The Candlemaker and Other Tales - Hardcover

Forrester, Victoria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689310137 ISBN 13: 9780689310133

Publisher: Atheneum, 1984

Synopsis

Four original tales written by Victoria Forrester and illustrated by Susan Seddon Boulet.
For all ages.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

VICTORIA FORRESTER SAYS:
When I was a girl of perhaps fifteen, I began to realize that liking to write poetry made one a bit different.  I was as "horse crazy" as any girl my age; the difference was that my horse had wings and couldn't be saddled except in my dreams.
  A few years later, at the university, I majored in English.  Most of the classes were interesting but a bit dry. Not so, the course taught by Frances Clarke Sayers; in it we read fantasy and fables, folk tales and fairy tales, and I was drawn to them as to a starry night.  I sensed that they grazed in the same pasture as my horse.
   I wondered if I would ever be lucky enough to make up a tale myself.  What I learned in the years that followed is that nobody can "make up" a tale, that only if you are very ready will a good story allow you to catch it.  And what does it mean to "be ready"?  Perhaps it means to wait with nothing but pure expectation and to listen for the sound of wings.

SUSAN SEDDON BOULET was born and spent her early years in Brazil.  She attended high school in Switzerland and had further education in Brazil and the United States.   She now lives with her son in California, where she is a fine artist.  This is the first picture book she has done.

From the Inside Flap:

There are four tales in all, all original.
   "The Candlemaker" tells of a man who makes candles for his village - all white - until he discovers that a mysterious vial, given to him by someone with whom he shared a candle, contains a substance that dyes candle wax glowing colors. The result: the candlemaker finds it hard to part with his lovely creations.
   In "The Two Bowls of Water" a father uses bowls of water and a difficult question to determine the proper husband for his beautiful daughter, for in their answers the suitors reveal their true selves.
   "The Crocodile with the Roller-Coaster Smile" has some very inconvenient habits and preferences, at least as far as his neighbors are concerned.  But with a little thought and and a few tricks, the crocodile's habits, and the crocodile himself, are changed.
   "The Butterfly with No Keys" is caught in the net of a boy who likes to keep things all to himself. When the butterfly gives the boy his dearest wish, the boy discovers that greed will not let him take best advantage of his good luck.
   These are stories that come out of a wise understanding of people.  They are good stories for reading and reading aloud, and good stories for remembering and thinking about.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0689310137
• ISBN 13: 9780689310133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 44
• Illustrator: Boulet Susan Seddon