Customer Reviews

The Whimsical Tarot Book: A Deck for Children and the Young at Heart

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This book accompanies the Whimsical Tarot Deck. While there is supposed to be a gift box set, I have only seen the book and decks sold separately and when I purchased the deck, I also purchased the book. I have reviewed the deck under it's listing.

The book's layout is easy to follow. It begins with an introduction to the purpose and style of the cards, use and care of the deck, discussion of various layouts of tarot readings and then meanings of the cards as designed by Dorothy Morrison. The Major Arcana is first, followed by the Minor Arcana in order and each card has a black and white graphic rendition of the card so it is easy to visualize and follow.

The discussion in the beginning of the book focuses on children reading Tarot. This may sound surprising to some but to those of us who have our kids around us all the time, the curiosity of child is only second to how persistent they can be to know about things that attract their attention. Ms. Morrison offers assistance in helping us introduce the tarot to our children. From examining the cards to blessing and handling the cards, it is a basic handbook for introducing our children to simple, basic divination. In the layouts section, there are suggested layouts for use by kids, and it is grouped by ages, from very simple one card readings to more complex spreads for the experienced older child.

There may be questions as to the card's subject. If we are not familiar with all the fairy tales that Ms. Morrison has included in this deck, this book will help you out with that. For example, the Queen of Rods, while looking very queenly, is actually Cinderella. If you look her up in the book, the association is clearly laid out. "No matter how dire her circumstances or how horrible her treatment, she never let it get her down. She just kept on working, kept on smiling, and kept on with the business of living. In the end, she prevailed and won her heart's desire: a charming prince with a gentle heart, a fast horse, and all the love she could ask."

Ms. Morrison is very clear in her meanings; nothing is hidden and nothing is left open and mysterious. This is the plain English Ms. Morrison we know and love. She even gives details of how she designed the cards. To continue "Dressed in the yellow and green of creative growth, the Queen of Rods is the eternal cheerleader. She loves everyone and everything." While this is very insightful for the reader, it also gives us insight into how Ms. Morrison is guiding us along as we search for answers in our own lives. Very clear, very easy to understand and so insightful, this handbook is a guide as well as a companion to using the deck.

She also offers some advice and insights into what this card may mean if it shows up in your readings. Again, referencing the Queen of Cups, Cinderella: "When the Queen of Cups graces your spread, it's time to look at life with a loving eye." Further down, she adds "Remember that love is a gentle, kind, and nurturing emotion that carries with it many responsibilities." She goes into what she means by this and you are left with much food for thought as to how it can reflect in your own life.

The book is the signpost to be used with the deck which presents the road as we are walking down it today. These roads change as we make decisions which affect our future. When we use these tools, we look for ones that we can relate to, that can be easily interpreted by us and also provide some enjoyment when we use them.

There is a small bibliography in the back of the book, and a good table of contents, but this book is good on it's own for ease of use. I believe Ms. Morrison has provided us with a great companion book to her delightful deck as well as solid advice and practices if we wish to introduce our children to the basics of tarot. boudica

To create a divination tool useable by adults and children alike is no small feat and Dorothy Morrison has accomplished it incredibly well. Children will find all the images easily recognizable and something to which they can relate. Adults will be pleased with the reader-friendly imagery and the pragmatic, light hearted writing Ms. Morrison is so well known for. I cannot say BRAVA loudly enough since I have sought a deck that I felt comfortable with for over 10 years.

My four year old grandson has this deck. He picks out a card and brings it to me to tell him the story. After he hears the story, we talk about the life lessons the story holds. What a wonderful way to spend "quality time" with my grandson!! I highly recommend this deck to anyone with children or grandchildren!! This deck is wonderful for all ages. It brings back memories of the fairy tales and nursery rhymes we loved as children, and brings the stories into new light. The story or nursery rhyme that goes with each card fits in excellently with the meaning of the card. For instance, the Lovers card is Beauty and the Beast. How perfect!!

I really loved this deck and book. I teach
english, so the concept of using fairy tales, nursery rhymes and folk tales to teach tarot is wonderful. It has been done before, but this deck and book really get into the concept and it is worth the money. A warning, I bought the book and deck separate, which was a mistake as it cost more. I would get the entire set together if I were to do it again. I really love the cards, the images and the stories. I have made good use of this deck already.

If you're not the cutsey type or won't appreciate the artwork because you're "darker" or more "serious" than that, all I can say is, lighten up. This is a great deck and a great springboard to learn from before getting into something as esoteric as Rider Waite or Crowley Thoth.

Everybody knows the fairytales and even if you don't, it's fun to look them up. These cards are definitely more accessible to us modern pagans and witches!

I would highly recommend this for the absolute and not so absolute beginner (a welcome addition to any tarot library, as it's less intimidating than other deck images!).

FIRST THOUGHTS... In-a-word, the 'Whimsical Tarot Book' is just great, as would be hoped-for, and expected, from Dorothy Morrison (the Designer of the deck and Author of the book), and Mary Hanson-Roberts (Artist-extraordinnaire).
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SYNOPSIS...

The BOOK stands on its own as an instruction as to what all our beloved fairytales mean from an esoteric point-of-view. It's very much well-worth the reading of it to gain insight as to why fairytales have so captured and imprinted upon us their everlasting 'Wisdom'. It is precisely the symbology of this 'Wisdom Unconsciously Imprinted' that Dorothy vividly explains. So, please, DO NOT make the mistake of thinking this is just a deck or book for children. The deck gives right-on, easily understood readings for adults, and the BOOK is so insightful as to make one wonder how they could have lived without Dorothy's explanations all these years, *lol*
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PARTICULARS...

The BOOK is very well-bound, and incorporates the 'Pictures', 'Descriptions', and 'Advice' of all 78 cards of the full Whimsical Tarot Deck (both Major and Minor Arcana).

The PICTURES in the book are all black & white.

The DIMENSIONS of the book are: 4 1/2 inches Wide by 7 inches Tall, or, 11 1/2 centimeters Wide by 17 3/4 centimeters Tall.
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TAROT SPREADS and A WORD ABOUT CHILDREN...

There are offered a variety of TAROT SPREADS and a nifty section on how to HELP YOUR CHILDREN understand Tarot. And why not? The deck, and ensuing book, being based on 'fairytales', is most appropriate to youngsters as it is completely NON-THREATENING.
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CARD DEPICTIONS...

The SCARIEST cards in most Tarot decks are 'Death' (skeleton with scythe), 'The Devil' (well, use your imagination for this one, *lol*), and the '10 of Swords' (a person's body stabbed with 10 swords, yuk, *lol*).

But, in the 'Whimsical' book, they are depicted as:

'DEATH/SLEEPING BEAUTY' laying asleep, not dead, on her draped bed, awaiting the new phase in her life to come forth;

'DEVIL/PINNOCHIO' with two hands pulling the strings and making Pinnochio dance 'seemingly' against his Will, showing us that the development of our Will to resist temptation is, in fact, the building of our Character;

And 'Ten of SWORDS/HUMPTY-DUMPTY' falling off the wall, but not yet hitting the ground to be all cracked and broken, showing us, also, that we all fall down from time-to-time due to naivete and lack of experience.
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BOOK PAGES...

What I especially admire is how Dorothy explains each card in terms of the actual fairytale used to depict it. Each card has its own two pages devoted to it, which includes a black & white picture of the card itself. These two pages are broken into two parts: the CARD DESCRIPTION and the ADVICE.

The 'DESCRIPTION' part is a complete reference to the fairytale symbology utilized, and how it applies to the Tarot Card depiction. Dorothy did a really good job of this, as I referenced above.

The 'ADVICE' part consists of Dorothy's very insightful explanations as to what the 'Wisdom of the Ages' is trying to tell us, thus, moving us in a direction to choose a course of action, or mode of perception, that is more aligned with the ethics and morals of our Divine nature... the very 'Wisdom' we try to instill in our children and which, by the way, many adults need to be reminded of as well, *wink*
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LAST THOUGHTS...

There is no possible way to go wrong with this book... the 'Wisdom of the Ages' may be presented in a 'whimsical, fairytale' manner but, as I said, the 'Whimsical Book' stands on its own merit; the deck is not needed to glean the depth and richness of the lessons, and vibrancy, of life and living, *vbs*

I love this deck for a variety of reasons. One is that I can use it with children and the children "get it" every time. Its always accurate no matter who or where Ive used it with.
I also love it for storytelling. Kids have great fun making up stories to the cards.
When I was a preschool teacher the kids had fun drawing a card and talkng about it. No one suspected it was an actual tarot deck.
It is fun, whimsical, fairy tale like and one of my favorite decks!!

My child is 6, and just beginning to learn her tarot. This is a perfect set. Make sure you get the book as well.

This book is just like it's title describes: for children and the young at heart. It really is easy to read and gives a gentler approach than what you may be used to, but it's still right on target. Love it!

If you love the Inner Child Cards, you will love this deck. It is much smaller so it is portable and easy to handle. The art work is very detailed so you have something to focus on. The only "problem" was that there was no enclosed book. If you are a by the book reader this is a negative but if you are like me, it prevents you from second guessing your messages.