Amanda Walsh (1) (1966–)

A sailing ship comes upon a host of sinister sounds when it approaches the edge of the Frozen Sea in this original fairy-tale from Australian author/artist Amanda Walsh. The captain of the ship explains that a terrible battle was fought in this area a year before, and that the sounds of that calamity, frozen since that time, are now thawing out. Realizing that there is nothing to be frightened of, the people begin playing with the sounds, the children even attempting to eat them. Eventually, when they have all melted together, the ship sails on, leaving peace behind it...

Until picking up The Mysterious Hubbub, I had been under the impression that the only one of Amanda Walsh's titles to be published in the United States was The Buried Moon, in 1991, but apparently this one was also published here, the year before. In any case, I found her story in this one decidedly odd. The playful tone, once the people realized they weren't in danger, struck me as somehow oblivious, given the tragedy of what went before. Does one visit a battlefield, or the site of some atrocity, and throw a party? On the other hand, there were aspects to this tale that I found very creative. The way in which the sound-words could be seen - they were represented in color, visually, against a backdrop of black and white illustrations - and the children's evident desire to eat them, given their candy-like appearance, reminded me of scenes from Norton Juster's classic fantasy novel, The Phantom Tollbooth, in which Milo buys edible letters from the market. I also liked the general idea of the story - the echoes of the past being frozen, and then suddenly thawing, when people came near - even if the execution was a little uneven. I think Walsh had a good idea here, but somehow didn't quite bring it to life. I'd recommend this one chiefly to picture-book readers looking for quirky, obscure titles with a creative premise.… (mer)

Egrin the kindly wizard returns in this third picture-book devoted to his adventures from Australian author/illustrator Amanda Walsh, following upon Egrin and the Painted Wizard and Egrin and the Wicked Witch. When Egrin finds he is lacking the flour he needs to bake a birthday cake for his celebration on the following day, Cat and Bird set out to find the missing ingredient, eventually making their way to the home of a forest troll. This hungry individual decides to trick the animals and their wizard friend, putting some sleeping berries in the flour he gives them. His plot to kidnap and cook some of the celebrants at Egrin's birthday celebration is foiled by his own hunger however, as he too eats some of the cake and falls asleep. When Egrin and the animals discover the plot, they imprison the troll, but is this the end for this ever-hungry wrongdoer...?

I enjoyed Egrin and the Hungry Troll best, out of the three picture-book devoted to his doings, perhaps because our wizard hero seems the least hapless here, or perhaps because the eponymous troll is the first adversary in this series who is reformed, making for a pleasant switch from the preceding two titles. Whatever the case might be, I found the story entertaining, and the illustrations amusing. As with the previous titles, the artwork is done in black and white - ink drawings, I suspect - with color accents here and there. This entire series languished on my to-read shelf for close to a decade, as the books, originally published in Australia from 1972 through 1988, are rather difficult to come by. Fortunately, I recently discovered that they were available digitally, through Apple Books, and I purchased all three. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed the other books about Egrin, and to picture-book readers who like stories about magic and magic-makers.… (mer)

Egrin the wizard returns in this follow-up to his initial adventure, chronicled in Egrin and the Painted Wizard, this time confronting a very wicked witch. Opening a box marked "Wicked Witch - Not To Be Opened - Ever!," our wizard hero find his house taken over by the freed witch, who transforms everything nice into something nasty. Fleeing to the nearby forest, Egrin is comforted by his animal friends, who decide that it is up to them to rout the witch and restore their favorite wizard to his home...

I couldn't help but chuckle when the hapless Egrin just opens the box, despite the warning written upon it. Described as a kindhearted wizard, he seems almost too kind, just giving up his house, rather than attempting to evict the witch on his own. Despite that, I found that I enjoyed Egrin and the Wicked Witch more than its predecessor, most likely because I went into it aware of the fact that Amanda Walsh's illustrative style here is quite different from that in The Buried Moon, which I have always loved. Armed with that knowledge, I was better able to appreciate the artwork here, done in black and white, with the occasional colorful flourish. I also found the story more appealing, amused by Egrin's flight and by the witch's horror, when all of her attempts to work evil only produce good, thanks to the animals' actions, in switching her wand and ingredients with those of Egrin. Recommended to picture-book readers who enjoy stories of magic and magic-makers.… (mer)

Australian children's author and artist Amanda Walsh retells a traditional English folktale in this gorgeous picture-book, which is as eerie as it is beautiful. Set in the Fens, a marshy coastal plain in the eastern English counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, the story concerns a dangerous bog where the Hidden Folk - Bogles, Dead Things and Night Demons - like to lure unwary travelers to their deaths in the dark of night. Only when the moon is shining can travelers safely traverse the bog. Becoming aware of this, the moon comes down to investigate, in the form of a luminous woman in a hooded cloak, and is tricked and trapped by the Hidden Folk. With the moon now missing from the sky, the bog becomes ever more dangerous for humans, until some local villagers, consulting their Wise Old Woman, set out to rescue their heavenly friend, now buried in the marsh...

The story retold in The Buried Moon was first published in Joseph Jacobs' 1893 More English Fairy Tales, and was collected in the North Lincolnshire Carrs - the 'Carrlands' is the local Lincolnshire term for the Fens, and is related to the Danish word kjarr, meaning marshlands - in the Ancholme Valley. It is apparently one of many unusual and eerie tales from this region. I'm not sure why Walsh omitted any reference to the source material here, but leaving aside that one flaw - and I do consider it a major flaw, in folkloric retellings, to have no attribution or discussion of cultural and geographic background - this was an outstanding picture-book. The story itself is engrossing, fascinating and frightening in equal measure, and the artwork is simply breathtaking, managing to be both beautiful and disturbing. The pages are black, with each scene depicted in a light blue, with a modest use of other colors, in the details. The pages almost look like they have decorative borders, created with the twining vines and creepers from the marsh being depicted, and there are frequently frightening little creatures embedded in those vines. This is just a wonderful retelling, capturing both the beauty and the fearsomeness of its subject matter, and its geographic location. Highly recommended to all folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone who appreciates lovely, unusual picture-book art.… (mer)