Customer Reviews

Fiona's Luck

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once, there was luck floating in the air all over Ireland for anyone to grab when they needed it, thanks to the leprechauns. When humans came, however, the luck stuck to them more than to anyone else and the leprechaun king became worried that there wouldn't be enough luck left for the leprechauns. He sent out his people to collect the luck so he could keep it safe, but they followed his orders too well and collected all the luck, not just the leprechaun luck. There was not a drop of luck to be found in Ireland at all.

Things got very bad. The Irish had no milk, no eggs, and no potatoes. All they had was a woman named Fiona. She wasn't lucky or strong, but she was smart and clever and she found a way to make everyone think she had luck. Rumors flew about Fiona's good fortune and when the leprechaun king heard them, he wanted Fiona's luck for his own.

Thus began the challenge of luck versus wit. The leprechaun king tried to take Fiona's luck and Fiona tried to trick the leprechaun king into releasing the luck for all of Ireland to use again.

Fiona's Luck is a delightful novel for young readers. The pictures are vibrant and well-drawn, with clever details that children will notice. Young children will enjoy looking at the pictures and listening as someone reads Fiona's Luck to them, while slightly older children will enjoy reading the story for themselves.

Bateman keeps the vocabulary in the story simple, but she doesn't talk down to her readers and she doesn't hesitate to use more challenging words such as "trice" or "forfeit" when the story calls for it. Children in the recommended range (4-8 years old) should understand most of the words used, but Fiona's Luck will likely also provide an opportunity to expand their vocabulary slightly.

The story and illustrations are entertaining enough that adults will enjoy reading Fiona's Luck with children.

Armchair Interview says: This is a well-written, well-drawn, fun story that shows the importance of relying on yourself rather than trusting to luck.

Before I get into the actual review of this work, please allow me a very short rant. I noted that that a review from Publisher's weekly felt "that the wordy writing style often slows the proceedings and may confuse younger readers trying to puzzle out the bargain between Fiona and her leprechaun foil." Of the many, many absolutely ludicrous statements I have read in Publishers Weekly reviews over the years, this one has to take the cake. It is attitudes such as this that is causing the slow but sure dumbing-down of our children. Now you can ask anyone who knows me and they will assure you that I am certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer...never have been, but I can well remember being read all of the original fairy tales of the Brother's Grimm, without illustrations, when I was no more than four years old and understood them perfectly. Talk about wordy writing style! No, the problem lies at the feet of extremely lazy adults that do not want to be bothered with reading a story properly to a child. Kids are far, far brighter than many adults of today give them credit for. It is attitudes such as this, attitudes that have been with us a number of years now, that have cause the question of "why Johnnie can't read" to be asked, and is the reason that many high school graduates cannot read above a seventh grade reading level. It is also the reason we have people of such low caliber talking trash at Publishers Weekly; they obviously were not challanged enough as children.

Well thank you for the opportunity to get that out of my system, and now on with the review...

Fiona's Luck, by Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Kelly Murphy was first published in 2007 and there have been precious few books of this quality, both textual and artistic to match it since. It is an original tale, a folktale if you will, set in Ireland in the old days. It would seem that at one time the Irish had all the luck they needed and all was well and all prospered.

Now a particularly greedy and selfish leprechaun king noted this luck the Irish were having and was disturbed that all of the luck was being soaked up by the big people. This greedy king sent his leprechauns out, weaving fine golden and magic strands into nets and captured all the luck and hid it in a great chest deep in his hidden thrown room in a large wooden chest.

The luck had been taken from the Irish and cows stopped giving milk, chickens stopped laying eggs and the potatoes rotten in the fields. "The land of Ireland fell into a time of great misfortune." All were in a state of despair; all but one young girl by the name of Fiona who decided to find where the luck had been taken and wrest of from the king...not through force, but via the use of her wits and wits alone.

Enough of the plot now as I do not want to ruin the book for you with spoilers.

The text of this story is very near perfect in my opinion. It uses a fairytale mode yet it is smoothly done and follows a wonderfully crafted line of thought. There is a certain magic in the rhythm of the words which goes quite well with the story line and blends further into the mode of a story teller setting by a fire on a winter's eve. The syntax is an absolute delight to the ear when read aloud and if the listener should squint their eyes just a bit, not one illustration would be needed with this book. But thank goodness this is not the case here!

The art work by Kelly Murphy is just that...art work! She has used acrylic, watercolor, and gel medium to cast a spell on the beholder. It is difficult to use the words "richness" and "subdued" to describe a painting but those are the only words I can think of. The paintings are absolutely haunting. They change from mood to mood as the story progresses. When we get to the part of the text where "The land of Ireland fell into a time of great misfortune," the reader will come close to having tears in their eyes. On the other hand, when Fiona outwits the greedy king and returns home, the happiness of the young girl, her dog and even a cow simply flow from the painting. Did I mention the fact that I felt this was one of the best illustrated books to come along in years?

Text and painting blend perfectly. This is a wonderful read aloud book for the class room. It is one I personally have had great success with (yes, Publisher's Weekly...the preschoolers have understood the story perfectly each and every time).

And oh by the way; there is a wonderful moral lesson thrown into this story that even the dullest adult will be able to pick up on; that is the fact that using ones wits rather than trusting to luck will work each and every time.

Recommend this one highly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Irish-American author Teresa Bateman presents Fiona's Luck, a delightful children's picturebook weaving a fantastic fable of cleverness. When luck vanishes from Ireland - hens give no eggs, cows give no milk, and potatoes rot in the ground - young Fiona deduces that leprechauns have stolen the luck of the Irish, and improvises a plan to get their attention and restore luck to the people, using her own knowledge of leprechaun law. Though Fiona acknowledges the value of luck, she chooses to depend upon her wits first and foremost, in this charming original story, beautifully illustrated by artist Kelly Murphy.

Great story, great art work. I bought this as a gift. Received promptly by mail. Thanks so much to the sender.

Not many Stories with the name Fiona (my daughter's name). My daughter received it as a gift for her birthday and we love the tale and the illustrations are amazing. Every time she has shared it with her class her teachers comment on the lesson in the story and their joy in sharing it. We found it to be a great personal gift to give at the end of the school year!

Let me first start with the artwork in this book. Chills, that's what it does. Gives me a good case of the shivers, it's just that moving. (Gotta love the use of color, too - compare brown, dark, drab luckless Ireland with green, growing, lucky Ireland!)

The story is compelling, and has a few good vocabulary words in it, but not so much that you think the author was throwing them in for the heck of it.

And the moral of the story, that we have to make our own luck, is well-presented.

I will note that I gnash my teeth every time Fiona loses the chess game with the leprechaun king, as that's a game with no element of chance whatsoever. It's a small thing to get upset about, but it does annoy me to see! Silly, I know :)

I'll also note that this book is a little wordy. Preschoolers with short attention spans might prefer you to hold off a year before you read this to them.

While Fiona's Luck is reminiscent of many folktales it is overall about being clever, witty, and about using one's own brain. Once upon a time, luck made by leprechauns was free for everyone in Ireland to use. However, the leprechaun king ordered all the leprechaun to gather up all the luck that he felt the humans were using too much of. Soon all the humans in Ireland are left without any luck - potatoes no longer grow, milk is no longer produced, and everyone becomes unhappy. Then a girl named Fiona arrives. After seeing all the bad luck, she decides to create her own luck. In doing so, she uses her brain and her wits to release luck from the leprechauns for everyone to share, including the leprechauns themselves.

Fiona's Luck is a great read for both children and adults. Teresa Bateman uses simple sentences to portray human characteristics that everyone is capable of. More importantly, Fiona's Luck sends the message that you cannot rely on others to create your luck for your, but you have to put in the work yourself in order to achieve any goal.

The illustrations by Kelly Murphy are gorgeous! They are full of colors that can be seen as representative of Ireland itself: rich greens and browns. These colors are also in turn coincide with how Ireland was before the luck was freed (drab and dark) and how it was after luck was freed (light and brown).

Fiona's Luck is a highly recommended read, not just for the St. Patrick's Day Holiday, or anyone with Irish heritage, but for every child (and adult) to learn about hard work and cleverness.

I love this book as an adult. My 2 kids like it too! They are 2 and 5. It is a great story about being clever. The art is nice and the story is well written. The kids think it is funny and it was a great conversation starter for the skill of being "clever". I highly recommend this one.

I love this book. The story and illustrations are wonderful. All the children I nanny for love this story.

I really enjoyed reading this story to my children around St. Patrick's Day! I recently purchased the book for my neice Fiona for Easter!