The Bee-Man of Orn

Rating:
Summary: "Do you know that You have been Transformed?"
Review: Frank R. Stockton first wrote "The Bee-Man of Orn", a strange blend of folktale and original fairy story back in 1964, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. Although good, Sendak's illustrations were bright and kooky, high-lighting the comic aspects of the story, rather than the deeper more thoughtful elements. On the whole, I prefer this new edition, with new illustrations by P. J. Lynch that create a more realistic and folktale-like setting.

The Bee-Man lives in a small hut in the countryside that has been so covered over by the honeycomb of his friends the bees that it resembles more of a hive. He's happy there, but is instantly alarmed by the arrival of a young Sorcerer, who informs him that his strange way of living has come about due to the fact that he's been *transformed*. Transformed from what? The Sorcerer doesn't know, but now the Bee-Man is determined to find out. Gathering a small hive of bees that he wears on his back, he begins his journey to find out what he once was, eventually coming to the mountains that hold the caves of dragons...

Meeting up with a Languid Youth who wants to be more energetic, the two enter the caves and find something there that will solve *both* their problems. The story ends on not one but two notes of the laughable actions of Fate and inevitabilty, leaving the story with a satisfying ending and a topic open for more discussion. How many children's books do you know that do *that*?

The story is charming and P. J. Lynch's illustrations are fantastic. His watercolours brilliantly convey the glorious green world of Orn and the expressive lined faces of the people within it. The pages of the book are large and glossy - giving his work their best chance to shine, and do so to their full effect in the scenes of open country and lofty caverns. If anyone has seen his illustrations in "Catkin", they'll know how good he is at underground scenes, and here they're even better: misty depths, fiery walls and rocky textures all seen real enough to touch.

Although the Languid Youth looks a bit too droopy to me, the Bee-Man is perfect in both his incarnations, and on the whole, Lynch's work better matches the text. Together, the story and the illustrations have an almost Tolkien flavour to them: the story could easily belong to "Tales from the Perilous Realm" or one of Middle-Earth's folktales, and I always recommend people to P. J. Lynch if they like the art of Alan Lee and John Howe. A big, beautiful book that has pictures that match the text perfectly - what more could you want?