Blog Tour Review - Tales from Beyond The Rainbow

Another day, another blog tour review. And this is so up my street that as soon as Bee from Kaleidoscopic Tours emailed about this title, I instantly emailed back and went "PLEASE LET ME BE INVOLVED! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!"

And here we are!

Title and Author: Tales from Beyond the Rainbow by Pete Jordi Wood

Publisher: Puffin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher and PR Blog Tour Company, Kaleidoscopic, in exchange for an honest review/reaction for blog tour. 

Buy From (Affiliate): Bookshop.org

There are fairy tales and folklore that time has forgotten or concealed in one form or another. This could be for a number of reasons. They became out of fashion. The morale of the story doesn't fit with the changing world. Or because the stories in question tackle the issue of gender and sexual identity, and all end (mostly) with happy ever afters. 

In this collection of short fairy tales and folklore from around the world (ranging from Germany, Russia, China, Taiwan, Cape Verde, Canada and other corners of the world), Pete Jordi Wood has collected and adapted them, each illustrated by an artist who shares heritage with he culture of where the stories have come from.

I won't write a long write-up about each and every story as that will take too long. But I devoured this collection and it filled with such joy to read them. 

I do have my fave stories in this collection - The Girl In The Market (illustarted by Mario Hounkanrin), Double-Flower Temple (illustrated by Xin Tang) and The Soldier and the Peasant (illustarted by Nontira Kigle), but all the tales were lovely to read. 

Each tale are illustrated by a different artists and each were different and unique. Barring the names I mentioned up, we have Anshika Khullar, Ez Silva, Jenn So, Sasha Staicu, Sophia Watts, Zat Vornik and Pete Jordi Wood, with the cover illustarted by Harry Woodgate. I have a soft spot for the illustrations involved in the stories of Double-Flower Temple, The Soldier and the Peasant and The Ivory City (this is illustarted by Anshika Khullar). 

I think this is a wonderful collection and I think, for many a middle grade reader out there, this will be essential reading and maybe even a lifeline.