A review by missbookiverse
Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain & Ireland by Kevin Crossley-Holland

4.0

On the one hand, I love fairy tales and folk stories because of their magic objects, talking animals, and the call of adventure. On the other hand, I sometimes struggle reading the original stories. They were recorded at a different time, of course, and this sometimes shows in bland, simplistic, or repetitive writing. I do love a good retelling, but I’m also curious about the original stories and that’s why this collection of tales from Britain and Ireland is such a great book. Kevin Crossley-Holland took the original tales and updated them by employing modern language, shortening repetitive sections (you know how things tend to come in threes in fairy tales), and getting creative with the writing style and narrative structures. On top of that the book is separated into different sections such as “Love,” “Magic and Wonder” (my favorite), or “Ghosts” and beautifully illustrated throughout.