{"id":26779,"date":"2014-05-11T11:11:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-11T15:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=26779"},"modified":"2014-05-10T15:29:02","modified_gmt":"2014-05-10T19:29:02","slug":"the-shadow-mother-by-sean-virgo-illustrated-by-javier-serrano-perez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-shadow-mother-by-sean-virgo-illustrated-by-javier-serrano-perez\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shadow Mother by Se\u00e1n Virgo, illustrated by Javier Serrano P\u00e9rez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shadow<\/a>Confession: this post appears today only because of the word “Mother” in the title. In the U.S. and many countries around the world,\u00a0the second Sunday in May\u00a0is designated “Mother’s Day”\u00a0[check out this comprehensive chart for a Mother’s Day near you<\/a>!]. So here’s the warning:\u00a0if you’re looking for a cuddly feel-good story, this would not be it. But if\u00a0you’re in the mood for a\u00a0mythic, albeit bittersweet, work of intense beauty, you won’t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

The tale begins with a boy “born by a river where ships came in from every place in the world.” He is drawn to the water, eventually becoming “the master of his own tall ship, sailing the Seven Seas.” Falling in love with a mysterious girl of the waters, he takes her shadow to ensure she can never leave him. He gives up his nautical adventures\u00a0and returns to the town by river of his childhood to\u00a0begin family life. Alas, his son grows up “in a silent house” with parents who love him dearly, but who cannot love one another. The attic becomes the young boy’s\u00a0refuge. There he eventually discovers his father’s old sea chest and the invaluable treasure within … which\u00a0leads him to his inevitable future.<\/p>\n

Canadian-domiciled poetry and prose writer\u00a0Se\u00e1n Virgo takes various pieces of the selkie legends (about transforming seal-like creatures of the sea) and weaves a surreal dream of love and longing. As simple as his sentences might seem, readers of all ages will\u00a0find a multi-layered story within. Virgo’s\u00a0magnetic\u00a0words are rendered into hypnotic\u00a0landscapes by Hans Christian Andersen Award finalist (considered the ‘Nobel of children’s literature’)\u00a0Javier Serrano P\u00e9rez, in which humans, fish, and other fantastic beings\u00a0overlap and coalesce without boundaries. The effect is exquisite, both tragic and hopeful, with promise of brand\u00a0new beginnings …<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Confession: this post appears today only because of the word “Mother” in the title. In the U.S. and many countries around the world,\u00a0the second Sunday in May\u00a0is designated “Mother’s Day”\u00a0[check out this comprehensive chart for a Mother’s Day near you!]. So here’s the warning:\u00a0if you’re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,274,23,6,30,31],"tags":[32,6608,438,5701,13,39,5700,5699],"class_list":["post-26779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-canadian","category-european","category-fiction","category-middle-grade-readers","category-young-adult-readers","tag-adventure","tag-bookdragon","tag-folklore-legend-myth","tag-javier-serrano-perez","tag-love","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-sean-virgo","tag-shadow-mother"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Shadow Mother by Se\u00e1n Virgo, illustrated by Javier Serrano P\u00e9rez - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-shadow-mother-by-sean-virgo-illustrated-by-javier-serrano-perez\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Shadow Mother by Se\u00e1n Virgo, illustrated by Javier Serrano P\u00e9rez - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Confession: this post appears today only because of the word “Mother” in the title. In the U.S. and many countries around the world,\u00a0the second Sunday in May\u00a0is designated “Mother’s Day”\u00a0[check out this comprehensive chart for a Mother’s Day near you!]. 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