12 Days: Bronze Billy Goats Gruff Sculpture

OK - I'm kidding about this being included in the "12 Days" posts, but as I started with a pricey - but gorgeous - piece (a fairy tale weathervane), I thought I'd finish with something even more extravagant:

A $10, 000 (that's not a typo) bronze sculpture of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and their lurking nemesis, the Troll under the bridge.

It's 2'6'' x 2'2" x 2'2" so you'll need either a large (and very sturdy) table in a large house, or the perfect spot in your fairly large garden. Personally, I think this should be somewhere public where we can all enjoy it!

You can find more details about it HERE. Merry shopping!

12 Days: Classic Storytime Felt Character Patterns

The 12 Days of [Gifts Before] Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Holiday continues...

In contrast to yesterday's expensive item, today I bring you something very affordable and perfect for crafty people on either the giving or receiving end.

Buggabug's Etsy shop sells lovely little patterns and instructions for a variety of things, including some storytime sets.I love the Billy Goats Gruff set in particular, even though it doesn't fold up for self-contained storage like many of the others. Each set is only $6 and you have the choice of buying the patterns and instructions (and perhaps the supplies) to give to someone, or if you're crafty yourself, you can make these sets for a handmade gift.For the “There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly…” pattern:

The animals are designed to easily slip into the old woman’s mouth as the story is told. When story time is over, the animals stay stored inside the tummy of the old woman for safe and organized storage.

Cute!

You can see all the sets available HERE.

NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)

Don't forget the "Pursuit of Happiness" Giveaway!

Entries close December 20th, so be sure to mails me before then.
Details for the giveaway are HERE and the wonderful London Particulars (who are making this giveaway possible through their generosity) can be found HERE.

Creator Nick Percival Talks About His Dark Steampunk Comic "Legends: The Enchanted"

I posted on this coming-in-2010 comic HERE last week and, seeing as there was quite a bit of interest between comments and Twitter, I thought I'd point you to an excellent interview with the creator Nick Percival.

In the interview with Comic Book Resources, he reveals more about the fairy tale characters he's using and how they've been given a new twist. Here's an excerpt from the long, informative and interesting article:

"The Enchanted are looked upon with fear and distrust by normal everyday folk and despised by their dark counterparts, known as The Wicked," says Percival. "Most of the Enchanted operate as vigilantes, outlaws, bounty hunters and so on - trying to find their place and purpose in a land that is growing increasingly hostile towards them. Armed with a hard attitude, unique abilities and customized weaponry, the Enchanted's world is shattered when they discover that some unknown enemy has found a way to break through their mystic immortality and begins slaughtering them one by one beginning with the killing of the half bionic/half wooden warrior, Pinocchio."

Nick Percival: We've got Red Hood, who lives with her daughter in a very dangerous place known as the Bionic Woodlands - this area is overgrown with spiked bio-mechanical trees and living, organic plant life, populated by mutated wolf creatures. Basically, she just wants to be left alone and raise her child, but the murder of Pinocchio and the kidnapping of her daughter force her to reluctantly seek out help from other Enchanted.

Jack the Giantkiller pretty much just looks out for himself. He's sly, likes to drink and burns around on a beast of motorcycle that uses Giant's blood as fuel. Jack acts as a kind of "creature killer for hire." For the right price, he'll sort out any towns terrorized by Ogre problems, which he usually solves by popping one of his "magic beans" that grant him cool powers for a limited amount of time as he starts cracking heads together.

Filling out the rest of the cast are psychic siblings, Hansel and Gretel (Paranormal Exterminators), Goldilox and Bear, her nine-foot half man/half bear boyfriend. They have a "rob the rich to give to the poor" type quest, which involves them coming up against the crime boss, Humpty Dumpty and the Billy Goats Gruff Biker Gang - it doesn't end quietly.

Amongst these, we've got cameos from Rapunzel, a soldier with unbreakable hair that she uses to attack her enemies, Miss Muffet, Rumpelstiltskin, Pied Piper, Jack Nimble and many others all depicted in the same gritty style with attitudes to match in a world filled with goth-type giants, vampire fairies, pissed off trolls, demon street gangs, and all manner of unsavory folk.


Do you have a favorite fairy tale or fable?

I have a lot of versions of the classic tales that the Brothers Grimm collected together, some great old German editions as well. I've also been heavily into Hans Christian Andersen's work, so there are way too many to choose from. But a lot of the ancient Russian folklore is fascinating, and there are some themes in that material that I'm thinking about including in later stories for "Legends: The Enchanted."

You can read the entire article HERE and see LOTS of (very gory) images throughout (which can be viewed larger by clicking).

All the details of the website, when it's available and the preview are in my previous post HERE. A warning again: please keep this away from children. This is dark stuff and definitely in the horror genre. All these new images severely cropped for posting purposes on this blog. If you can deal with the images though (the illustrations are amazing in addition to being ultra-gory), this comic and the developing story sounds like it's worth checking out.

Zelinsky's Rapunzel & Other Award Winning Fairy Tale Picture Books on DVD

In May this year, Scholastic released a lovely collection of beautifully illustrated fairy tales on DVD with a stellar cast of narrators to complement.

All of the books contained in the volume are illustrated by award winners.

Here are the descriptions from Amazon.com:

RAPUNZEL (Retold and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, narrated by TK) A unique retelling of the story of Rapunzel, the girl with the long, golden hair.THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER (Retold and illustrated by Jim LaMarche, narrated by Patrick Stewart) A pair of elves secretly create an amazing pair of shoes for a poor but kindly shoemaker.THE TALKING EGGS (Written by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, narrated by Danny Glover) When a young girl befriends a mysterious elderly woman, magical things happen.THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF (Retold by P. C. Asbjornsen and J. E. Moe, illustrated by Marcia Brown, narrated by TK) Follow the adventures of three billy goats named Gruff as they bravely hunt for fresh green grass to eat.LON PO PO: A RED RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA (Written and illustrated by Ed Young, narrated by B. D. Wong) This Asian version of the classic fairytale brings lessons about strangers, trust and courage.PRINCESS FURBALL (Retold by Charlott Huck, illustrated by Anita Lobel, narrated by TK) A king falls in love with a princess after she hides her identity under a coat made of a thousand furs.This looks like a lovely collection. If anyone has seen the DVD please do let us know how the presentation comes across.

You can click HERE to see more details.