Spoiler-free summary: A collection of fourteen connected stories about the Gubbaun Saor, a mythic figure in Irish culture, who is the titular “wonder smith,” being able to quickly build amazing buildings and sculptures. This was a quick read, but the legendary world filled with magical creatures and the story logic of mythology was more engaging than I had expected.
Discussion: I don’t have the knowledge to differentiate folktale from mythology, if there is any difference – this era of the Newbery had a couple of folktale collections focused on a specific culture win the medal (Tales from Silver Lands in 1925 and Shen of the Sea in 1926), but while those feel dated in a “1920s guy tells you about another culture” way, this feels more timeless than dated. It gave more of a Greek mythology vibe than a folktale vibe, but again, maybe Greek “mythology” is just another term for ancient Greek folktales.
This is old enough to be in the public domain, and I think it’s worth checking out. It’s 200 pages long, but that is heavily padded out, so it reads very quickly. Part of the padding are some great illustrations in a really distinctive style by Boris Artzybasheff that add to the mood of the book.
Next up is Floating Island by Anne Parrish. Another one I knew nothing about, although I read this back-to-back with The Wonder Smith on a plane, so I’ve already finished it at the point of doing this write-up. It’s interesting!
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