Several years ago I stumbled across what I call the “Polar Bear Fairytale.” I read a version of it and then came across a video version of it. Since it is a Norwegian tale and not Hans Christian Andersen, or Grimm’s fairy tales it felt fresh to me and I had no idea what to expect from them. When I started reading other books by Jessica Day George, I found this beautiful retelling of what I now know is the “East of Sun, West of Moon” tale. Since this story doesn’t have as many adaptations to it, I highly recommend reading it, if only to get a sense of another culture. This is my favorite rendition of the story for several reasons. It has a sense of depth to the lass showing her strength and determination but also fear at what is happening in her life. I also like the fact that through 95% of the story the main character is only called “lass” or “pika” which means lass and yet I still felt a connection to her. She is a character that I admire. The mother of this story is someone who I wanted to trash most of the time but once again, Jessica wrote it in such a way that I could understand, though not agree with, what she was doing and how see acted.
This is a great introduction to Norwegian fairytales. It has all the classic elements we’ve come to expect and yet still keeps us biting our nails at what is going to happen next. I recommend this book to anyone. The other distinct advantage is this book is stand alone, though I probably wouldn’t complain if she decided to write more in the same setting with other lesser known fairytales.
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