The Eel Question

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Mae chwilfrydedd Nant yn ei harwain i drafferth yn gyson! Weithiau, mae hi'n dysgu i beidio holi cwestiynau, ond bob hydref, pan fo'r llyswennod arian yn dychwelyd, mae Nant yn llawn cwestiynau. O ble maen nhw'n dod? I ble maen nhw'n mynd? Dyma un o straeon gwerin cyfoes, darluniadol Nicola Davies.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

Bound to serve a cruel master, Nant's curiosity never fails to get her into trouble. Some questions she has learned it is best not to ask, but every autumn the silver eels return and so do her questions. Where do they come from? And where do they go? One in a series of illustrated contemporary folk tales by Nicola Davies.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

In-stock items will be dispatched within 3 business days, usually by Royal Mail Tracked 48. For pre-orders, we’ll dispatch within 3 business days of receiving the item from our supplier.

Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

Key Stage: KS2 Subject area: Health and Wellbeing Key themes: Myth and legend, loneliness and trust Nicola is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include The Promise (Green Earth Book Award 2015, Greenaway Shortlist 2015), Tiny (AAAS Subaru Prize 2015), and A First Book of Nature . She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Underlying all Nicola's writing is the belief that a relationship with nature is essential to every human being, and that now, more than ever, we need to renew that relationship.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

“One in a series of tales that explore the deeper, darker side of our connection with the natural world. Be ready to feel a little bit of magic, and perhaps a few shivers down the spine,” the back cover promises its readers. This is a story about the power of the sea. Two of the fishermen brothers are found in the opening pages eating and drinking in ‘old Mother Cary’s place, The Butter Knife’. This might well spell trouble, for as every well-read sailor knows, Mother Carey (or Cary) is a supernatural figure who personifies the cruel and dangerous sea, upon which his livelihood depends. And trouble there is – for out of the night appears a swanky car ‘with paint as pale and neat as a scallop shell’, and out of this low-slung car appears a tall ancient man,‘with eyes ‘blue-green, like a backlit wave’. He brings a warning, and advice to Keenan, the third and youngest brother in this tale with its traditional twists. For here we have a quest motif. Here we meet three brothers, so often found in fairy tales (the youngest being the most sensible, as always). Here we find, not exactly three wishes, but certainly three objects to take on the seafaring quest, objects which we know must be useful, or necessary for the drama to unfold. The theft of the butter-knife from Mother Carey’s pub, to equate with the silver sword needed, heightens the tension, and sets the dangerous journey moving. What happens subsequently the reader must find out by reading – but it’s unexpected, unpredictable as the sea itself, with an unusual twist of young romance – a strange happily-ever-after ending. The haunting illustrations, in a restricted palette of sea-green watercolour, do in this instance work well. The endpages in particular, which betray the mood of the story in the faces of the three brothers, will capture the imagination, and the frequent double-spreads should prove great talking points for young readers sharing the book with others. The cover itself is somewhat confusing, however – the face doesn’t match the story, which brings to mind that old adage, that you can’t judge a book by its cover!