Tales of Wonder and Magic

Tales of Wonder and Magic is an anthology of magic stories from around the world. Beautifully illustrated by Juan Wijngaard.

Sadly, Tales of Wonder and Magic is no longer available, although you may be able to find secondhand copies on Amazon or elsewhere.

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A magic story casts a spell on the reader, so they can’t get it out of their dreams.

  • The Girl from Llyn Y Fan Fach (Wales, told by T Llew Jones, translated by Gillian Clarke)
  • Chura and Marwe (Africa, told by Humphrey Harman)
  • The Bogles and the Moon (England, told by Kenneth McLeish)
  • Tamlane (Scotland, told by Winifred Finlay) • The Boy of the Red Twilight Sky (Canada, told by Cyrus MacMillan)
  • The People Could Fly (American Black story told by Virginia Hamilton)
  • The Black Bull of Norroway (Ireland, told by Kenneth McLeish)
  • Mirragen the Cat-Man (Australian Aboriginal told by AW Reed)
  • The Girl Who Couldn’t Walk (Original story by Berlie Doherty)
  • The Woman of the Sea (Shetland Islands, told by Helen Waddell)

Foreign editions

Tales of Wonder and Magic was also published in Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.

I read hundreds of stories before making the selections for this anthology. Often I read several versions of the same story before I chose the one that I liked best. I was looking for stories that were powerfully told and beautifully written. It was a surprise to me that Walker Books wanted me to include a story of my own, not a retelling, but an original story. I wrote one that I thought had some of the elements of folk and fairy stories. The artist Juan Wijngaard has produced stunning illustrations for the book.

Writing tip

If you read The Girl Who Couldn’t Walk you could try to see what I think some of the elements of folk and fairy stories are. Maybe you could write a story of your own based on what you think they might be.

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