The Children of Lir by Sheila MacGill-Callahan

Genre: Folk Tale/Picture Book
Age range: 9-12
Summary: There is nothing in the book that would be considered offensive to younger readers or listeners. A king and his queen begot four children--two sets of twins. All four were extremely beautiful. They were a happy family aside from the fact that their mother died while giving birth to the second set of twins. Her place was filled by her beautiful, but evil, sister who was constantly jealous of the four children for the their beauty and for the attention they received from their father. So one day, while the father was away, the new queen brought the children out into the forest for a beautiful picnic. This day was not just any day, but it was the day when the night and day were equal. She urged and urged the children to partake of the food she had brought, but once they had they all turned into beautiful swans. This curse would last until the Man of the North and the Woman of the South (two mountains residing on opposite sides of the kingdom) were connected. However, that was not all. She also left them with a curse. This day, the day when the night and day were equal, every year, the children would turn back into their human selves and if their feet touched the earth, they would surely die. She also left them with the most beautiful voices for that way people would come far and wide to hunt them. On that note, she left and the swans lived here for some time before their human father came to visit them. He missed his children terribly and it soon began to aggravate the evil queen. She did feel better knowing that the swans would most likely die on the day that the night and day were equal. On this day the following year, the swans were flying about the ocean on purpose so as to make as little mess as possible and so that their father would not have to find their dead, human bodies. Surely enough, the transformation took place and they began to fall out of the air and into the ocean. Until, unexpectedly, a friendly whale caught them on his back. He knew of them because he had heard their reputation for having beautiful voices, and birds and beasts came from far and wide to hear the now human siblings' song. After they sang and danced for quite some time, they inquired of the whale how to break the spell. The whale said he would mull it over, but that it would take much planning. Seven years passed and every year the whale came to help the children until the evil queen had poaches hiding int he forest. They caught the beautiful birds and took them to a town feast where they were meant to be the meal. The father was there, too, which was a rarity because the queen had since taken over. But he was there still mourning the loss of his children and his favorite birds. Just in the nick of time, the whale came along with all of the other birds and beasts, and connected the Man of the North and the Woman of the South by grabbing onto each other's wings creating a steady bridge from one mount to the other. The children, still in the net, climbed out and banished the queen and there was much rejoicing for the family was together again at last and the children sang forevermore. This outcome would not have been achieved had it not been for their friends who stood up for justice.