Opinion: Arthur and the Golden Thread. Scandinavia and the Vikings in a modern way

This is a story about an Icelandic boy, Arthur, the most unheroic of heroes. One day, while walking in the forest, Arthur saw a huge black wolf attack him. hometown, maimed residents and extinguished a large fire. Arthur knew that without this fire the city would not survive, everything would freeze. In an effort to protect the town, the boy goes for help to Thor and Odin, the main Scandinavian gods.

To defeat the sinister wolf Fenrir, Arthur will have to weave a magical golden thread together with Odin. And for this you need to bring the sound of cat steps and roots to the gods highest mountains. Will Arthur cope? Will he be able to find such unusual ingredients? And will the gods, together with the boy, be able to defeat the ominous Fenrir, who has already thwarted more than one northern deity and destroyed dozens of settlements throughout Iceland?

In search of answers to these questions, you will plunge into a northern mythology full of magic, powerful artifacts, mysterious lands and adventures that will take your breath away.

Book chips

— The story in the comic is based on Scandinavian myth about the capture of Fenrir.

— Amazing illustrations allow you to imagine the hero’s world in detail.

— The comic is also suitable for reading with small children. Use the “finger method” - point the child to the frame and read the voice-over text. Since there are practically no texts in “bubbles”, it will be easy for you to read, and your baby will easily understand what is happening.

Who is this book for?

For children from 4 years old.

For all comic book lovers.

For fans of Scandinavia.

For those who liked the Hildafolk series.

About the series

Each book in the series Magic stories Mr. Brownstone" tells the story of the new unusual hero. Mr. Brownstone himself, a white-bearded old man in a tweed suit, welcomes readers to the family treasury, which contains ancient artifacts that his ancestors collected around the world. But Mr. Brownstone's greatest treasure is the stories he generously shares.

The author of the book, Joe Todd-Stanton, is an illustrator, which is probably why publishing houses position his books as comics. In fact, his works are full-fledged fairy tales with large, interesting and original illustrations. Joe decided to tell and draw several fairy tales, “The Magic Stories of Mr. Brownstone” and “Arthur and the Golden Thread” - the first book in the series, which was recently published in English and has already been published in Russian by the MYTH publishing house.

The comic book fairy tale (it doesn’t matter what you call an interesting and beautiful book, the main thing is that you want to read and look at it) is told in new way, how Odin had to save the world from the wolf Fenrir. And a simple boy from Iceland, Arthur, helped him with this. And who else should save the world if not a real hero with glasses, because everyone else was crippled.

If you are not familiar with this Scandinavian myth and the others, just get acquainted, and if you know what it’s about we're talking about- just have fun with a funny story told. Because Joe found room for funny moments, because the book is primarily a children's book.

The most important thing in a good fairy tale and in general modern book- these are illustrations and design in general. Todd-Stanton is original on the one hand, and on the trend on the other. Now it is fashionable and relevant to draw illustrations in such a careless, childish manner. It's fashionable - "Peppa Pig" and "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom" rule. This book, too, at first glance, is also drawn casually. But that's just the style. If the graphics in the book seem rustic and childish to you, take a closer look at the illustrations - the detail is impressive, there are a lot of funny moments that you won’t notice right away. And children generally really like this kind of graphics.

There are no comments on the quality of the publication; MYTH localized the book very well. Even the fonts were moved as close as possible to the original edition. Important point- a large, landscape format book. From the point of view of large illustrations, this is the right choice.

In general, it’s very good, the book is definitely worth taking a place on your shelf. Especially if there are 5-7 year old boys at home. They will be especially interested. And simply - as an example of good illustrator work.

"Arthur and the Golden Thread" is still in "

New books: "Superear", "Arthur and the Golden Thread", "Hilda" and others July 4th, 2017

It's easy to please me - for me the book is still best gift(well, at least one of the best for sure) My favorite publishing house is Mann, Ivanov and Ferber - where I want EVERYTHING! They recently released new comics for children and adults, and they sent them to me (but for some reason there are no pills for greed). I read a lot in in electronic format(because it's convenient), but paper books- this is Love. And I was running around with these books like a child - I would put them beautifully in a pile (well, I need to take a photo), then on a shelf, then my mother came, I grabbed everything, took it to show my mother. I took it from my mother - there’s no point in them lying around there. I brought it back to the shelf and thought for a long time about which one to start reading. I sniffed (oh, they smell so delicious like fresh paper), touched (they are so pleasant to the touch), looked at the pictures (well, they are almost all made up of pictures). As a result, the first choice fell on “Superear” - I opened it and read it half the night, I didn’t think that I would be so captivated by the story of Cece Bell!
I also got “Arthur and the Golden Thread”, “Hilda and the Bird Parade”, “The Fox and the Hare” and “On Two Wheels”. Now I’ll tell you about everyone in more detail.

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"Superear" is the plumpest of all the books. I never thought that a comic about hearing loss and life with a hearing aid could be so entertaining! Watching Sisi’s inner experiences, you understand that for some reason all these thoughts inside yourself are so understandable and close, and who didn’t want to become a superhero? I also really like her powerful rose =) (I was clearly influenced by her mega-attractiveness).

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Next in line is Arthur and the Golden Thread. Actually, this is exactly what I wanted to order. Little Arthur is friends with Thor and Odin, and such company is definitely the key to success, both in the narrative and in acquisition. I read it to myself at night, looked at the pictures and caught that forgotten feeling when a whole world is hidden in a picture book.

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“Hilda and the Bird Parade” is the third story about Hilda (there are already five). The case, too (like Arthur’s) takes place in the magical Scandinavian world. In other books, Hilda encounters trolls and giants.

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The aesthetics of “The Fox and the Hare” are not very close to me, but I must admit that it is still very beautiful. And all because this is the first graphic novel by the artist Igor Oleinikov, he participated in the creation of such cartoons as “The Secret of the Third Planet”, “Once Lived” -there was a dog”, “The Journey of an Ant”, “Martynko”. He also illustrated my favorite magazine, "Tram"!

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"On two wheels" - the history of the appearance and development of the bicycle.

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About the book

In search of answers to these questions, you will plunge into a northern mythology full of magic, powerful artifacts, mysterious lands and adventures that will captivate you...

About the book
This is a story about an Icelandic boy, Arthur, the most unheroic of heroes. One day, while walking in the forest, Arthur saw a huge black wolf attack his hometown, maiming the inhabitants and extinguishing a large fire. Arthur knew that without this fire the city would not survive, everything would freeze. In an effort to protect the town, the boy goes for help to Thor and Odin - the main Scandinavian gods.

To defeat the sinister wolf Fenrir, Arthur will have to weave a magical golden thread together with Odin. And for this you need to bring to the gods the sound of cat steps and the roots of the highest mountains. Will Arthur cope? Will he be able to find such unusual ingredients? And will the gods, together with the boy, be able to defeat the ominous Fenrir, who has already thwarted more than one northern deity and destroyed dozens of settlements throughout Iceland?

In search of answers to these questions, you will plunge into a northern mythology full of magic, powerful artifacts, mysterious lands and adventures that will take your breath away.

Book chips
- The story in the comic is based on the Scandinavian myth of the capture of Fenrir.

Amazing illustrations allow you to imagine the hero’s world in detail.

The comic is also suitable for reading with young children. Use the “finger method” - point the child to the frame and read the voice-over text. Since there are practically no texts in “bubbles”, it will be easy for you to read, and your baby will easily understand what is happening.

Who is this book for?
For children from 4 years old.

For all comic book lovers.

For fans of Scandinavia.

For those who liked the Hildafolk series.

Each book in the Mister Brownstone Magic Stories series tells the story of a new, unusual hero. Mr. Brownstone himself - a white-bearded old man in a tweed suit - welcomes readers to the family treasury, which contains ancient artifacts that his ancestors collected around the world. But Mr. Brownstone's greatest treasure is the stories he generously shares.

2nd edition.

More comics and graphic novels in the project navigator

In our review - the series “Mr. Brownstone's Magic Stories” with such beloved Scandinavian motifs.

Once again, Gixter dives into children's literature. Why the children's room? Yes, because here in Russia, the adjective “childish” has become too often used in order not to recommend something for reading. Despite the fact that many children's films and animated series have deeper content than they might seem at first glance, they are still considered unworthy entertainment. Therefore, so that readers do not pass by, oh good comics, TV series and books aimed at children's audiences need to be written more often.

This time we have an illustrated fairy tale story Joe Todd-Stanton - "Arthur and the Golden Thread" publishing house "MYTH" (Mann, Ivanov and Ferber).

The very first spread of the book plunges us into mysterious world Scandinavian tales and legends, saturated with the icy salty wind and the breathtaking spirit of adventure. As soon as I looked at him, I squeaked like Small child(Yulia, 25 years old): yes, this is a full-fledged card that foretells a large number of stories! By studying it, you can try to guess what adventures await our hero and subsequently compare them with those that the author actually came up with.

As for the author himself, all that is known about Joe Todd-Stanton is that he grew up in the city of Brighton in the UK, and studied illustration at the University of Bristol, from which he graduated with honors. His mother taught him to draw (she, by the way, is also an illustrator).

Joe has been commissioned to work with Oxford University Press, Usborne Press and the children's magazine The Eagle (all British, of course). As with Hilda, we get a talented Brit who has become interested in Scandinavia. In his short interview with the Nobrow Press publishing house (the same one that was involved in the appearance of Luke Pearson's ""), the illustrator talked about what inspires him simple conversations or reading.

Joe rarely gets a fully formed character: he likes to read about something interesting and then do the research. Usually, by the time the work is finished, it becomes completely different than originally intended, and often more interesting.

Joe Todd-Stanton during an autograph session

What can you tell us about the process?

Joe tries to keep a lot of sketch books and fill them with strange characters and drawings from Everyday life. When it comes to doing the actual work or commissions, the illustrator will already have several relevant drawings to avoid starting from scratch. Once one of the designs is selected, Joe uses Photoshop to paint and customize everything.

"Arthur and the Golden Thread" Publishing house "MYTH" - the first book in the series "Magic Stories of Mr. Brownstone." Mr. Brownstone himself, a fashionable old man in a tweed suit, has a priceless treasure: stories about the exploits of his ancestors. He generously shares this wealth with readers.

He greets us not in a beautiful living room, but in a family treasury where ancient artifacts collected by his ancestors around the world are kept.

Mr. Brownstone begins his acquaintance with his outstanding ancestors with the most unheroic of heroes, who laid the foundation for the collection, glorifying the name of the Brownstones.

Mr Brownstone

Arthur - main character books - a child, wears glasses (Harry Potter, is that you?), does not see his life without adventures. We have already seen all this, but the golden thread prompts the Russian reader to associate with the ball, which has always served as an excellent navigator - many times better than any compass and never goes astray (except that it can roll towards the goal for many, many years). It’s not easy to get a gadget, but you can definitely get it for good behavior and respect from your elders by passing some test. I also remember Ariadne’s guiding thread: Theseus tied the end of the thread at the entrance to the Minotaur’s palace and unwound the ball, going deeper into the labyrinth. When the young man met the Minotaur and defeated him, Return trip he found it using a thread.

Why did Arthur need the golden thread?

A huge black wolf attacked the boy's town, maimed the inhabitants and put out a large fire. The city cannot survive without fire, so the boy goes for help to Thor and Odin, the main Scandinavian gods (and there was something similar in Flint).

The book has only 2 significant flaws. Firstly, the narrative is very short and contains awfully little textual information. What saves it is the wonderful author's drawing, which helps to stretch out the reading and get more emotions: it feels like you are watching a cartoon rather than reading a book. Secondly, it is quite possible that an older reader will find the book more entertaining than children under 4 years old. In this case, MYTH advises using the “finger method”: point the child to the frame and read the voice-over text. Because the story is easy to read and richly illustrated, your little one will have no trouble understanding what's going on.

The publication is large-format, hardcover with gold embossing, the paper is thick and pleasant, contains 48 pages filled with the spirit of Scandinavia. Recommended for gifts and purchases for fans of the Hildafolk series.

The editors thank the publishing house "MYTH" for providing a copy for review!