Old Oak Wood
(1999-2001, Ages 9 and Up)
5/6/16
If there is one thing I’ve learned about living in Duluth, MN, it’s that praying for cold weather to warm up can sometimes be like praying for water to stop being wet. Even up until as late as April, we still get some sporadic snow falls and harsh wind chills here in Duluth from time to time. But, of course, nature does what it will, whether we humans like it or not. Yet this can also be a beautiful thing. There is a power and mystery about nature that even to this day, with all our knowledge and expertise, seldom fails to amaze and inspire. And who better to guide us through such a world than the children of Nature herself: Faeries! Even better: faeries not simply drawn or painted on the page but displayed before tangible backdrops in all of their 3-Dimentional glory! And so, here is a series of tales for the warm season that is now (hopefully) here to stay. With gorgeously magical settings, vivid descriptions of the natural world, and characters reminiscent of the incomparable Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, famed sculptor Wendy Froud and fantasy writer Terri Windling have teamed up to present these literary gems.
The series’ protagonist, Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs the Seventh—or simply Sneezle for short—is a gentle-hearted two-hundred-year-old tree root faery child, whose home is Old Oak Wood, the oldest and most esteemed faerie court in the wooded hills of Dartmoor, located within the British Isles. He has long, pointed ears; a fur pelt; a somewhat pudgy face; and a tufted tail of which he is very proud. He lives at the root of a large tree, and he enjoys almost nothing so much as a warm fire and a hot meal—especially when that meal involves cakes!
In A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale, the faerie court is abuzz with preparations for Midsummer Night, during which the Gathering of the Faerie Queen Titania takes place. For the entire two hundred years of his life, poor Sneezle has never managed to stay awake long enough to see just what happens at the Gathering. This time, though, he is determined to learn the answer, and to help out and hopefully secure for himself a significant role in the process. But then he learns that Queen Titania is under a spell of deep sleep, and he must obtain her Midsummer crown in order to solve this mystery before something terrible happens at the Gathering. In The Winter Child, the faeries of Old Oak Wood are once again very busy and excited, this time for Midwinter’s Eve. The problem: winter is nowhere to be found! Without the power of Lady Winter, dangerous creatures like the goblins—normally asleep during the cold, snowy months—threaten to gather together and wreak havoc upon Old Oak Wood. With the help of his best friend Twig, some friendly sorcerers, some elusive elementals, and a mysterious downy-haired faery baby hatched from golden egg, Sneezle sets out to find Lady Winter and restore the cycle of the seasons. Finally, in The Faeries of Spring Cottage, after narrowly escaping from a band of strange and aggressive stick-like creatures, Sneezle inadvertently winds up in the worst place possible for a small faery like himself: in a house filled with humans! Sneezle must enlist the aid of a cheerful brownie that also lives inside the house, as well as some royal rat faeries, dolls that are able to come to life through faery magic, and even a young human girl, in order to find his way back home.
As I touched on before, one thing that truly makes these books stand out is their pictures, which are actually photographs. The characters are shown as dolls and puppets on real-life sets, both natural and man-made. Wife of world-famous fantasy artist Brian Froud—of whose work I am a huge fan—Wendy Froud is a doll-maker and an extraordinary artist in her own right. One of her greatest achievements was her help in the creation of the character Yoda from the film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Like her husband, Froud has also worked with Muppet creator Jim Henson, designing various creatures for The Muppet Show, as well as his classic films The Muppet Movie, Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal.
The story’s other half, writer Terri Windling, is one of fantasy’s finest authors for both children and adults and her works have won numerous awards, such as the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award, among others. One of her primary interests as a writer is exploring how myth and folklore are used and expressed in today’s art. Here, the way she describes Old Oak Wood, one could almost believe that magical beings really do live just beyond the trees, the rivers, or the hills—and could be seen with just the right mindset:
“Faeries are contrary creatures, but there is one way they are pleased to oblige us: to humans determined not to believe in them, they remain quite invisible. Yet anyone who has ever suspected that Nature herself has a spirit and soul can learn to see her children, the faeries, flickering through shadows of field and wood. . . .
. . . Old Oak Wood was quiet and still if you looked at it through human eyes—but Sneezle looked through faery eyes and saw quite a different picture. The shadows were filled with woodland folk—faeries and foxes, brownies and badgers, piskies and porcupines, derricks and deer, all busy now with preparations for the Gathering to come. Tiny green piskies harvested cobwebs, red-eared trolls gathered mandrake roots, and luminous flower faeries wove garlands of ivy and briar roses. Brownies with clothes of bark and moss painted white spots onto red mushrooms. Excited rabbits, always a nuisance, rolled in the leaves and scampered underfoot. Delicate sylphs flew overhead, pouring mist from silver buckets.” (Pg. 4-6)
Windling writes like a grandparent or older storyteller reciting a tale for children. Her words or so carefully chosen as if by wise adult with strong knowledge of this magical world, yet they are simple enough so that children can be completely immersed in the tale.
And speaking of children, Sneezle is a character that I believe many—both kids and kids at heart—could relate to. Little Sneezle is seldom taken seriously in spite of his good intentions. He is ungainly, somewhat gullible, and not especially strong or handsome. Thus, he seeks reassurance that he indeed has a purpose in his life:
“Starbucket filled his pipe with faery herbs, then sat back in his chair. ‘Tell me, nephew, what brings you all the way to this part of the wood?’
Sneezle, seated at his feet, looked up at the kind old troll gravely. ‘What happens on Midsummer Night?’
‘Wait and see at the Gathering,’ the troll replied, eyes sparkling. ‘You’ll go this year, won’t you?’
‘Yes, but . . . Uncle Starbucket, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Everyone keeps shooing me away! I want a job like everyone else—and I don’t know what mine is.’
The old troll puffed on his pipe, considering. ‘All creatures must follow their natures, boy. You must do what you were born to do best.’
‘But I’m not good at anything. I’m clumsy and get everything wrong. I mess things up,’ Sneezle confided, ‘and everyone laughs at me.’
‘Well then, Sneezle, maybe that’s your role. Maybe you’re supposed to cause chaos, and stir things up, and make people laugh. Why, that’s a fine job to have!’ the old troll assured him.
‘No, it’s not,’ the little faery mumbled, ears drooping around his cheeks.
‘Remember: the actions of the smallest faery help or harm all of Old Oak Wood. Have patience, boy. Wisdom is a thing you earn, not a thing you’re born with.’
Sneezle’s ears pricked up at this. ‘How do I earn wisdom, uncle?’
‘There’s no recipe for wisdom, boy. Just trust your heart, for the truth of things isn’t always clear to the eyes or ears. The world is filled with illusion, child; not everything is as it seems. But the heart is where true wisdom lies—and you have a good one, Sneezle.’
Sneezle frowned, scratching his pelt. Adults always talked in riddles like this. He hoped that in another hundred years he would finally understand them.” (Pg. 18)
As is often true, what children may lack in physical strength and worldly knowledge, they can and do make up for with an open heart and an unbiased point of view. Not unlike in most traditional fairy tales, Sneezle always gives help to any creature, faery or otherwise, that needs it, and more often than not, those creatures turn out to be powerful beings who in turn offer rewards for his kind acts. In this way, Sneezle is able to see that he does have the power to change things for the better, just by being himself:
“. . . ‘I may be a hero, but I’m still a fool,’ the downcast little faery groaned. ‘’I still mess everything up. I’m still the same old Sneezle.’
‘And that’s a fine thing to be!’ said a voice behind him.
The child turned and saw a radiant man and woman among the trees, dressed in grass-green velvet, crowned with ivy and rowanberries, luminous with the morning light. He knew at once who they must be. ‘Are you . . . ?’
‘The Lord and Lady of the Wood,’ the lovely woman said. ‘And you, my little trickster, are Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs the Seventh. A proud old name for a fine young faery. We’ve come to return a wish to you. . . . Take it with our blessing, child.’
‘I will,’ promised Sneezle earnestly. ‘I’ll be much wiser from now on.’
‘Just be Sneezle. That’s good enough,’ said the raven-haired Lord of the Wood with a smile.” (Pg. 50)
It is apparent that the two minds behind this literary adventure have created these characters with great skill and, more importantly, with great love. Every creature’s appearance and personality is unique and expressive: bright, rosy-cheeked children, wizened, starry-eyed elders, and grotesque, cunning monsters, with the tone and object placement within each picture fitting perfectly with its corresponding occurrence. Though they specialize in differing forms of art, Froud and Windling’s abilities are such that they add an authenticity to these stories that to me is pretty rare in many newer children’s books today. The combination of photographed sculptures and rich narration reveal a new world that can be believable and wondrous to children and adults alike.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
All book excerpts are from A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale by Wendy Froud and Terri Windling (1999 hardcover edition; published by Simon & Schuster)
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
The series’ protagonist, Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs the Seventh—or simply Sneezle for short—is a gentle-hearted two-hundred-year-old tree root faery child, whose home is Old Oak Wood, the oldest and most esteemed faerie court in the wooded hills of Dartmoor, located within the British Isles. He has long, pointed ears; a fur pelt; a somewhat pudgy face; and a tufted tail of which he is very proud. He lives at the root of a large tree, and he enjoys almost nothing so much as a warm fire and a hot meal—especially when that meal involves cakes!
In A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale, the faerie court is abuzz with preparations for Midsummer Night, during which the Gathering of the Faerie Queen Titania takes place. For the entire two hundred years of his life, poor Sneezle has never managed to stay awake long enough to see just what happens at the Gathering. This time, though, he is determined to learn the answer, and to help out and hopefully secure for himself a significant role in the process. But then he learns that Queen Titania is under a spell of deep sleep, and he must obtain her Midsummer crown in order to solve this mystery before something terrible happens at the Gathering. In The Winter Child, the faeries of Old Oak Wood are once again very busy and excited, this time for Midwinter’s Eve. The problem: winter is nowhere to be found! Without the power of Lady Winter, dangerous creatures like the goblins—normally asleep during the cold, snowy months—threaten to gather together and wreak havoc upon Old Oak Wood. With the help of his best friend Twig, some friendly sorcerers, some elusive elementals, and a mysterious downy-haired faery baby hatched from golden egg, Sneezle sets out to find Lady Winter and restore the cycle of the seasons. Finally, in The Faeries of Spring Cottage, after narrowly escaping from a band of strange and aggressive stick-like creatures, Sneezle inadvertently winds up in the worst place possible for a small faery like himself: in a house filled with humans! Sneezle must enlist the aid of a cheerful brownie that also lives inside the house, as well as some royal rat faeries, dolls that are able to come to life through faery magic, and even a young human girl, in order to find his way back home.
As I touched on before, one thing that truly makes these books stand out is their pictures, which are actually photographs. The characters are shown as dolls and puppets on real-life sets, both natural and man-made. Wife of world-famous fantasy artist Brian Froud—of whose work I am a huge fan—Wendy Froud is a doll-maker and an extraordinary artist in her own right. One of her greatest achievements was her help in the creation of the character Yoda from the film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Like her husband, Froud has also worked with Muppet creator Jim Henson, designing various creatures for The Muppet Show, as well as his classic films The Muppet Movie, Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal.
The story’s other half, writer Terri Windling, is one of fantasy’s finest authors for both children and adults and her works have won numerous awards, such as the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award, among others. One of her primary interests as a writer is exploring how myth and folklore are used and expressed in today’s art. Here, the way she describes Old Oak Wood, one could almost believe that magical beings really do live just beyond the trees, the rivers, or the hills—and could be seen with just the right mindset:
“Faeries are contrary creatures, but there is one way they are pleased to oblige us: to humans determined not to believe in them, they remain quite invisible. Yet anyone who has ever suspected that Nature herself has a spirit and soul can learn to see her children, the faeries, flickering through shadows of field and wood. . . .
. . . Old Oak Wood was quiet and still if you looked at it through human eyes—but Sneezle looked through faery eyes and saw quite a different picture. The shadows were filled with woodland folk—faeries and foxes, brownies and badgers, piskies and porcupines, derricks and deer, all busy now with preparations for the Gathering to come. Tiny green piskies harvested cobwebs, red-eared trolls gathered mandrake roots, and luminous flower faeries wove garlands of ivy and briar roses. Brownies with clothes of bark and moss painted white spots onto red mushrooms. Excited rabbits, always a nuisance, rolled in the leaves and scampered underfoot. Delicate sylphs flew overhead, pouring mist from silver buckets.” (Pg. 4-6)
Windling writes like a grandparent or older storyteller reciting a tale for children. Her words or so carefully chosen as if by wise adult with strong knowledge of this magical world, yet they are simple enough so that children can be completely immersed in the tale.
And speaking of children, Sneezle is a character that I believe many—both kids and kids at heart—could relate to. Little Sneezle is seldom taken seriously in spite of his good intentions. He is ungainly, somewhat gullible, and not especially strong or handsome. Thus, he seeks reassurance that he indeed has a purpose in his life:
“Starbucket filled his pipe with faery herbs, then sat back in his chair. ‘Tell me, nephew, what brings you all the way to this part of the wood?’
Sneezle, seated at his feet, looked up at the kind old troll gravely. ‘What happens on Midsummer Night?’
‘Wait and see at the Gathering,’ the troll replied, eyes sparkling. ‘You’ll go this year, won’t you?’
‘Yes, but . . . Uncle Starbucket, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Everyone keeps shooing me away! I want a job like everyone else—and I don’t know what mine is.’
The old troll puffed on his pipe, considering. ‘All creatures must follow their natures, boy. You must do what you were born to do best.’
‘But I’m not good at anything. I’m clumsy and get everything wrong. I mess things up,’ Sneezle confided, ‘and everyone laughs at me.’
‘Well then, Sneezle, maybe that’s your role. Maybe you’re supposed to cause chaos, and stir things up, and make people laugh. Why, that’s a fine job to have!’ the old troll assured him.
‘No, it’s not,’ the little faery mumbled, ears drooping around his cheeks.
‘Remember: the actions of the smallest faery help or harm all of Old Oak Wood. Have patience, boy. Wisdom is a thing you earn, not a thing you’re born with.’
Sneezle’s ears pricked up at this. ‘How do I earn wisdom, uncle?’
‘There’s no recipe for wisdom, boy. Just trust your heart, for the truth of things isn’t always clear to the eyes or ears. The world is filled with illusion, child; not everything is as it seems. But the heart is where true wisdom lies—and you have a good one, Sneezle.’
Sneezle frowned, scratching his pelt. Adults always talked in riddles like this. He hoped that in another hundred years he would finally understand them.” (Pg. 18)
As is often true, what children may lack in physical strength and worldly knowledge, they can and do make up for with an open heart and an unbiased point of view. Not unlike in most traditional fairy tales, Sneezle always gives help to any creature, faery or otherwise, that needs it, and more often than not, those creatures turn out to be powerful beings who in turn offer rewards for his kind acts. In this way, Sneezle is able to see that he does have the power to change things for the better, just by being himself:
“. . . ‘I may be a hero, but I’m still a fool,’ the downcast little faery groaned. ‘’I still mess everything up. I’m still the same old Sneezle.’
‘And that’s a fine thing to be!’ said a voice behind him.
The child turned and saw a radiant man and woman among the trees, dressed in grass-green velvet, crowned with ivy and rowanberries, luminous with the morning light. He knew at once who they must be. ‘Are you . . . ?’
‘The Lord and Lady of the Wood,’ the lovely woman said. ‘And you, my little trickster, are Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs the Seventh. A proud old name for a fine young faery. We’ve come to return a wish to you. . . . Take it with our blessing, child.’
‘I will,’ promised Sneezle earnestly. ‘I’ll be much wiser from now on.’
‘Just be Sneezle. That’s good enough,’ said the raven-haired Lord of the Wood with a smile.” (Pg. 50)
It is apparent that the two minds behind this literary adventure have created these characters with great skill and, more importantly, with great love. Every creature’s appearance and personality is unique and expressive: bright, rosy-cheeked children, wizened, starry-eyed elders, and grotesque, cunning monsters, with the tone and object placement within each picture fitting perfectly with its corresponding occurrence. Though they specialize in differing forms of art, Froud and Windling’s abilities are such that they add an authenticity to these stories that to me is pretty rare in many newer children’s books today. The combination of photographed sculptures and rich narration reveal a new world that can be believable and wondrous to children and adults alike.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
All book excerpts are from A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale by Wendy Froud and Terri Windling (1999 hardcover edition; published by Simon & Schuster)
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
EPISODE SONGS:
“Nature's Secrets” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
“Nature's Secrets” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
“A Child's Quest” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
“Home of the Heart” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Wendy Froud on Wikipedia
Terry Windling on Wikipedia
The Frouds' Official Website
Terri Windling's Official Website
The Frouds' Facebook Page
Old Oak Wood on Goodreads
Buy Old Oak Wood on Amazon
Buy A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale at Barnes & Noble
Buy The Winter Child at Barnes & Noble
Buy The Faeries of Spring Cottage at Barnes & Noble
Buy Old Oak Wood on EBay
^^ Back to Books, Graphic Novels, and Other Works of Literature
Wendy Froud on Wikipedia
Terry Windling on Wikipedia
The Frouds' Official Website
Terri Windling's Official Website
The Frouds' Facebook Page
Old Oak Wood on Goodreads
Buy Old Oak Wood on Amazon
Buy A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale at Barnes & Noble
Buy The Winter Child at Barnes & Noble
Buy The Faeries of Spring Cottage at Barnes & Noble
Buy Old Oak Wood on EBay
^^ Back to Books, Graphic Novels, and Other Works of Literature