Summary:Imagine riding on the back of a blue heron across
time and space. Imagine befriending crows, being kidnapped by magpies,
and being given a lift on the back of a kindly stag. Imagine
experiencing life as an outcast from human society, encountering spirits
and mythical creatures from the world of legends, experiencing the
plague in Dresden, and being chased through Berlin by Frederick the
Great.
Dott is a twelve-year old girl. She lives in the countryside east of
Berlin in an unspecified time between the two world wars. When Dott
sneaks out to see the bonfire at the edge of her village on the evening
of the midsummer night festival, she has no idea what will happen next.
In the dark of night, the magical Rennefarre flower falls into her shoe.
It not only makes her invisible, but also allows her to see things no
one else could see. No longer able to stay with her parents and her
young brother and sister, she begins her search to find a way out of her
predicament.
Her quest to return home to her family winds its way through the cities
and countryside of 20th century Germany—and beyond. As she befriends the
local animals, they help her on her way with gifts of food, shelter,
and—through the help of a kind spirit—a magical cup which allows her to
become small and ride on the backs of the birds.
Flying across the country on the backs of crows and herons, Dott finds
herself seeing the country not only as it is, but also as it used to be.
She lives through moments in history others can only read about—meeting
historical kings and fanciful spirits along the way. But, even with all
of the excitement of her travels, she always has one goal in mind:
returning home to her family.
Part coming-of-age story, part fantasy, and part social-cultural
portrait of Eastern Germany in the early part of the 20th century, the
book covers real ground. That is, one could follow Dott's travels on a
map of the area. Seamlessly blending elements of fantasy and history,
the book contains a fascinating array of details of day-to-day life in
rural and urban areas in eastern Germany. Dott’s adventures are
interwoven with folklore and myths as well as vivid accounts of
different eras and the diverse cultural and ethnic strains that have
formed the basis for a rich and complex history of Germany and Eastern
Europe. Written on the eve of World War II, the book offers a sobering
perspective on the human potential for causing devastation. At the same
time it is filled with hope. In one scene, Dott gets a glimpse of the
future — an utterly destroyed cityscape; it inspires her to look to her
own responsibilities and actions in life.
Details regarding the translation:
Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures is a translation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay (Wunderbare Fahrten und Abenteuer der kleinen Dott). Reminiscent of The NeverEnding Story, Nils Holgersson and the Wild Geese, and the Magic Tree House
series, the book would be appropriate for children ten years of age and
older. The book was first published by Union Deutsche
Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, in 1941. An expanded edition of the book
in three volumes appeared after World War II in 1950/1951. An abridged
new edition in a single volume appeared in 1965 (Stuttgart: Union
Verlag, 1965). Over 25 editions of the book appeared between 1941 and
2008. In 2007, it was published in a new expanded edition in two volumes
by Prignitz-Pur Verlag, Germany. The book was translated only once
previously, into Dutch in 1986 (De wonderbare avonturen van Kleine Dot, Christofoor, Zeist, 1986). The translated text reflects the German abridged edition of 1965.
Author Interview:
Please tell us about
your current release.
The first English edition of Rennefarre is the culmination of a dream of mine—a perfect storm of
things that I love: a wonderful original text, the challenge of translation,
the thrill of research, and the joy of assembling everything into a finished
product. I am excited that it is now in print and available to an English
reading audience.
Can you tell us about
the journey that led you to write your book?
I have loved Rennefarre
since I was a child. I read it over and over, fascinated and charmed by the
adventures of Dott, the main character—described in such a tangible and
immediate fashion. I loved the voices of the animals that Dott encounters. The
descriptions and scenes are so real that it is easy to imagine oneself
following along in Dott’s footsteps. Dott, impulsive, stubborn, and passionate,
was real and believable to me as a child. As an adult returning to this book, I
decided that it was a treasure that should be made available to English
readers.
Can you tell us about
the story behind your book cover?
The cover depicts a scene in the book where Dott seeks out a
place to sleep for the night. When she stands in front of this building, she
feels very much alone and is grateful for the company of Ardea, the young heron
next to her. She ends up sleeping in the abbey, sheltered and kept warm by the
heron’s wing. The image conveys many
elements of the story, the thrill of discovery, the charm of nature, a multi-layered
and complex history, the importance of friendship, and the feeling of being
alone.
What approaches have
you taken to marketing your book?
This is a new and exciting experience for me, and the
learning curve is sharp. It is my first
venture into making use of Facebook and other social media for marketing. I
look forward to discussing details of the book on blogs. I will attend an
authors and illustrators event at a school in my town in March 2013.
What book on the
market does yours compare to? How is
your book different?
This is not an easy question to answer. Two books, also
translated, come to mind. One is Michael Ende’s Nevere nding Story. Like Rennefarre,
this book involves the element of a quest and the search for home, but unlike Rennefarre, it is set entirely within
the world of fantasy. Selma Lagerlöf’s Nils
Holgersson and the Wild Geese involves a similar storyline of a child that
travels with animals and seeks to return home; however, it was written for a
much younger audience. The Magic Tree
House series by Mary Pope Osborne has some interesting parallels. These
books feature children who are magically transposed into different periods and
places in the world as a result of which they are given brief glimpses into
history and myths. Meanwhile, the books are addressed to a younger audience and
ultimately consist of many disparate fragments or glimpses of the world of
history and legends. Rennefarre,
perched on the fluid fault lines between history and legend and interwoven with
elements of magic and fantasy, meanwhile presents a single story of a child’s
journey with an overarching central theme of human responsibility and choices.
What would you say is
your most interesting writing quirk?
Regrettably, I would have to admit to an unfortunate
tendency to writing long convoluted sentences. Even though I have lived in this
country since I was thirteen and have worked as a translator for over two
decades, the German language has a way of creeping up in my writing. There is a lovely word in German, “Schachtelsatz”,
which describes a sentence consisting of boxes within boxes within boxes of
meaning. The polar opposite is the
standard of short succinct sentences favored by many writers, including those
trained in American schools of journalism, among others. I try to steer
somewhere in the middle of these sirens of style.
Open your book to a
random page and tell us what’s happening.
Page 45: In this scene, Dott tries to fulfill a quest with
which she had been entrusted. She wants to free an owl that had been captured
by humans in order to serve as a decoy. Dott sits in front of the cage where
the owl is being held and waits for daylight. Two other animals, the owl’s mate
and a squirrel, are watching and waiting to see how Dott will manage to free
the owl. The owl looks sick and apathetic. Dott is appalled by the suffering of
this bird in captivity and feels ashamed as a human being.
Do you plan any
subsequent books?
I have completed a manuscript of historical fiction for
young adults entitled Falconello. It
is set in the 13th century and involves the journey of a young man
from the north of Germany to Italy. I am
now working on another historical fiction work set in Jerusalem in the 12th
century.
Tell us what you’re
reading at the moment and what you think of it.
Aside from rereading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice whenever I am in the need of balance, I always
have a stack of books that I check out of my local library. The latest gem has
been a book by Helen Dunmore, The Siege,
about the siege of the city of Leningrad in World War II. It is a book hard to
forget; the relentless cold and the gnawing hunger seep into your bones as you
read it, and at the same time, Dunmore captures something exquisite and
beautiful about the human spirit.
Paperback
Price: $13.99
Pages: 297
ISBN: 9781938690389
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Release: December 11, 2012
Buy Link:
MyBookOrders.com
MY THOUGHTS
A beautiful book, a good clean, Christian fantasy perfect for a young adult, or actually, any age at all! The illustrations are wonderfully done and the characters full of whimsy, yet having a caring attitude about others feelings. This is a book that will teach lessons and kindness, and Dott is a character that your child, or your own inner child will be able to relate to quite easily.
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