Thumbelina? No, Saint Ia on a Leaf!

Melinda Johnson has a new picture book about St. Ia.  Her hagiography (which we'll get to in a minute) is fairytale-like and her mode of transportation reminded me of Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina! 

Children love fairytales, which, much like stories of the saints, have a lot to teach us. When I was a little girl, Thumbelina was one of my favorite fairytales.  We had the Little Golden Book version, with illustrations by the Swedish artist, Gustaf Tenggren. 

Thumbelina was as small as your thumb. As fairytales (and some saints' stories) go, the beautiful girl had several mishaps involving unsuitable and unwanted suitors.  But luckily, several creatures took pity on her and came to her rescue.

Thumbelina may have been defenseless, but she was not helpless. She made do with what nature could give her to survive (a leaf for a boat, blades of grass for a bed, honey for food...). One day she found a swallow, numb with cold and near death. She wove him a blanket from hay and took care of him all winter long.

To repay her kindness, in the spring the swallow let her fly away with him on his back to avoid her unwanted marriage to a mole.  The swallow took her far away to a lovely lake and put her down on a flower petal right next to a little man just her size.  He was the King of the flower spirits. 

You can guess the ending: they got married and lived happily ever after.  Is it irresponsible to read children fairy tales, or can they point us to our King? Go here for thoughts from Fr. Stephen Freeman: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2015/10/28/about-fairy-tales/

So now to Saint Ia of Cornwall, an Irish Virgin-martyr, remembered on February 3. 

source

I first came across Saint Ia's story in a lovely new book, Seven Holy Women, just put out by Ancient Faith Publishing.  This not-to-be-missed collaborative book was Melinda Johnson's brain child.  I could hardly wait to gift Seven Holy Women to several close friends, my daughter, and our new daughters-in-law for Christmas.

The lives of the saints are important for us to read, especially now during our Covid-enforced isolation - many of the saints certainly lived in isolation. We can definitely learn from their example of time spent with God. 

The science and news of Covid has become for many a distraction during the boredom that can come from isolation. We want connection with life outside our small space. We want answers. So we turn to the news/internet, and as we are inundated with daily (even hourly) updates, science and politics become THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. Suddenly everyone has an opinion to share on their facebook and instagram feeds because we also want people to pay attention TO US. And the more urgent, the more of a possibility that we'll get people to pay attention to us, but unfortunately away from THE ONE THING NEEDFUL. We all need to try our best to use this extra time found in isolation for meditative and fervent prayer and inspiration from our Saints. The last thing we need is more distraction from this.

Some in the world may tell us our saints' stories aren't important, that only truly historically accurate and scientifically explainable stories are to be taken seriously. For more thoughts on this, please refer to Orthodoxartsjournal.corg for excellent articles, especially several from Nicholas Kotar regarding the truth of the Lives of the Saints, here.

Nicholas Kotar says: Seen from the prism of today's mundane reality, which has been rendered practically black and white by the precision of the scientific method, these events [he is referring to a historical mythical event he previously recounted] are simply impossible. But every wise man from time immemorial has warned about judging the past through the lens of the present. Who's to say dragons didn't threaten the monks of the Egyptian desert...that's a question one would be foolish to try to answer until one has tried to understand what these dragons really are, and not in the sense of trying to find a specimen to dissect.

The poet, then, instead of assessing the truthfulness of a certain aspect of a Life or of the Life itself, has a much more important calling - as an apologist of the mythical and improbable in the lives in general.

Back to today's picture book...

As mentioned at the top of my post, Melinda Johnson is also the author of this new little board book, Saint Ia Rides a Leaf. I think it will help parents to know a few details of the life of St. Ia before reading the picture book to their children. 

Saint Ia was an Irish virgin-martyr saint born around 480.  She was baptized into the Christian faith around the tender age of thirteen and wanted to go to Cornwall with missionaries Sts. Fingar and Piala to help teach the Gospel of Christ. 

However, when she arrived at the shore the morning of their planned trip, the ship had already set sail (they probably thought the undertaking too dangerous for her and left early).  Distraught, Ia prayed to God for help.  And He brought it - in the form of a miraculous leaf.

The leaf grew when St. Ia's staff touched it, and she stepped in and was transported across the Irish Sea to England. This is where the simply-told picture book story ends in its telling. 

Saint Ia ultimately ended up landing in St. Ives in Cornwall. She actively evangelized across the countryside. There was a chapel erected by her in Troon, fourteen miles inland to the east. You can read about it here, on historicengland.org.  Ia was eventually martyred under the persecutions of the wicked Breton Prince Tewdwr in the middle of the sixth century.

Author Melinda Johnson is an excellent story-teller, and you will love her fun, energetic portrayal of sweet Ia.  Young children will enjoy Kristina Tartara's cute, colorful illustrations as well as Ia's three companions - a fish, a crab and a sea bird.  

Did Ia really sail to England on a leaf?  She certainly did get there, as history shows. As much as we can learn from a fairytale Thumbelina, we can learn much more from a historical young girl named Ia who loved God with all her heart.  Saint Ia, pray for us! 

Saint Ia Rides a Leaf is available here, from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.  It can also be found from the Ancient Faith Publishing Store, along with Melinda Johnson's other books Letters to St. Lydia, and the Sam and Saucer chapter books. 

Go here, to Raisingorthodoxchristians.com, for some fun activities as well as a cute coloring page to go with this book!

SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME!

Had a great time in Bloomington, Indiana, visiting my parents.  The cute "square" in the center of the downtown has two independently owned bookstores and lots of shops, all surrounding the county Courthouse.  Of course, I had to buy a picture book!  I chose THE LITTLE FUR FAMILY, by Margaret Wise Brown, with adorable illustrations by Garth Williams.  Who could resist a book that starts:

There was a little fur family

warm as toast

smaller than most

in little fur coats 

and they lived in a warm

wooden tree.

I'm so happy that this old childhood favorite has been reissued!  The little bear has a busy day out in the woods, visiting his Grandpa and catching fish.  At the end of the day, his parents tuck him into bed, hold his paw, and sing him a song.  Precious!  This will definitely be one I can't wait to read to my own grandchildren someday...perfect for ages toddler - preschool.

My parents also had fun carting us around to lots of local antique stores, where I bought...More Picture Books.  I found a beautiful 1946 Golden Book, BEDTIME STORIES, with illustrations by Gustaf Tenggren for $3.99  My dad glanced at it and said, "I remember reading to you kids from that book."  (I'm sure it had been his or my mom's childhood copy!)  I love book memories!

Next, we made sure to stop in at the Monroe County Library's Annual Book Sale, where I bought...you know.  All children's books were 25 cents each!  Among others, I was excited to find a used paperback copy of SLEEPING BEAUTY with unique silhouette illustrations by Arthur Rackham.  I also found a wonderful hardcover edition of NOAH'S ARK, illustrated by Pauline Baynes (I'll do separate posts about them in the near future!)

It's fun to visit new places and books are easy souvenirs to transport back home, thank goodness!

BABAR AND OTHER ELEPHANTS

Our youngest son, Jonathan, went through a period from about ages 3 to 6 when he was completely fascinated and obsessed with elephants.  I think it was Colonel Hathi's Marching Song from  DISNEY'S JUNGLE BOOK movie that started the whole thing.  Jonathan had stuffed elephant toys and little plastic figurines. Every time we went to the library, he had to pick out an "elephant book".  For his fifth birthday, we even went to our local zoo where he could actually ride on the back of an elephant with his friends!

From Babar to DUMBO, elephants have long interested children. When Jonathan was in his "elephant stage", we learned about the differences between Asiatic and African breeds:  Among other things, African elephants have huge ears, very wrinkled skin, and no humps or dents on their heads.  Asiatic elephants have smaller ears, smoother skin, and humped structures on the tops of their heads, with dents on their foreheads.  We learned all this from visits to the zoo and Jonny's library books!  Here are some that were his favorites:

BUT NO ELEPHANTS by Jerry Smath. Endearing picture book about Grandma "Tildy", who loves all animals, "but NO elephants".  A salesman comes and sells her a bunch of pets, but she won't take the elephant.  After seeing him left out and all alone in the snow, she finally lets him inside and becomes very angry because the elephant eats all their food! In the end, he takes Grandma Tildy and the other pets to a "warm and sunny place".  (Or as 3-year-old Jonny used to say, "Gwamma Tiewdy went to a wom and sunny pwace".)

POLITE ELEPHANT by Richard Scarry.  "Everyone likes a polite elephant".

LITTLE GRAY ONE by Jan Wahl (illustrations by Frane Lessac)  This beautiful picture book, with bright folk-art-like gouaches, is about a day in the life of a Mother African Elephant and her "Little Gray One".  Your child will learn with the little elephant how elephants pick fruit, take a bath, stay cool from the sun, and relieve an itch.  Very soothing text, but exciting, vibrant illustrations.

ELEPHANTS: A BOOK FOR CHILDREN, by Steve Bloom.  Facts and beautiful photographs of elephants.  Any elephant-obsessed child would love this book!

THE SAGGY BAGGY ELEPHANT (Little Golden Book) by K. Jackson and B. Jackson (illustrations by Gustaf Tenggren)  The Saggy Baggy Elephant learns that there is beauty in differences. You just have to see them in other creatures. When he learns that he looks like an elephant, and dances his way into the jungle, being saggy and baggy isn't a problem anymore.

UNCLE ELEPHANT by Arnold Lobel. While his mother and father are away, a little elephant goes to visit his uncle. And what a time they have! Uncle Elephant makes wishes come true, tells amazing stories, and trumpets the dawn. The visit is perfect, except for one thing:  it ends much too soon.

HORTON HEARS A WHO by Dr. Suess (Past blog post)

THE STORY OF BABAR by Jean De Brunhoff.  "If you love elephants, you will love Babar and Celeste," writes A. A. Milne in his preface to "The Story of Babar". "And if you have never loved elephants, you will love them now."
The first adventures of the enduring, endearing elephant, Babar, was written in 1931 by French writer Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937). Since then, it has been translated into at least 12 languages. Some pretty amazing things happen to this little elephant in the course of his first book: Babar loses his mother to a hunter, wanders into the city, gets a new wardrobe, becomes the hit of high society, marries his cousin Céleste (totally acceptable in contemporary Elephantine society), and is crowned King of the Elephants.  There's a whole series of these great stories!

THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling.  Your children will love the stories of Mowgli, Rikki Tikki Tavi and more. (ages 8 and up)

A SWEDISH ILLUSTRATOR: FROM DISNEY TO GOLDEN BOOKS

Being half Swedish myself, it's not a surprise that my parents took me to the Swedish Art Institute, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when I was young.  But it was a surprise to see an exhibit about an illustrator of one of my favorite childhood books, THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY.  The illustrator was Gustaf Tenggren, a Swedish immigrant to the United States who began his career with Disney studios, working on the film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.  He also contributed to BAMBI, THE UGLY DUCKLING, HIAWATHA, AND FANTASIA.  But his greatest influence is seen in PINOCCHIO, where his contributions include the design and detail of the backgrounds and overall look of the movie.

He left Disney in 1939 to illustrate books for children.  He worked for The Golden Press during the '40's and '50's and illustrated the world's most printed book ever, written by Janette Sebring Lowry:  which one?  Yes! THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY (it has sold nearly 50 million copies since 1942)!!  He did several others that I also read and loved as a child:  THE SAGGY BAGGY ELEPHANT, THE TAWNY SCRAWNY LION, THUMBELINA, SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED, and many more that you can see if you CLICK HERE.

Anyone who has read the POKY LITTLE PUPPY will smile at the first sentence:  "Five little puppies dug a hole in the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide, world."  Four of the puppies return, except Poky, who, instead of following his siblings home, lags behind to see the creatures that are on the hill - which Tenggren draws in beautiful detail:  flowers, a brown hop-toad, a big black spider.  "Now where in the world is that Poky Little Puppy?"

At first, his mother doesn't realize he hasn't come home, so he doesn't receive the punishment that his siblings do.  But in the end, after several escapes, fate catches up to him, and the Poky Little Puppy is sent to bed with no strawberry shortcake.

"No desserts ever unless puppies never dig holes under this fence again!"