The Queen of Paradise’s Garden

Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, not in your time, indeed not in my time, but in olden times, when quart bottles held half a gallon and houses were papered with pancakes and pigs run about with forks stuck in their backs seein who wanted a slice o ham, there were two old people and they never had no children, and they figured they were too old to ever have any. So begins Andy Joness wonderful adaptation of a traditional Newfoundland tale. Of course, its clear from the storys beginning that there are children on the way, and one of those children is Jack, the delightful, mischievous, big-hearted hero of so many Newfoundland tales. Told with the humour, warmth and sly wit that have made Andy Jones one of the Islands finest and best-loved storytellers,The Queen of Paradises Garden follows Jack on his way to the land of the Queen of Paradise, where he searches for a magic fruit to make his parents young again, and finds quite a few other handy things as well. The story is a free adaptation of a tale told by Albert Heber Keeping of Grand Bank, which he got from Billy Quann of Sagona Island; Keepings version was published in Halpert and Widdowsons seminal collection, Folktales of Newfoundland. Darka Erdelji has created stunning illustrations for the story. Erdeljis artwork is at once otherworldly, wistful and playful; it adds a wonderful dimension to an already engaging story. The book was designed by Veselina Tomova of Vis-a-Vis Graphics, St. Johns.