Showing posts with label seasonal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seasonal. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Winter Solstice 2020: The Wonder-Filled Time of the Year

by Kristen Gould

Happy Winter Solstice 2020! We've made it this far and not long to go till we get a whole new year... 2020 is a little extra special (yes, that too but this is a good thing, we promise), in that this year we have the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the sky, creating the phenomena called The Bethlehem Star, which was able to be seen in the US after sunset, as well as a shower of shooting stars (meteor shower) that is due to begin being observed just after midnight.

We won't go into the meteorological phenomena or the debate over what all these might mean, although do look up what Chile could see for the conjunction - wow. Instead, we want to acknowledge the beginning of the Yuletide Season, and, even though it's not suitably cold where we are yet, the beginning of our beloved Winter. (Autumn is a close second, we will admit - nature's paintbrush gets pretty showy in areas that have seasons, and there's nothing quite like it, but that quote below about Winter, explains a lot of why we love this season - plus the mix of dark and light magic potential, combined with the season of traditional storytelling: we are Winter Folk!)
Regarding the beautiful illustration at the head of this post, it was created by Kristen Gould during #FolktaleWeek2020, specifically for the prompt "solstice". While there are snippets of the tale/lore about the Oak King and the Holly King at war appearing during this time of year, we don't see many versions of the whole tale and there is only one (possibly two), picture books available detailing the tale in full to read to children. (Note: at the link an author, reads her story, showing pictures from her children's book - she begins at the 3 minute mark of a recorded live session.) It used to be common to see Oak and Holly Kings referenced symbolically in Christmas postcards, if not taking front and center, but the tale behind these images is largely forgotten. If it weren't for the popularity of the song "The Holly and the Ivy" (which overtly references a medieval Christian symbolism, while echoing an older Celtic belief in the Holly King) it might even be more obscure, so it's wonderful to see, now people are exploring more Solstice celebrations alongside Chritsmas traditions, that folks are discovering and remembering this tale of the changing of the seasons and the exploration of the "enchanted" forces of Nature, and to be creating new and wonderful images. We don't think we have seen the two-halves, or yin-yang, aspect of Holly and Ivy illustrated this way before but it makes such an excellent visual for explaining why the tale survives and has resonance. What's interesting to us, though, is that this War, or struggle, or contest - however it's portrayed - usually between two brothers (sometimes two men, or one man transforming through the year, or twins), rarely is thought about at any time other than when the Holly King is at full strength, ie. the beginning of the Yuletide Season, which is the Winter Solstice. Though the brothers "share" the year, it's only when Winter arrives that this tale is usually told. Perhaps obviously, this harks back to when Winters were more difficult to survive and how it was used as a reminder of hope for when the nights would no longer continue growing colder, but anticipate the arrival of Spring and new life, new growth and easier living.

Here's what Kristen wrote about her illustration:
I chose the ancient Celtic belief in the Holly King (the spirit of winter) and the Oak King (the spirit of summer) as my inspiration. It is said that they are forever entwined in battle with one another as the seasons change each year. There is a duality to this so-called battle, for while they oppose one another, they are still two parts of a whole and work in sync with one another to create the solar and harvest cycles. During the winter, the Holly King reigns, bringing transformation and new birth. The winter solstice is the marked return of the Oak King. On this day, the light is reborn.// I liked the idea of the two spirits being two parts of a whole forever entwined. This one also began as a traditional piece and then very quickly became mostly digital.
Oak King and Holly King - by Anne Stokes
"The light is reborn" is a direct reference to the Winter Solstice having the day with the fewest hours of daylight. Even though the Winter season/Yuletide, has just begun and the coldest days and nights are ahead, the daylight hours now start to get longer (think of the Oak King being reborn right at this time and getting larger and larger), until the longer light finally warms up the world again (in that hemisphere) and the seasons turn toward Spring and Summer. 

Here are some thoughts from writer, poet and artist Nellie Cole on the representation of the two Kings:

The Oak King, often represented as having a crown of oak leaves and acorns and dressed all in green, can be seen as comparable to the figure of The Green Man. The Green Man, like The Oak King, was seen as a figure of fertility, and is most commonly depicted as having a face made from sprouting oak leaves. This image of metamorphosis – from man into tree, or tree into man? – could tie in to the notion that the two Kings are the same being, transforming from one into the other.

The Holly King is likewise said to wear a crown of holly leaves and berries, dress in red, and sometimes as being accompanied by eight stags. This of course could arise from the belief that the Kings are aspects of The Horned God. But it also be connected to other figures, such as the Norse god Odin on his eight-legged steed, or Santa Claus and his eight reindeer (before the more modern inclusion of Rudolph). Due to Santa’s patchwork history, it is unlikely he is a direct descendant of The Holly King, despite his resemblances – though this could be another instance of comparative mythology at play.

Kristen Gould's "Solstice", reversed, to better see the Oak King
The dominance of Christmas over other Winter celebrations in the Western world displays an abundance of multi-cultural absorption (and sometimes outright appropriation) of motifs, rituals and practices from other celebrations and religions, (much of it Pagan) so Christmas is a veritable mish-mash of ideas under one narrowly-defined name; something which unfortunately has resulted in misrepresenting many cultures, traditions and people as a result (hence the swing toward the neutral "Happy Holidays"). Whether or not the miraculous-magical Santa/St. Nick and all the associated Christmas trees, gifts, cookies, reindeer, elves, stars, carols and more, come directly (or indirectly) from shared sources (Pagan, Germanic, Celtic, Norwegian and more) or are relatively new, only serves to emphasize the global tendency - perhaps even the "need" - to mark the season with a certain importance in our yearly lives. It reminds us to live, and to keep investing in puposeful living.

The representation of Holly and Ivy has always been an intresting juxtaposition for this concept of living purposefully. Even as Winter gets more severe, there is a strong sign - the lengthening daylight hours - that signals this is a temporary state. Perhaps because of the severity of cold and darkness and the unique challenges of Winter, this almost-magical transformation of seasons is noticed by most everyone, which in turn adds to the awareness of magic and magical possibilities at this time of year. It's a season which promises the possibility of new beginnings.
And it really is magical at this time of year. What began in October with a sense of Other in Halloween/Samhain, continues with different emphasis for a solid three months. We go from thoughts of the supernatural, dealing with our fears and acknowledging our ancestors, to rituals for (ideally) strengthening family bonding through Harvest (and Thanksgiving in the US), to a years-end transformative feast  - full of decorations, dress-ups, special foods, songs and films - that includes charity and gifting to extend the "circle of warmth" to include our fellow man (and often creatures) for holiday/Yule/Christmas celebrations, which then take us into a whole New Year, full of wishes, resolutions (and for this year, the promise of vaccines and the beginning of the end of this hideous pandemic) and resolve that this new year will be nothing like the last one. (PLEASE!) That's a pretty full quarter of the year to be focused on rituals of wonder, Other and magic! 

There really is something transformative about this time of year - even if you hate it. When everyone around you is decorating - even if it's obviously commercial - and people are ritualistically wishing you wellness and joy, there is a communal agreement to make this season unusual, different, and everyone's participation (or active resistance) makes not-normal happen, (decorated trees, twinkling night lights even in the most rundown of places, people giving selflessly to complete strangers, and more - even extreme negative behavior of bah-humbugs are part of the ritual!), which is another way of saying people -together- are making magic possible. Perhaps you won't get to talk to the Jolly Old Elf himself, but it certainly feels like you've been magically deputized by the Spirit of the Season when you pay attention to what your efforts produce. It's a very wonderfully-weird and awesome thing, demonstrating our ability to create Wonder too. This season, if nothing else, reminds you to be aware of the Wonder around you, and the potential of Wonder within you. It is even said that Winter is Wonder Season. 

What could be more fairy tale than that?

Happy Winter Solstice and Wonder Season
from all of us at Once Upon A Blog news headquarters.
Solstice by Kristen Gould
You can find more of Kristen's work on her website Enchanted Studio Co and Instagram - see below

Kristen Gould on the Web:
Instagram: @notkristen

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with 'Dragon Dancer'! - Interview with author Joyce Chng

Joyce Chng is a Chinese-Singaporean author who is passionate about diversity in publishing, particularly children's fiction, werewolves (especially when spotted in urban Singapore and space), and damn good writing, no matter where in the world it's written. 

She has also written a GORGEOUS tale for Lunar New Year with a touch of fantasy. 

Edit added Feb 5th: Take a look at the new book trailer below!

Isn't that stunning? But it's not just the illustrations that make this book special. The prose is so wonderful, reading aloud transforms the room you're in and takes you to a magical place. The illustrations support the story so well they seem to dance off the page. We love it here so much it's become a tradition to read it every Lunar New Year. 
Google doodle for 2019 Lunar New Year - produced by Elaine Zhu
This is actually part of an AI shadow puppet game you enjoy playing HERE.
The dragon, Shen Long (also the name of a spiritual dragon from Chinese mythology) is a character we all fell in love with instantly. The first time we read it, our youngest member spontaneously applauded at the end of the book! Now, older, he still looks forward to it, and requests multiple read-throughs, asking about all the various aspects of Lunar New Year traditions and what they mean, so we are doubly thrilled to be able to ask Joyce a few of his questions on celebrating Lunar New Year in Singapore, and add some questions of our own about her fairy and folktale influences and loves.


Note: all the illustrations for 'Dragon Dancer are by the amazing French artist Jeremy Pailler. You can find more of his work at his website HERE. In the meantime, enjoy a sampling of his work through this interview with the very gracious Joyce Chng.

~ * * * * * * * * ~
Thank you so much for taking time out of your celebrating to talk about 'Dragon Dancer' today Joyce.
JC: Thank you! I am honored to have this opportunity to talk about Dragon Dancer and Shen Long. :)

OUAB: Your writing is very atmospheric and truly dances through the descriptions and story. Having a strong dance background (albeit a different discipline), we were impressed by how much movement you evoked through your text! What was your inspiration? Have you ever been a lion dancer or apprenticed as one? (Could we have caught you acting out the movements as you wrote the text?) 
JC: I love lion and dragon dances. No, I am not a lion dancer nor was I apprenticed under a sifu. I just love the art form and the martial art behind it. I also watch a lot of lion and dragon dances. So I have theoretical knowledge, hehe. :)

OUAB: Is there a Chinese folktale or legend that the sky dragon, Shen Long, is based on?
JC: I don't know if there is a Chinese folklore or legend. But Chinese dragons are known to be benevolent and often are harbingers of great news. 
OUAB: Does Shen Long and Yao's dance describe a similar ritual to that which traditional lion dancers are enacting (seen more often in Western cities than the long dragon performance), or is it unique to dragon dances? (Do dragons also eat lettuces?)
JC: I think the dragon dance has its ritual though it overlaps with the lion dance. The dotting of the eyes symbolizes waking the dragon or lion. (They don't eat lettuce!)

OUAB: What else is included in the book (in words or illustrations) that represents other important cultural customs of a Lunar New Year celebration that people not familiar with the culture and symbolism would miss?
JC: The importance of family and the continuation of tradition. The mention of Yao's granddad. It's during Lunar New Year we also honour our elders (grandparents and parents).
OUAB: What Chinese fairy tales do you wish were better known around the world? (Any you're planning on retelling at some point? Hint, hint!)
JC: Chang' E flying to the moon. (Hopefully... One day...)

OUAB: What is your take on POC authors retelling popular fairy tales, such as Goldilocks, with a (for example) "Chinese twist"? 
JC: I think that's perfectly fine and awesome. That as POC and non-white folk, we view such tales with our own lens and perspectives. 
"I believe mythology and folklore gives us the space to re-myth or re-tell the story in our own terms."  Joyce Chng
OUAB: Apart from buying (and therefore supporting) tales retold by POC authors,  and reading them to diverse groups of kids, how do you suggest folk without an Asian heritage, who dearly love Chinese fairy tales and folktales can help tell and spread these tales? Any do's or don't's?
JC: Ah. I am grateful for the enormous appreciation and respect for Chinese fairy tales. Signal boost and highlight POC telling these stories. Let them tell them. And many of us have grown up in diverse backgrounds (many of us hail from the diaspora). So we bring many perspectives to the table.
OUAB: Are you ready for a lightning round - or should we call it a firecracker round - of questions?
JC: Yes please

OK - Go!

Two of your favorite folktales and/or fairy tales?  Chang'Er flying to the moon. Yang women generals.


Two favorite fairy tales/ folktales from any other culture?  The Firebird. The Little Mermaid.


Favorite Lunar New Year food?  Peng cai.


Favorite Lunar New Year custom?  Collecting red packets.

Favorite dragon ever? (After Shen Long of course!)  Draco from Dragonheart.

And... time!
Wow. What a lot of awesome insight you've given us here! 
Thank you so much for being with us today Joyce. 
Wishing you good luck, continuing success in your publishing and health for you and your family in the New Year!
~ * * * * * * * * ~

And readers, if you're wondering what any of these answers are referring to, let us wish you good google-fu as you do a little digging and discover for yourself. ;)
JUST A FEW OF MANY GLOWING REVIEWS:“A visually lush and stunning selection that is textually atmospheric and evocative. A fresh take on one of the most iconic symbols of Lunar New Year. Pailler’s intricate watercolor illustrations truly stand out. They gorgeously complement and elevate the text as Yao and the dragon slither and dance across page spreads and make striking use of white space. – Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA, for School Library Journal 
‘This is a book that celebrates the power of the imagination and the traditions of another culture. The illustrations waft darkly across the page, never revealing the whole picture but disclosing more the longer you look. The language is evocative and rich; it is a great book to read aloud. Together the illustrations and words compliment each other beautifully creating a dreamlike story that would also be an excellent educational springboard for exploring New Year festivities.’ – Seven StoriesNational Centre for Children’s Books 
‘I burst into tears the first time I read it, both when Yao and Shen Long triumph over bad luck, and when Shen Long, as both ancient sky dragon and grandfather, expresses his pride in Yao’s dance. This is exactly the kind of story that I wish I had been able to read to my children, but it’s just as powerful to me as an adult.’ – Jen Zink, Hugo award-winning podcast The Skiffy and Fanty Show 
‘Dragon Dancer is a gorgeous book that draws on ancestry, legend, and tradition for Lunar New Year reading. The text pulses with the energy of the dragon dance, the art coming alive from the page as the dragon writhes, corkscrews, and spins away misfortune and welcomes in prosperity. The music in the story urges dragon and dancer on, and draws the reader into the narrative: you can feel the drums pounding, the cymbals clashing, the crowds cheering. A note from the author provides a bit of personal experience of the New Year celebration. This one’s a definite purchase for my holiday collection.’ – Mom Read It
'Dragon Dancer' is available through many online retailers. We suggest you buy your local library a copy and donate it to be read for the next Lunar New Year!
Joyce Chng is also one of the editors of a unique collection of stories, titled 'The Sea Is Ours - Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia' (edited by Jaimee Goh and Joyce Chng). It's on our 'to read' list. Here's the description:
In The Sea is Ours: Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia, technological wonder merges with the everyday: children upgrade their fighting spiders with armour and toymakers create punchcard-driven marionettes. The fantastic has always been part of our landscape: large fish lumber across the skies, aswang represent diwata to faraway diplomats, boat people find a new home on the edge of a different dimension. Technology and tradition meld as the people adapt to the changing forces of their world.Steampunk takes on Southeast Asia in this anthology, infused with the spirits of its diverse peoples, legends, and geography. Delving into local alternate histories, we will introduce you to a dynamic steampunk world quite different from the one you may be familiar with.
You can find Joyce Chng in the following places around the web:
Twitter (most days!)

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The Transformation of FLOTUS: A Dark Fairy Tale for the Season

In April of 2017, writer Kate Imbach wrote a reflection on Melania Trump, the then-new FLOTUS, as considered through the lens of Melania's personal photos, titled Fairytale Prisoner by Choice: The Photographic Eye of Melania Trump. The article was prompted by the odd issue that the new first lady was so very absent, compared to most other FLOTUS'  of the past.
Imbach wrote:
Why won’t the first lady show up for her job? Why? I became obsessed with this question and eventually looked to Melania’s Twitter history for answers. I noticed that in the three-year period between June 3, 2012 and June 11, 2015 she tweeted 470 photos which she appeared to have taken herself. I examined these photographs as though they were a body of work. 
Everyone has an eye, whether or not we see ourselves as photographers. What we choose to photograph and how we frame subjects always reveals a little about how we perceive the world. For someone like Melania, media-trained, controlled and cloistered, her collection of Twitter photography provides an otherwise unavailable view into the reality of her existence. Nowhere else — certainly not in interviews or public appearances — is her guard so far down. 
What is that reality? She is Rapunzel with no prince and no hair, locked in a tower of her own volition, and delighted with the predictability and repetition of her own captivity.
Written during the time when Melania declined moving to the White House and opted to stay in Trump Tower, it's an interesting assessment, and although sympathy from readers varies, the consensus seems to be that loneliness is, indeed an ongoing factor in this woman's life. The photos from high up - an actual tower - with the same landscape and differing only in weather and time of day, do give the viewer pause.

Just as interesting is the interpretation of Melania's photos of the interior of Trump Tower:

 We can all picture the gilded monstrosity of the Trump home from publicity photos (chandeliers, sad boy astride a stuffed lion, golden pillars), but it is a different place through Melania’s eyes. She takes photographs inside her house at weird, skewed angles. It is a strange effect when the half-obscured objects, chairs and ceilings, are all so golden. It looks like what a terrified little girl held captive in a ogre’s fairytale castle might see when she dares to sneak a peek through her fingers. (source: Kate Imbach)


If you haven't seen this essay finding the parallels between Rapunzel and Melania, pre and post FLOTUS status, it's worth a read. While the writer is clearly critical of Melania's 'fitness' to be a first lady, its' nevertheless a very different look at Melania Trump as a person. You can find the whole article, with Melania's photos throughout, HERE.

FAST FORWARD TO DECEMBER 2017:

Melania is now at the White House and chose to take an active - and apparently personal - role in decorating her new(ish) home, for the season. It's safe to say the public reaction to photos has been, less than warm...

A tweet from Donald Haase:


My retweet & comment:

And back to the growing list of folklore and fairy tale references mentioned (note: I have screen-captured the tweets referred to and inserted them after my tweets so readers can easily see what's being referred to, but the links in the embedded tweets also send you to the original tweet for the sources):



   

   


Note how the feet appear in the photo - enlarged below (it's obviously a lighting issue but it's still an interesting connection):





This comment (screen-capped below) expanded the supernatural narrative. Meant to entertain, it's also an interesting place to go:

A reply to one of the earlier tweets, pointing out the use of folklore:

And the tweet that prompted me to put it all in one place:

As an interesting callback to the original article about Melania in her tower, I thought I'd finish with the final sentence by Imbach, which has more resonance than ever:
 She’s living inside a dark fairytale, and in fairytales the women trapped in towers never save anyone but themselves.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

British May Day Scarecrow Festival Gets 'Trumped' With Twists on Fairy Tales

Photography by David Billinge
Anyone else notice that fairy tales are being used less as a description for the ideal/unrealistic romantic adventure and happily ever after, and more as a statement in calling out the truth in a situation these days?
It's safe to say that the last year has been tumultuous on the political front. While many countries struggle with this all the time, the UK and US in particular have been floored by the turn of events of the past many months and a lot of people's world view has had to change.

May Day, and associated festivals, are all about renewal, Spring, growth, new beginnings and what seems to be a relatively new 'scarecrow festival' in Britain seems to have caught on as part of the celebrations. Scarecrows protecting the newly seeded fields, Jack in the Green - these have a long standing tradition in celebration and folklore this time of year but the specific scarecrow festival, while clearly in tune with tradition is apparently fairly new. That hasn't stopped it from becoming a much-enjoyed annual event all around the UK.

For the past couple of years fairy tales and nursery rhymes have been associated with the festival by being the theme for people to riff on with their creations. This year, the traditional tales theme in the small English village of Wray, took a turn into political commentary, using fairy tales to make their very clear points with a variety of Donald Trump effigies. (All the more interesting when a number of these scarecrows move thanks to a little animatronic magic!)
At least six contestants created versions of Trump to fit in with children's stories, including a 'Pinocchi-Trump' with an extra-long nose and a 'Humpty-Trumpty' falling off his own border wall. 
...Another was Pinocchi-Trump, created by Judith Smith and her husband Ken Wilson. 
This tableau was inspired by 'fake news' and combines the 'traditional tales' theme of Pinocchio with the US president. (Daily Mail)
While Humpty-Trumpty and President Pinocchio were popular notions, another scarecrow display had a Trump figureup a beanstalk, with a Mexican man at the bottom. The sign said:
"You're welcome Jack, to climb the stalk,
but when your' up we need to talk.
There's a guy up there who's sure to SEIZE YA,
if you don't possess a VISA."
A Rumpelstiltskin effigy had the Trumpish figure 'spinning straw into something else!"
Although scarecrows and straw effigies have a long history in being associated with political figures - and protest against them - it was a little unexpected to see so many making statements on Trump in this manner, especially outside the US. On May Day this year the US had its own day of political statements, in the form of wide spread protests and marches against the immigration policies of President Trump, making this the second year there has been direct protest against his policies on this day. Both years there have been effigies too.
Members of the "Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition" displayed a giant effigy of then-candidate Donald Trump on May Day in Los Angeles last year. (NPR)
Other scarecrows focused on traditional fairy tales and legends, such as Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood, but with so many blonde-wigged effigies around it becomes difficult to see even these tales without a political spin. Is that wolf looking a little blonde, dressed in Grandma's nightie? Are Robin Hood's promises really in aid of the common people?
Interesting to see how many folks used the simple language and motifs of fairy tales, to make some contemporary, relevant and head-turning statements. Here's a quick video tour of Wray village on May Day.
#folklorethursday

Monday, May 1, 2017

Happy Mother Goose Day! (May 1st)

Mother Goose, art for a Fisk Tires ad by Maxfield Parrish, 1919
National Mother Goose Day is observed each year on May 1.  This day honors Mother Goose, the imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes we loved as children.  Mother Goose is often illustrated as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl, but she is also sometimes depicted as a goose wearing a bonnet.  (From NationalDayCalendar.com)
Mother Goose Day was founded in 1987 by Gloria T. Delamar in tandem with the publication of her book, Mother Goose; From Nursery to Literature.
In honor of today, we thought we'd share some of the illustrations from a lesser known book by L. Frank Baum, Mother Goose in Prose. Here's the blurb from the original dust jacket:
If ever a writer and an artist were an unbeatable team, it's on these pages. Put that team to work on the most famous characters in the English language and the result can be nothing less than classic. 
Here two giant imaginations take on Little Boy Blue, The Cat and the Fiddle, Old King Cole, Mistress Mary, Jack Horner, The Man in the Moon, Hickory Dickory Dock, Bo-Peep, Tommy Tucker, Humpty Dumpty, The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Miss Muffet and others. 
To create Mother Goose in Prose, the man who gave us The Wonderful Wizard of Oz started with the bare bones of the celebrated nursery rhymes and embroidered them as only a master storyteller could. Now Mary Quite Contrary lives in a real house, has a mother and is visited in her garden by a Squire. Humpty Dumpty is far from just a five line verse here and, once read, his will never be a five lines story again. Did you ever wonder how the old woman's house for to resemble a shoe? In case the reader doesn't get the picture, Baum departs from his storytelling to draw it himself. 
This is a charming book, with a warm introduction by Baum, who takes care to trace the vague but fascinating history of the rhymes back to 1650, through the three countries that claim Mother Goose for their own. But "the songs that cluster around her name are what we love." he reminds us. "Many of these nursery rhymes," Baum says, "are complete tales in themselves, telling their story tersely but completely; there are others which are but bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of the story. Perhaps therein may lie part of their charm, but however that may be I have thought the children might like the stories told at a greater length, that they may dwell the longer upon their favorite heroes and heroines. 
"For that reason I have written this book."

You can read the book online HERE.

And from Amazon:
The volume begins with an historical overview written by Baum himself, in which he notes that the first use of the name "Mother Goose" was by the great French author of fantasies, Charles Perrault -- the inventor of Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Puss in Boots. Each tale begins with the nursery rhyme, and then a tale that illustrates the rhyme follows -- told in Baum's charming, natural fashion. Mother Goose in Prose is a delight for children of all ages. The book's last selection features a girl named Dorothy who can talk to animals — an anticipation of the Oz books. When Baum later included this story in his Juvenile Speaker (1910) and The Snuggle Tales (1916–17), he changed the girl's name to Doris, to avoid confusing her with Dorothy Gale.