Spark Catchers
In the face of the life’s challenges and conflicts, how do we keep faith in goodness? “Spark Catchers” offers five stories about young or little characters who are put to the test.
1. The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle (England): A fairy helps a sour little lady until her ingratitude finally drives the fairy away.
2. The Little Man No Bigger Than Your Thumb With Mustaches Seven Miles Long (Russia): A terrible, tiny bully steals two beloved princesses. Their younger brother uses his wits and a magic harp to free them.
3. Marushka and the Twelve Months (Romania): A sweet, hard-working girl who is mistreated by her lazy stepsister finds twelve magical helpers in the snow.
4. Mollie Whuppie and the Big, Bad Giant (Wales): Spunky young Mollie Whuppie defeats a bully, rescues her two sisters, and secures happy futures for them all.
5. Psyche and Eros (Greece): A mortal princess risks life and limb to win back Eros, the god of love. Her devotion is rewarded with a spark of immortality-the first human soul.
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Copyrights © 2020 Beatrice Bowles
Excerpt from Little Man:
Long ago in Russia, in a green valley far from the ice blue sea, Queen Wiseheart gave birth to twin daughters. King Wiseheart was so happy that he named them Loveliness that Shines and Jewel Without a Price. But the king worried about protecting his daughters, so he built a high wall around the palace, then a higher one, and then a higher one still. And yet he still worried, so he hired seventy-seven indoor nurses, seventy-seven outdoor nurses, and seventy-seven guards to guard the walls.
One day, when Loveliness that Shines and Jewel without a Price were out picking flowers in the garden, a whirling cloud of shadow and light swept down and blinded the nurses and guards. When the whirlwind vanished, so had the princesses. Queen and King Wiseheart grieved day and night. Fiddle and flute fell silent. Every day felt like winter.
Carla – Age 9 (Berkeley, CA)
“I love Beatrice’s voices, Sara’s music, and that you learn so much about nature.”
“Standing up to a bully or outwitting bigger, meaner characters takes courage. These stories will spark your spirit with confidence in ways that may surprise you. Each tale offers a secret about how the heart’s power to win magical assistance from nature can defeat cruel or unfair forces in life. Laugh, shiver and enjoy.” ~ Beatrice Bowles