Lore of the Stars: Folklore & Wisdom From the Skies Above
Claire Cock-Starkey and Hannah Bess Ross
Wide Eyed Editions

Alluringly presented, and full of fascinating tales and ancient wisdom, this latest in the Lore of series is divided into six sections: The Sky, The Sun, The Moon, The Stars, Planets, Comets and Shooting Stars and finally, The Cosmos.

Each section begins with a traditional story, the first being a Nigerian tale that attempts to account for ‘Why the Sky is So Far Away’ and the other spreads offer a mix of factual snippets and mythological paragraphs pertaining to the section’s theme such as gods and goddesses. I am familiar with the Hindi word for rainbow, Indradhanush so was interested to see Indra included on the Rainbows spread, indeed that is the only spread where I was familiar with all the mythology presented.

It’s pleasing to learn, through brief anecdotes scattered between the vibrant visual images, how different cultures viewed the same plants, animals and other natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset,

the constellations, as well as augury and aeromancy. However my favourite part of each section is definitely its two page opening story and in this book the Greek myth, the Indian Santal folktale,

the indigenous American tale, the Masai tale and the Visayan Philippine tale were all new to me and a pleasure to read to children.

For school and home collections.