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ATDrake · 08-27-2014, 12:12 PM

Free from the author (who has been print-published by Atheneum and others for these retold traditional folktales since the 90s) via KDP Select @ Amazon:

The Songs of Power: A Northern Tale of Magic by Aaron Shepard, a children's story based on the Finnish mythological epic poem The Kalevala*, originally hardcovered from Skyhook Press (this seems to be a self-pub setup name, but he also has an official Simon & Schuster author page for his other books as well) in 2007.

Not so long ago, in the tiny, isolated villages of Finland, where prolonged summer days gave way to endless winter nights, people would pass the time by singing the many adventures of their favorite heroes: the mighty, magical men and women of ancient days.

They sang of old Vainamoinen, greatest of sages and magicians, who helped create the world but never could find a woman to wed him. They sang of his friend and ally Ilmarinen, first among craftsmen, the blacksmith who forged the dome of the heavens.

They sang of Louhi, the ancient lady of Northland, whose crafty wit and magical powers made her a worthy opponent for Vainamoinen himself. And they sang of Aila, Louhi's lovely daughter, who captured the hopes of the two old friends and drew them as rivals to the shores of Northland.

And while these songs could still be heard, there came along a rural doctor, a scholar, who gathered and wove them together in a book he called the Kalevala. And so he created for Finns a national epic, and for the rest of the world, a work of wonder.

The songs endure, the heroes live. . . .

For ages 10 and up. Not illustrated!

There's also a children's picture book of more recent vintage by him and illustrator Wendy Edelson about the WWI Christmas Truce (which incidentally has an excellent multilingual feature film on the subject), if anyone's interested: Christmas Truce @ B&N, Amazon, Kobo, iTunes

* Well, maybe not actually technically based on Lönnrot's version of the legends even though it seems to feature him, but still probably influenced by it the way that nearly all modern retellings of the Welsh legends probably crib heavily from Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion compilation, as being the popularizing source document for most people's familiarity with the myths at all.

08-27-2014, 12:12 PM	#12
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free from the author (who has been print-published by Atheneum and others for these retold traditional folktales since the 90s) via KDP Select @ Amazon: The Songs of Power: A Northern Tale of Magic by Aaron Shepard, a children's story based on the Finnish mythological epic poem The Kalevala, originally hardcovered from Skyhook Press (this seems to be a self-pub setup name, but he also has an official Simon & Schuster author page for his other books as well) in 2007. Not so long ago, in the tiny, isolated villages of Finland, where prolonged summer days gave way to endless winter nights, people would pass the time by singing the many adventures of their favorite heroes: the mighty, magical men and women of ancient days. They sang of old Vainamoinen, greatest of sages and magicians, who helped create the world but never could find a woman to wed him. They sang of his friend and ally Ilmarinen, first among craftsmen, the blacksmith who forged the dome of the heavens. They sang of Louhi, the ancient lady of Northland, whose crafty wit and magical powers made her a worthy opponent for Vainamoinen himself. And they sang of Aila, Louhi's lovely daughter, who captured the hopes of the two old friends and drew them as rivals to the shores of Northland. And while these songs could still be heard, there came along a rural doctor, a scholar, who gathered and wove them together in a book he called the Kalevala. And so he created for Finns a national epic, and for the rest of the world, a work of wonder. The songs endure, the heroes live. . . . For ages 10 and up. Not illustrated! There's also a children's picture book of more recent vintage by him and illustrator Wendy Edelson about the WWI Christmas Truce (which incidentally has an excellent multilingual feature film on the subject), if anyone's interested: Christmas Truce* @ B&N, Amazon, Kobo, iTunes * Well, maybe not actually technically based on Lönnrot's version of the legends even though it seems to feature him, but still probably influenced by it the way that nearly all modern retellings of the Welsh legends probably crib heavily from Lady Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion compilation, as being the popularizing source document for most people's familiarity with the myths at all. Last edited by ATDrake; 08-27-2014 at 12:23 PM. Reason: Also found at other stores. For one of them, anyway.