Tape Review

A Giant, An Imp, and Two Jacks: Children's Tales from Scotland, Ireland, and England
Harlynne Geisler
Available in CD or tape from Story Bag,
5361 Javier Street, San Diego, CA 92117-3215, 858-569-9399.
www.swiftsite.com/storyteller
Review by Robert Rodriquez

There's no place like home, so goes the old aphorism, and it seems this applies as much to the storytelling realm as it does to anything else. Enter consummate professional teller Harlynne Geisler, with two decades of telling experience under her belt. Take her back to her ethnic roots, and voila: the result is this most intriguing recording of four traditional tales that come from the Orkney Islands of Scotland, Ireland, England, and the Anglo-American tradition. Geisler has that vocal ability in telling a tale to inexorably reel in a delighted listener until he or she finds the very heart of a story.

In the Scottish "Peerifolk," the youngest of a trio of regal siblings shows kindness to the wee folk and outwits a very malevolent giant in the bargain. "Tom Tit Tot," the English Rumpelstiltskin, is given a new and fresh rendering. Both "Lazy Jack" and "Silly Jack" show the favorite perennial hero in several distinctive guises and settings, and Geisler is more than equal to the narrative task where good old Jack is concerned. Whether it is winning the Irish king's daughter to wife or botching a simple assignment from his mother, Jack is Jack, and Geisler skillfully manages to bring him to magical life once again.

What this tape proves, under Geisler's skillful and innovative retellings, is that the very best tales are still the old and traditional tales, and thanks to Geisler, these wonderful old chestnuts do come alive once again. This is especially true with "Lazy Jack" and "Tom Tit Tot," my two personal favorites on the recording. If you want to introduce a young person to the wondrous world of traditional folktales from all over, this is as good a way to do it as any current resource around. Although this cassette is styled "children's tales," it can be thoroughly enjoyed by folks of all ages. This story resource comes very highly recommended.

—posted January 2001