My thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for allowing me to read and review this book.
This is indeed a great collection of stories from Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, which provides a large range of myths, cultures and legacies. My sister has been living in Iceland for over twenty years so I’ve read quite a few Icelandic novels but had never read any such stories. This was a wonderful discovery and treat. It is beautifully illustrated (as is the cover) by Ulla Thynell!
The collection of stories (folktales and fairy tales) is divided int three sections called transformations, wit and journeys. The stories range in themes and are all engaging and particularly well-written.
I recommend this anthology very warmly! #NordicTales #NetGalleyFrance

This is a beautiful collection of Nordic Stories. I enjoyed reading about stories from Sweden, Norway and beyond. The illustrations are beautiful and paid well with each story.

This is a beautifully illustrated little book of traditional Nordic fairy tales. It was a refreshing read, as most of these tales will be new to the typical reader. The lessons and morals are wonderful and children will enjoy them.

Fair warning: these tales are traditional and can read more like the classic Grimm fairy tales than the more sterilized, child-friendly retellings of them now common. Parents might want to review these tales before reading them to very young or sensitive children.

Great stories of Nordic origin that I was unfamiliar with.

The illustrations were beautiful and soft.

This is a beautifully illustrated, quick to read book. I found the tales to be fun and written to be accessible to anyone. They are unusual tales, in that they are not the fairy tales that many of us are used to hearing, but I think that makes them all the more refreshing. Some of these Nordic tales I realized part way through were ones that I had heard variations of before without knowing what they were or where they came from. I thought these versions of the Nordic tales were ones that I would read again. I would read them as kids bedtime stories or as an adult looking for a light read that could be picked up and put down as you had time. I thought the author did a beautiful job of making these tales a part of the fairy tale genre in a way that makes these stand up to the more traditionally well known stories like “Snow White” or “Cinderella.” I was very pleasantly surprised by this book and exceptionally glad I picked it up.

I found this to be a really nice collection of tales. There are images - just a title image dividing the previous story with the one it depicts a scenes from. If wanting a book that is a collection of tales or like collections this can be a nice addition.

Beautiful fairy tales, I love fairy tales and this book is no exception. Thynell enchants you with her tales from Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland. The stories suck you in and the illustrations are stunning. Would love to buy this to read to my children.

I would have given 5 stars but found the pdf hard to open on all my devices.

This is a beautifully illustrated collection of slightly dark tales that will entertain people of all ages.

I would love to read this but its not loading to my kindle. :( love old tales,they are the best. Thumbs up still

Nordic Tales is a collection of traditional folk and fairy tales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. All the stories are fairly short and quick to read, about ten pages each, the perfect length for a bedtime story. Although these would probably read better for older children or adults.

The book is divided into three sections, into which each story is sorted based on the messge it is telling: transformtions, wit, and journeys. The transformation tales teach the lesson to look past a person's appearance and instead take their measure based on the content of their character. The tales based on wit mostly taught the lesson of the importance of humility. And the stories in the section on journeys teach the leasson of perserverence.

The folk tales included in this book are lesser known than the tales you find in kid's movies or most other fairy tales books that you see. I went into this book expecting that I would know nothing of the folk tales within, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was familiar with several of them actually. I didn't know them in full detail, but I recognized bits and pieces of the stories. Some of the stories are very similar to one another in their content, like the ones that feature people who have been enchanted into the form of an animal and are freed from the spell by another character. There is still great variation between many the folk tales though and some are more engaging than others.

When needed the author has inserted notes at the bottom of the pages when a word or detail in the story needs further clarification or historical detail.

The illustrations in the book are gorgeous. The cover art itself is beautiful, but there is also one full page illustration at the begining of each folk tale. It looks like they were done maybe with oil pastels and they depict a scene or detail from the story that it is introducing. Ulla Thynell is a talented illustrator and has a good balance between light and dark in each on of her illustrations. My favorite illustration work in the book is the drawing created to introduce the story "Jack of Sjöholm and the Gan-Finn." It's a really beautiful dipcition of the northern lights over some snowy moutains by the water's edge. It's also the last illustration of the book, which I though was a great choice. It's so pretty that no other illustration could have followed it.

Many thanks to Chronicle Books and NetGalley who gave me the opportunity to read an ARC of Nordic Tales. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

The fairy tales in this book were enjoyable. Many centered on the themes of finding a wife, coming into wealth and riches, making something out of nothing. The tales are familiar and many cultures besides Scandinavian countries have similar stories handed down from generation to generation.

This book is beautifully illustrated. The art work at the beginning of each story
helps to establish the mood of the tale.

This book would interest older children or adults with a Scandinavian heritage.
It would also be a good source of ‘read aloud’ stories for adults interested in sharing cultural stories with their children.

Nordic Tales.

Ah, fairy tales. You love them, then, for a brief time, you're too old for them, and then you love them again!
Most of the time, only fairy tales from the Grimms or those made into movies by Disney get their time in the spotlight. So I'm very glad I could read this collection of nordic fairy tales.
I, surprisingly, knew a fair share of them. Sure, most of them follow classic fairy tale tropes like the animal bride, but you don't read fairy tales to discover something completely new to the world, do you.
The illustrations and the cover are super pretty and give off a kinda nostalgic vibe, that I appreciated.


Thanks to Chronicle Books and Netgalley for providing this ARC!

One is never too old for fairy tales and I'm no exception. This is a wonderful collection of tales from Nordic countries. Being of Norwegian ancestry, I was especially drawn to the Norwegian stories. Some were familiar; some I've never read before. The illustrations are beautiful and lend a charm to this special book.

Beautifully told folktales from Nordic lands, these are classic tales from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Some of the tales are familiar such as "East of the Sun and West of the Moon " and the "Widow's Son". Each story is an enchanting read. The sources these stories are collected from are listed in the back of the book. This is a wonderful collection of tales and book is beautifully illustrated.

My thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Nordic Tales: Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark is a collection of folktales, each illustrated by Ulla Thyrell from Finland. I had previously read some of the stories, but being paired with a new wonderful illustration is the difference for this book. Obviously, I was not able to enjoy having the physical book to look at, which includes a plush cover and the ability to appreciate the illustrations in their full glory, but I did find the illustrations quite impressive.

The combination of stories from all of the Scandinavian countries gave a broad overview of culture, myth, and history for the region of my ancestry. It is fun to read about trolls, giants, talking animals, and magic. Even though the stories are quite old, they still provide us with a spirit of adventure and even some morals for how we can live and interact with others.

The real gems of this books are the fantastic illustrations for each story, the cover, and the title page. The illustrator, Ulla Thyrell, is a wonderful artist. These illustrations really brought the stories to life.

Nordic Tales is a charming collection and the illustrations are beautiful. I would recommend it to any that enjoy folk tales. It would also make a perfect gift book.

This book is stunning. It is absolutely stunning. The cover, the illustrations, the stories, everything. I can't express how beautiful it is. The stories teach you so much about the Nordic culture and I kept telling myself I would 'Read just one more story!' and ended up having the book done in two sittings. I will buy this book when it comes out for sure because it will be even more exquisite in its final form. I would recommend this book to anyone. 5 out of 5 stars.

<i>Nordic Tales</i> is a large collection of stories and folktales brought together and illustrated by the wonderful Ulla Thynell. The stories range in length, theme, character, and plot. While I personally had not read any of them before, I was easily able to recognize the commonalities that they have with other old short stories. As with the Hans Christian Andersen works I've been reading lately, <i>Nordic Tales</i> has a lot of summaries, falling in love quickly without really knowing each other, and sends some great messages and some odd messages. I think this will always be a theme I find within stories from the far past. And yet I consistently find I love a great many of them and I deeply enjoyed the time I spent reading this new collection of stories, gathered from a number of different countries accompanied with brilliant artwork that really makes the stories stand out.

As often happens when I read a book that is a collection of different stories by many different authors, I found that some of them were rather exceptional and enjoyable for me to read while others felt particularly dull and boring. One thing that <i>Nordic Tales</i> did right was to begin the collection with a story that would intrigue and engage me, the account of three brothers who set out to find wives and the one brother who ends up marrying a mouse. While I will say that the brother seemed a little like a dolt and was at times somewhat hurtful in his thoughts (though I suppose that's not uncommon anywhere), I deeply appreciated how he grew to care for the little mouse and eventually determined that the opinions of others did not matter in the slightest in comparison. And good things, of course, come to those who are good and kind to begin with.

Alternately, there were a few stories such as the elf princess story that I didn't care for and would have preferred to skip. Ultimately, though, they didn't really ruin the book as a whole. Rather I simply imagine that if I were to buy it at some point, I would simply skip those stories when I get to them. All in all, I had a lot of fun reading this collection. I imagine it's possible to find many of the stories elsewhere, but it is really nice to have them all in one place, especially when it's in a collection that has artwork I like and appreciate.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Disclaimer: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

This collection of stories from Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland draws from famous collections, but also lesser known collections. It is divided int three sections transformations, wit, and journeys. While East of the Sun, West of the Moon is included many of the stories are not as well known.
The collection starts with “The Forest Bride” about a young man who marries a mouse. It ends with the story of “Jack of Sjoholm and the Gan-Finn”. Between the two, we have some traditional stories that would be well know to any read of folktales – such as the story of the Doctor and Death – but there are stories such as “The Honest Penny” or “Hildur, Queen of the Elves”.
The illustrations are wonderful, quite beautiful. They remind one of the old fairy tale books with the classic illustrations. Thynell has the right combination of dark, light, and whimsey that makes a fairy tale picture a wonder to behold.

Everything seemed great, but it would have been easier to read if a big "Copyright" watermark wasn't on every page.