The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery, by Padraic Colum

I was looking forward to this one after reading Padraic Colum's previous honor book, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived before Achilles. This one, although similar in format, works just as well because the formula still applies.

In the case of this book, Prince Henry of Portugal often looks over the ocean with a sense of adventure and a strong desire to explore the Atlantic Ocean. Men from all over Europe come to him to tell their tales of ocean voyages, which vary from the mythological (Atlantis) to the actual (Columbus). Without getting into long detail, the stories presented in a very enjoyable and readable fashion are:

• The Legend of Atlantis
• The Voyage of Maelduin (an Irish tale)
• The Voyages of Saint Brendan
• The Children of Eric the Red
• The Voyages and Explorations of Christopher Columbus and his Men

I would strongly recommend this one for any child (although this child is usually a boy in my mind's eye) who loves adventure stories. Also, with the immense popularity of the Percy Jackson series, mythological compilations such as this and Colum's other works could easily make a comeback. It's a shame many of them are out of print.

Shen of the Sea, by Arthur Bowie Chrisman

Here is another title which I had completely misunderstood. I'd assumed that the Shen in question was some little boy who lived on the coast. In the book, however, Shen are spirits with domain over one element or another, usually malevolent toward people. Who knew? This original cover with its kite-flying soldiers does little to make that clear, but the newer cover helps a bit more.

These are stories of purported Chinese origin, which claim to tell the tales of how items or customs originated. For example, china place settings originated with a Chinese princess and her obsession with mud pies (which an invading dragon kindly, but unintentionally, baked for her). There are also several tales of obstinate and downright horridly disobedient little children, whose parents' indulgence of them causes them to unintentionally "invent" things like, say, printing.

The stories are fun and sure to entertain middle-aged children. It's also clear that the author had some familiarity with Chinese language and custom. So I was a bit disappointed to learn that none of these stories have any origin in actual Chinese folktales; they're purely a product of the author's imagination. So they're certainly fun to read, but don't expect them to give you any common ground with a Chinese child!