Tales from the Isle of Spice
by Richardo Keens-Douglas
illustrated by Sylvie Bourbonniere
Three magical tales from a legendary storyteller.
Enter the richly magical world of Tales from the Isle of Spice and visit a bottomless lake where an enchanted princess lives. Try your luck against the sinister woman who walks in moonlight stalking souls. Catch a glimpse of the mysterious boy with an angelic face whose scarred body hides beneath the waves.
Tales from the Isle of Spice features three beloved stories retold for middle readers: The Nutmeg Princess, La Diablesse and the Baby and Freedom Child of the Sea.
Complete with luscious new illustrations, and alive with charm, Tales from the Isle of Spice is a journey to the heart of a child's imagination.
close this panelRichardo Keens-Douglas is an award-winning actor, playwright, author, and storyteller. His works for children have appeared on the American Bookseller's Pick of the Lists and earned a Storytelling World Honor Award. He is the host of the Caribbean Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Sylvie Bourbonnière is the award-winning illustrator of several books for children. In 2003, her Dreams Songs Night Songs series received a Parent's Choice Award.
close this panelAppealing... folksy black and white illustrations... provide a magical quality... Reluctant readers might also enjoy this book, as the stories are short but captivating.
Readers tired of the bland, blond beauties in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and craving more complexity than The Ugly Duckling offers will find welcome relief in Tales from the Isle of Spice, a collection of three of Richardo Keens-Douglas's previously published Caribbean folk tales. These are tales of a different tradition. The stories are straightforward in the telling, but mask so much more. Under each tale lies an undercurrent of a primitive magic in the person of an old obeah woman or witch, whose laugh "filled the air like earthy thunder," or in the sinister appearance of La Diablesse, who steals babies from weary and unwary mothers. Short as they are, these little stories are in no way bereft of descriptive detail, carefully chosen to evoke the exotic warmth and colour that is the Isle of Spice. Highly Recommended.
