Our latest discovery is an interactive book titled “Shine Your Magic Torch: Magical Creatures and Mythical Beasts”, published in October 2020 by Magic Cat Publishing (reading level: 7-10 years old). The book is written by Professor Byron Mortimer and his daughter Millie. Illustrations were created by Victo Ngai – “Forbes Under 30 2020: Art & Style” honoree and gold medalist of “Society of Illustrators New York”:
The book focuses primarily on the illustrations. It presents 18 real-life locations from around the world with hidden magical creatures that are revealed only after using the UV flashlight included with the book. Every location is briefly described, concentrating on the monsters appearing in it and its history. For example, in the forests around the Harz Mountains we read about the unicorn:
Many famous people from history apparently met unicorns, including the Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan and the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
It appears in relation to the De Bello Gallico 6, 26ff. where Caesar describes a series of three strange creatures that appear in the Hercynian Forest in Germany. (Find out more about “The Curious Animals of the Hercynian Forest” in the article written by Walter Woodburn Hyde and published in “The Classical Journal”, Vol. 13, No. 4, Jan., 1918, pp. 231-245 – link)
In the preview of the book we can see that children can also visit Greece and meet Chimera and the goddess Athena with an owl:
Post prepared by Dorota Rejter
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