that are a large part of a culture and without a doubt, the basis for many other fantasy stories.
An interesting compilation with stories of all varieties that are a large part of a culture and without a doubt, the basis for many other fantasy stories.
March 11, 2017
I've been reading a story a night over the past few weeks and I really liked them! In some of these stories, there was a hint of the traditional Andersen and Grimm fairytales, which I really liked. Also, it has a beautiful cover and the illustrations are amazing!
December 31, 2021
BEAUTIFUL! I want all the books in that collection as simple as that...
November 1, 2020
A delightful collection of fairy tales from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales.
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous!
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous!
May 22, 2024
I'm preparing😈
July 4, 2019
Good Folktales
A pleasant collection of fairytales and folk-tales from four Celtic regions: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany. The stories were sourced from Project Guttenburg, the archive website, and sacred-text dot com. They're all public domain, but I didn't know they existed in publicly accessible (and free of charge) websites.😮
Still... This ebook wasn't terribly expensive and I learned that there's all these great resources that I can plumb for free lovely fairy and folk tales all I want. The author(?) / compiler includes hyperlinks in the back to the websites that house these stories and more.
The artwork that's included in the ebook is quaint and matches the themes of each of the stories.☺
A pleasant collection of fairytales and folk-tales from four Celtic regions: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany. The stories were sourced from Project Guttenburg, the archive website, and sacred-text dot com. They're all public domain, but I didn't know they existed in publicly accessible (and free of charge) websites.😮
Still... This ebook wasn't terribly expensive and I learned that there's all these great resources that I can plumb for free lovely fairy and folk tales all I want. The author(?) / compiler includes hyperlinks in the back to the websites that house these stories and more.
The artwork that's included in the ebook is quaint and matches the themes of each of the stories.☺
July 25, 2018
This was a real mixed bag of stories I recognised from my childhood, and stories that were new to me; stories I loved, and stories I didn't love so much. All-in-all, it's a charming, beautifully put-together book.
February 5, 2017
I adored this, shall treasure this book
September 7, 2019
This was an absolute delight! I am so glad I could read this amazing set of tales, so full of magic and fantasy! I have never read any folktales from these places in the world, to be honest, and I loved every second I was immersed in them!
Separated into the categories of Tricksters, the Sea, Quests, and Romance, the stories all come with some amazing illustrations by Kate Forrester, and as is common to all folktales, morals. I found some similar tales in Nordic Tales as well and so it is really interesting to see that there are such overlaps in all our different cultures too! I absolutely enjoyed it and am giving it to my brother to read!
A gem! 5/5 stars!
Separated into the categories of Tricksters, the Sea, Quests, and Romance, the stories all come with some amazing illustrations by Kate Forrester, and as is common to all folktales, morals. I found some similar tales in Nordic Tales as well and so it is really interesting to see that there are such overlaps in all our different cultures too! I absolutely enjoyed it and am giving it to my brother to read!
A gem! 5/5 stars!
March 21, 2019
These were delightful. The note on the sources does point out they are 'lightly adapted' so I wonder just how true to the original they were. I'll have to find a more comprehensive collection to read in the future.
August 4, 2019
3.5 out of five stars
Who says you can’t judge a book by its cover? Because to be honest, this is a total beauty. It was fascinating learning about Celtic myths which we don’t hear a lot about but I feel more connected to this culture. I just wish there were more of them
Who says you can’t judge a book by its cover? Because to be honest, this is a total beauty. It was fascinating learning about Celtic myths which we don’t hear a lot about but I feel more connected to this culture. I just wish there were more of them
September 13, 2018
Never judge a book by a cover, they say. But let me tell you, I would not have picked this up if it wasn't so pretty. I found this book among other art(sy) books at a lovely shop in Rome. Throughout my holiday I had not been able to satisfy my hunger for English books. Maybe Rome wasn't the best place for that... Even roaming the only English book shops the city has, I wasn't able to find something that caught my eye. So when I fell in love with the cover I thought to myself: even if this will be nothing but a pretty coffee table book, I can justify treating myself to this.
Fastforward more than a year later. When I started reading I was immediately enchanted. As one would expect from Celtic stories this is full of faries, witches, selkies and giants. There's even seals and wyverns! And a zombie/corpse that doesn't do much but doesn't want to shut up at times... I don't know why, but I didn't expect to like the stories so much.
Having a fulltime job I've never been this busy, which means I don't always feel like I have the 'headspace' for reading. I miss it, but I can't always bring myself to pick up a book. Sometimes I can't even keep my eyes open for two sentences. However this book was very soothing to read before going to sleep. Even if some stories were deliciously dark. I enjoyed reading about trickery, quests, romance and many more.
What I did find interesting is that these Celtic folk tales don't really have a moral or lesson like 'mainstream' fairy tales do. At least it's not made as clear. There's no clear message behind the tales like there is in Red Riding Hood for example. When a character strayed from the path or made some 'bad' decisions it mostly ended up being in their favor in the end. That's not a bad or a good thing, it's just an interesting observation I made.
Some stories did have some familiar elements as the tales we all know and love. Whether it was plot points or similar settings. But mostly these stories were very original. It's so nice reading folk tales that aren't very well known around the world. I can't wait to read more of those.
Fastforward more than a year later. When I started reading I was immediately enchanted. As one would expect from Celtic stories this is full of faries, witches, selkies and giants. There's even seals and wyverns! And a zombie/corpse that doesn't do much but doesn't want to shut up at times... I don't know why, but I didn't expect to like the stories so much.
Having a fulltime job I've never been this busy, which means I don't always feel like I have the 'headspace' for reading. I miss it, but I can't always bring myself to pick up a book. Sometimes I can't even keep my eyes open for two sentences. However this book was very soothing to read before going to sleep. Even if some stories were deliciously dark. I enjoyed reading about trickery, quests, romance and many more.
What I did find interesting is that these Celtic folk tales don't really have a moral or lesson like 'mainstream' fairy tales do. At least it's not made as clear. There's no clear message behind the tales like there is in Red Riding Hood for example. When a character strayed from the path or made some 'bad' decisions it mostly ended up being in their favor in the end. That's not a bad or a good thing, it's just an interesting observation I made.
Some stories did have some familiar elements as the tales we all know and love. Whether it was plot points or similar settings. But mostly these stories were very original. It's so nice reading folk tales that aren't very well known around the world. I can't wait to read more of those.
November 10, 2016
Selkies, wyverns, witches, and giants.
Perilous quests, true love, and animals that talk.
The perfect gift for anyone who loves folklore and fairy tales!
Celtic Tales collects and "lightly" adapts 16 stories from four works* published in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The tales are organized into Tricksters, The Sea, Quests, and Romance.
Bold, vibrant illustrations introduce each story. (Have a look at a small sample on the illustrator's website.) Nearly all of the stories were unfamiliar to me, but I'm relatively new to reading Celtic folklore. My favorite was "The Black Bull of Norroway," which reminded me of an episode of The Storyteller.
Beautiful hardcover edition! I kept running my hand over the cover, feeling the raised knots, then the title -- gorgeous.
4.5 stars
Received hardcover from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*The Scottish Fairy Book, Wonder Tales of Ancient Wales, Folk Tales of Brittany, and Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
Perilous quests, true love, and animals that talk.
The perfect gift for anyone who loves folklore and fairy tales!
Celtic Tales collects and "lightly" adapts 16 stories from four works* published in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The tales are organized into Tricksters, The Sea, Quests, and Romance.
Bold, vibrant illustrations introduce each story. (Have a look at a small sample on the illustrator's website.) Nearly all of the stories were unfamiliar to me, but I'm relatively new to reading Celtic folklore. My favorite was "The Black Bull of Norroway," which reminded me of an episode of The Storyteller.
Beautiful hardcover edition! I kept running my hand over the cover, feeling the raised knots, then the title -- gorgeous.
4.5 stars
Received hardcover from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*The Scottish Fairy Book, Wonder Tales of Ancient Wales, Folk Tales of Brittany, and Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.
July 27, 2017
I can honestly say I'm relieved to be finished this book. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fun to read either. I love fairy tales - of all kinds - and there was just something about the writing in this that made me not enjoy these at all. It says at the end of the book that the stories were "lightly adapted" from the original tales; I think they would have fared better in their original texts because they felt so odd and boring it was hard to read. Sure, the book is pretty - but it needs good content as well, and this just didn't cut it for me.
Shelved as 'dnf'
December 9, 2020DNF after 3 stories...
June 8, 2018
“…he looked down and saw a little man in a three-cornered hat, bound all about with gold lace, and with great silver buckles on his shoes, which were so big it was a wonder he could wear them. He held out a glass as big as himself…”
April 30, 2023
I enjoyed this much more than The Brothers Grimm. And yet, I’m still very happy with how far we’ve come with story telling.
August 14, 2023
This has one of the most interesting Rumplestiltzkin variants I've ever read, where the heroine actually does what she promises and everything turns out well for everyone. Shocking, I know.
May 18, 2023
I couldn't finish this. Somehow I found it un-engaging and flat. An earlier review mentioned "boring" and I'd say that's right.
I suppose in trying to simplify the stories for presentation, all excitement within the plots and the words that should be used to illustrate and make things entertaining got sucked out. The presentation seemed devoid of entertainment. In other words: robotic and monotonous. Indeed, boring.
I was initially drawn to the illustrations and will say that graphically the book seemed decent - but that’s not enough. I wanted to like the book more.
I can appreciate the idea of these geographically selected "fairytales" and I liked the idea of this multi-collection. (Another reason I was initially drawn to the book.) So I can appreciate it in theory...
However as I tried to read this book it made me question why the particular stories were picked instead of others: Was it dry because of the presentation or was it due to the selection as well?
To cap things off, the ratio of stories per geographic background was quite skewered as there were multiple selections from Scotland for example, but then only one from Wales. Why?
I felt I questioned the judgement of the author & publisher over the entire presentation of these stories.
Borrow from the library if you wish, but don't waste money on this collection.
I suppose in trying to simplify the stories for presentation, all excitement within the plots and the words that should be used to illustrate and make things entertaining got sucked out. The presentation seemed devoid of entertainment. In other words: robotic and monotonous. Indeed, boring.
I was initially drawn to the illustrations and will say that graphically the book seemed decent - but that’s not enough. I wanted to like the book more.
I can appreciate the idea of these geographically selected "fairytales" and I liked the idea of this multi-collection. (Another reason I was initially drawn to the book.) So I can appreciate it in theory...
However as I tried to read this book it made me question why the particular stories were picked instead of others: Was it dry because of the presentation or was it due to the selection as well?
To cap things off, the ratio of stories per geographic background was quite skewered as there were multiple selections from Scotland for example, but then only one from Wales. Why?
I felt I questioned the judgement of the author & publisher over the entire presentation of these stories.
Borrow from the library if you wish, but don't waste money on this collection.
April 2, 2018
The beautiful illustrations drew me into picking this up and the fact that I am not familiar with many of these tales. They read like the more well-common fairy tales and legends we know like Grimm's fairy tales and Aesop's fables, and like those, they center around poor people tempting fate to seek their fortune, and amusingly, the Irish fairy tales tended to involve heavy drinking that either got them in trouble, or in the case of The Soul Cages, allowed the hero to release the souls of drowned sailors after getting the Coomara ridiculously wasted.
It was a fun read, especially if you like the classics. I just felt as it being a modern update, there was an opportunity to expand on the story-telling and describe the fantastical creatures a bit more.
It was a fun read, especially if you like the classics. I just felt as it being a modern update, there was an opportunity to expand on the story-telling and describe the fantastical creatures a bit more.
February 7, 2017
This book is absolutely gorgeous. I'd want to own it just for the cover and illustrations. The fairy tales are interesting too, and full of Celtic terms and creatures I wasn't familiar with. Not being familiar with Celtic fairy tales, I don't know, but I suspect that these stories have been softened a little. No suffering here. Just happy endings and lessons in kindness and generosity learned. I wish there was a little more bite to the stories, but it's still a worthwhile book!
October 27, 2021
1st time. A great collection of Celtic fairytales! Some were familiar to me and some were new. The accompanying pictures are beautiful as well. Loved the use of Celtic names and words. Be sure to look up how to pronounce them if you ever intend to read it aloud
Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews