Brother and Sister and Sally Jean Once Upon a Time Jewelry

In June, I spent an afternoon with my mother and niece at Belle Meade Mansion here in Nashville, one of my favorite antebellum plantation homes in the South. We spent a while in the gift shop and I discovered this pendant above in a display. I debated and then bought--because, yes, fairy tales! (It was only $15 so I wasn't breaking the bank.) 

Thus I am sharing with you today. I think what appealed to me most was the designer's unintentional salute to one of my favorite fairy tales, Brother and Sister, with the inclusion of the deer. Most people don't look at a deer and think of a fairy tale, but the good readers here know their fairy tales! And a deer isn't Bambi. A deer is an enchanted brother!

I came home and searched and the Sally Jean line has some pieces left, but the pendant I purchased appears to be out of production. The new ones found on this page separate Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After to different pendants and have removed the deer. 

BUT! A few pieces are on Amazon, too, one a watch. And it still has the deer! I am tempted since I have a clock fetish anyway...

Sally Jean "Once Upon a Time" Watch Pendant Necklace is marked down 31% today to $19.95 since I last looked at it for a sale, so I guess it's better than I've been too busy to write about this!

New Book: The Witch's Curse by Keith McGowan

 

The Witch's Curse (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Keith McGowan is the sequel to The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children. It was released last week. The reviews for this one appear to be stronger than those for the first one, too.

I admit, this one didn't interest me as much--I am rather ruined on Hansel and Gretel's witch after Donna Jo Napoli's brilliant The Magic Circle. Really, if you haven't read that one, sit down for a few hours and do so. It's short, dark, and super brilliant. I'm shocked at how much I adore that book. I eschew dark fiction beyond my fairy tale life but sometimes fairy tales deliver horror so well that my preferences are forgotten and I am engrossed. And it's published for kids although I have always been a little squeamish at its recommended age level actually depending on a child's sophistication.

But then I saw this line in the Booklist review for The Witch's Curse: "McGowan here creatively interweaves aspects of Grimms’ Brother and Sister, blending classic fairy-tale and contemporary elements, magic, suspense, and vibrant, diversely drawn kid protagonists into another edgy, absorbing read."

Brother and Sister! Or Little Brother and Little Sister! I don't discuss it much here, but I adore Brother and Sister. I even annotated it on SurLaLune where it is one of the least visited tales. I had to present it in my Bettelheim course in college and it was serendipitous to say the least. I wasn't as familiar with it then--although I am now--and it's been entertaining over the years to see where the tale has been blended with Hansel and Gretel so I find McGowan's concept of his sequel using the tale just brilliant. I haven't read either of his books, but this choice gets them higher on my TBR radar.

A shadowy witch and a cursed hunter--it's tricky business for Sol and Connie as they face this awful pair. The brother and sister have a long, dangerous hike through the accursed valley, they're running out of food and water, and the old stone lodge they discover with a collection of animals inside means big trouble. Can anyone save them? A heroic woodthrush? The All Creatures Manager? The Camper Lady? The Know-It-All Cube? Or will they have to save themselves? Sol and Connie--the brother and sister who were almost EATEN in The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children--are back, and this time things are looking even worse, because a centuries-old hunter is waking up . . . thanks to the witch's curse.

Jewelry: Fairy Tale Silhouettes by Katharina Bergmann at Karamboola

Snow White

It's April and so March's Fairy Tale music theme has come to an end. In the future, I will continue more music posts randomly since I didn't come close to covering them all. But I wanted a new theme for the month and I needed a simpler one for me as I continue my move. If all goes well, we will be completely relocated in the next four weeks. That feels like a long time but not long enough as anyone would know.

Anyway, in my limited time I have been composing craft and handmade themed posts for the month. From jewelry to quilts to other items, I will be sharing pictures and links. Over the years, I have seen few Snow White pieces that are not directly influenced by the Disney classic. That will change this year, I think, with the many Snow White interpretations around us. However, one of my favorite fairy tale themed jewelry shops on Etsy is karamboola by Katharina Bergmann. Karamboola features fairy tale silhouettes. I am featuring the necklace, brooch and ring (earrings are available, too) for Snow White and then adding the necklace renditions of other fairy tales available in the store. I love the details of the added charms as well as the availability of less popular fairy tales. Enjoy!

Brother and Sister

Brother and Sister

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood

Princess and the Pea

Rapunzel

Rumpelstiltskin

Sleeping Beauty

The Star Money

Waiting For Her Prince

Once Upon a Winter Wood by Megan Kearney

SurLaLuner Megan Kearney recently sent me an email, here's an excerpt:

I recently completed my thesis film for Sheridan College's Bachelor of Animation degree, and I thought it might be of interest to you (is my ego showing? Oh dear...) as it began as an adaptation of "Brother and Sister". The finished product has strayed considerably, as animated films do, from the source material (though I keep getting asked if it was based on Hansel and Gretel) but it's still lodged in a fairy-tale world. Your blog was a great source of inspiration for me while my film was in its infancy, and I'm very grateful! If you like, you can view "Once Upon a Winter Wood" on my website, thequietly.com, or on vimeo at http://vimeo.com/23235589.

Of course, I had to watch and then I had to share since it was fairy tale inspired. "Brother and Sister" is a favorite of mine and it is often intertwined with Hansel and Gretel in old retellings, so that makes it all the more interesting.

But without any further ado, here's Megan's video. Enjoy!

Once Upon a Winter Wood from Megan Kearney on Vimeo.

Great work, Megan. Made me think of all the lift-the-flap books the young ones in my life love so much, too.

Short Film: Brother and Sister

Brother & Sister Trailer from Lisa Stock on Vimeo.

Lisa Stock just completed work on a short film, "Brother & Sister", adapted from both the traditional fairy tale and contemporary poem by Terri Windling. I've embedded the trailer above and you can also visit the official website.

A screening will take place in NYC next week on Sept 30th and will coincide with an online screening for out-of-towners. Lisa's other mythic film, The Silent Nick and Nora, and clips from her Titania will also be shown. Check the Events page for more details.

You can read the original tale on SurLaLune at Brother and Sister. It's one of my favorite tales and I added it to the site years ago although it remains mostly obscure and ignored. It's not highly trafficked on SurLaLune either so Huzzah to Lisa and all for bringing a little more attention to it.

You can read Terri's poem at Brother and Sister. Terri's poem originally appeared in The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors and again in The Poets’ Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimms Fairy Tales, two collections I highly recommend. They are both out of print unfortunately, but used versions are available or I recommend trying interlibrary loan. In my experience, neither book is very common in smaller libraries. These are the times I'm grateful for the internet but I also look forward to the day when no book is out of print whether through ebook readers or other means such as print on demand sources.

Won't that be loverly? (Saw My Fair Lady again last week and I'm still recovering. And laugh with me because originally I typed My Fairy Lady. Someone write that ASAP, please. I'm too busy translating Rapunzels. More about that soon.)