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 Jones’s wonderful adaptation of a traditional Newfoundland tale. Of course, it’s clear from the story’s 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 Island’s finest and best-loved storytellers, The Queen of Paradise’s 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; Keeping’s version was published in Halpert and Widdowson’s seminal collection, Folktales of Newfoundland.

Darka Erdelji, a Slovenian-born puppeteer and artist now resident in St. John’s, has created stunning illustrations for the story. Erdelji’s artwork is at once otherworldly, wistful and playful; it adds a wonderful dimension to an already engaging story.

Photographs by Ned Pratt
(click to enlarge)

The book was designed by Veselina Tomova of Vis-à-Vis Graphics, St. John’s, and printed by Lowe-Martin in Ottawa, Ontario.

It is available in two offset-printed versions: a trade edition and a limited edition on finer paper. The limited edition includes a beautiful folded map of Jack’s travels, measuring 16 inches x 13 inches. Both books measure 9 inches x 9 inches; 44 pages.

PayPal is only available for Canadian orders:

978-0-9737578-3-5 (trade paperback) $18.95
978-0-9737578-4-2 (limited edition with map) $29.95
Ordering from outside of Canada? Please contact our international distributor.

A video/book trailer featuring Andy reading from and talking about the book, and filmed by Duncan Major and Katie Butler:

In October month of 2009, Andy and Darka spoke with Shelagh Rogers on her CBC radio programme “The Next Chapter”; this link will take you to a podcast of that episode, including interviews with Andy & Darka, George Elliot Clarke, Jennifer McLagan and Hannah Sung.

Andy and Darka have created a wonderful puppet play based on the same story; for information about the play, visit here.

* Nominated for the 2010 Bruneau Family Award for Children's/Young Adult Writing (one of the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards)

* Named to the International Youth Library of Munich, Germany’s White Ravens List for 2010 – acknowledging outstanding international books for children and young adults.

Reviews

“Andy Jones and Darka Erdelji, along with small press publisher Marnie Parsons and designer Veselina Tomova, have created a marvellous book that deserves a place in every school, library and folktale collection.”
     —Alison Mews, in Canadian Review of Materials (highly recommended)

 “The reteller is writer and actor Andy Jones, a founding member of Newfoundland's CODCO troupe. With this provenance, you might expect something original and quite fine; you won't be disappointed.”
     —Susan Perren, in The Globe and Mail

“Andy Jones traditional folk tale opening has its own mischievous twist," 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 we are sitting , poised, at once ready for the obstacles, the awards, the good deeds, indeed for the Queen of Paradise herself. This is traditional storytelling at its best.”
     —Andrea Deakin, in The Deakin Newsletter