Customer Reviews

The Witches and Wizards of Oberin

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is just a really nice book all around. Besides the beautiful photographs, the layout and glossy pages really make this book a treat to read.

The different pictures are held together rather loosely by a short story. While it does help to tie the book together, I found it almost unnecessary. The pictures are enough on their own.

After enjoying this book immensely, I went in search of Scalora's other picture book, The Fairies. It too is wonderful to look at, and either book would make a great gift for anyone who is intrigued by the idea of fairies and magic.

To start off, at 20+ years I probably skew a bit older than the target market for this book. And yes, I did buy it for myself.

The best part of the book is the photographs (it is mainly a picture book after all). The witches and wizards in the book are grouped into the four elements, and each shot is heavily themed. The makeup, costuming, and sets are all very complete and otherworldly. Nearly everything has some sort of glow, sheen, or sparkle to it. The only visual element I disliked was the rather heavy use of motion blur. It does add an ethereal element to the shots, but I would have preferred it been used less.

The story and writing were tolerable at best, most often saccharine, and in a word, tacky. I can see the possible appeal for younger readers, but you can find better. But then you don't buy a picture book for the text. Still, I felt the text distracted from the overall quality, and is the reason I took a star off.

Overall a very pretty and stylized book.

This book is amazing! I have Suza Scalora's first book, The Fairies, which I love! But this new book about witches and wizards is so beautiful and imaginative. I love the story that the Spirit Keeper tells of his clan of mysterious witches and wizards that travel the world casting spells. The color photographs are gorgeous! Can't wait for the next one.

I really loved the pictures in this book.All of the witches look so beautiful .They all look like they know magic.I think that they are very pretty.

Up to today, I did not believe anything could top the photography of Suza Scalora's "The Fairies." I purchased a copy of "The Witches and Wizards of Oberin" today and it is even more stirring. The photos are exceptional and the story line is great. The whole book blends together in a wonderful and magicial way that is great reading for both young and those more mature. But the colors, the figures, the expressions of the characters, that cannot be described in the space allowed here. One must see this book. It is great. Hope to see another one soon.

I bought this because I loved Scalora's Fairies book and because it has a beautiful photograph on the cover. I think it is the best one in the entire book and is worth purchasing just for that! The other images are nice too. The fonts are craftily and tastefully arranged along with the super glossy pages and super bright colors. I gave it three stars because if you're trying to choose between this book and Scalora's other book, Fairies, then Fairies is the one to purchase since the photographs are even more GORGEOUS. The images in this addition are worth owning too however.

I home school and am always looking for exciting and creative material to present to my daughters. This is a wonderful short story that is long on creative presentation and imagination.
It is a mystery that unfolds its secret in the form of a message that is woven throughout the full page, full color, whimsical pictures of the witches and wizards. The words and phrases are later tied together at the end when the text of the message is written again in a spiral pattern.
The mystery begins with a newspaper clipping (shown as such) setting the stage for the story and offering the first clue. The mystery ends with another clipping that leaves the child to draw the obvious conclusion on their own. A thought provoking childrens story. There are precious few of these.
Throughout the story, the witches and wizards are described in poetic form with changes in font and artistic style to more elaborately express the mood and meaning of the words.
I absolutely LOVE this book, as do my daughters. I highly recommend it.

Before I start, I must say that this book is not meant to be considered a reference in any way. It is simply a beautifully photographed story greatly spiced up with mythology and spirituality. I would reccomend it to anyone looking for a really unique coffee table book.

Wow!What a magical and enchanting book!The story makes you a true believer in mystical beings.But,it's the pictures that really grab your attention!The photographs in this book are absolutely amazing!I have honestly never seen images like these before.I highly recommend this to all lovers of fairies!

Let me start by saying that Suza Scalora's photographs are positively enchanting and worth the price of the book alone. The photographs are arranged according to the four elements (skipping spirit) and provide luscious eye candy. Even if you are generally a skeptic when it comes to believing in mythical creatures or otherworldly beings, this book may help change your mind. The production of the book is very well done. The binding is very tight and I love that the pages are coated with gloss like the front of a photograph. This ensures the longevity of the publishing and saves your pages from humidity damage or spills. The only sad part about the book is that it is short. There aren't merely enough images from the artist and closing the book made me want to see more. Somehow I feel like a good rule of thumb for any art type book is about 70-100 pages to be entirely honest. This was way under that and felt too short.

The second thing I have to point out, I really can't help it, is the story itself. I understand what the story was trying to say, but it just really didn't flow well for me. The beginning of the story was clearly stated, but when you continue flipping to the pages containing wizards and witches, the text is really rather boring. The story is too short to lead anywhere, but long enough to make you wonder why it isn't more interesting. Overall, I really feel the artist would've done better if there were only photographs with a description of each piece or even a well written poem. Some may enjoy the story, but I've truly read much better stories to surround art. Any one of the ology series or Cicely Mary Barker books contains a much better story with a similar goal of traveling. I bought this book solely for the artwork and not the story, so I guess I am not too disappointed in entirety.

Overall, this is a gorgeous book to give as a gift, keep yourself or just place on your coffee table to keep visitors interested. The story isn't interesting, but the art more than makes up for that minor detail. The book has a beautiful presentation and an intriguing cover if you remove the dust jacket.