Once upon a time…. well, you know how it goes. Every story worth its salt has to start like this. It’s like a letter of introduction. Also They are for life. Having grown up with them, they are part of us. impossible creatures(Destino, 2024) is a story. And it will also be part of the souls of a lot of children. Although those of us who are not so much are also going to make a little space in our heads for him.
This fable is triumphing in half the world and in it, in addition to the tremendous adventure that we live as readers, are mythological animals. They are the great protagonists. Let me ask you the following question. How many do you know? In this novel, before even starting, its author Katherine Rundell puts at our disposal a whole bestiary.
Searching for creatures in the past
The documentation work has been hard but the result is wonderful. Especially because he has managed to rescue magical animals that were not even familiar to ordinary mortals. Rundell herself acknowledges that she “started with encyclopedias of mythical beasts. The most modern were written in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The author of this book has researched encyclopedias of mythical beasts. The most modern ones were written in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Getting into the matter, impossible creatures We are going to meet, of course, dragons. But I don’t want to focus too much on them because, lately, they are in the soup. iron wings and wings of bloodGame of Thrones, the dragon houseHow to train your dragon, Harry Potter… There are plenty of examples.
In this book there is also faucetsthose half-lion, half-eagle animals (be careful, the one that appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has a trap because its hindquarters are those of a horse). Focusing on impossible creatures, Griffons are one of the species most endangered by that strange extinction that The Archipelago is suffering. The protagonists of the story have Gelifena baby griffon, as a pet.
Leaving behind griffins and dragons, which are very, very well known, there is another impossible creature that is the mythological animal par excellence. If we talk about fantasy, there can be no unicorns. Katherine Rundell confirms that “with my unicorn I wanted to pay homage to all those myths that humanity has wished were real.” Very real and, generally, very cute.
If we talk about fantasy, there cannot be unicorns
The unicorn has always been associated with fiction, especially for girls. That is why this other animal is the opposite of the unicorn. And, the truth is, we wouldn’t like it to be real. I talk about kraken. “I think the kraken,” says Rundell, “is a brilliant way to talk about hunger. In fact, the idea of the sea rising up and swallowing you in is very realistic.”
Among the creatures with which parallels can be made is the ratatoska. A kind of squirrel-shaped community gatekeeper. Gossip and with verbal incontinence. He boasts of knowing everyone’s life, although if we talk about true knowledge, those who control all topics are the sphinxes. Katherine argues that this mythological animal “has always been associated with knowledge. Fantasy allows you to unite this pre-existing association and take it as far as possible.”
Philosophy for the little ones
As far as they want above all, children who are the audience that will enjoy the most with Impossible Creatures, a novel that is more than it seems. It is fantasy yes. But it is also philosophy. “I have never met a 10-year-old child who is not interested in why we are alive, in what we can do for the world. Children deserve philosophy. How do you provide it to them? With fantasy.”
“Children deserve philosophy. How do you provide it to them? With fantasy”
This is how resounding and hopeful Katherine Rundell sounds, conquering you with a permanent smile on your face. A joy that has spread to this novel. It is a vibrant fantasy where everything that seems impossible, comes true.
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