fin m'coul: the giant of knockmany hill (edição 1992)

A retelling of the giant Fin M'Coul (Finn MacCool) and his clever wife, Oonagh. ( )

Fin M'Coul is a kind hearted giant who lived his entire life in fear of being beaten up by a ruthless giant who wanted nothing else but to be recognized as a champion who is feared and never lost a fight. Fin's wife had enough of his cowardice and decided to compose a plan that included him dressing up and pretending to be an infant in order to deceive the ruthless giant. His wife manages to save her husband from a thrashing from Cucullin but not without some level of humiliation!

This was a funny story silly with some degree of variation form the original tale of Mac Cumhaill (otherwise known as Finn McCool) the mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology.
Good story. Wasn't to fond of the illustrations. ( )

This is a story about a wife's clever thinking and a bully out-smarted. I loved the wife's quick thinking and the way she was able to convince the giant Cucullin that Fin M'Coul's baby could eat bread with iron frying pans inside and could squeeze water out of rocks. ( )

Summary: Fin M'Coul is a giant who lives a good life with his wife, or would if another rival giant wasn't constantly trying to challenge him. But, through his wife's cunning and his excellent acting skills, they might just escape without having to fight.

Critique: Fin M'Coul is the charming tale of a giant and giantess. It teaches children the virtues of brains over brain while also throwing in some laughs and fun along the way.

Lesson Activity/Craft Elements: Which of Mrs. M'Coul's tricks do you think was the best and why? ( )

I had mixed feelings about Fin M'coul by Tomie DePaola. First, I liked how the author included examples of authentic Irish vernacular. For example, Fin's wife says"Fin, m' love...you'll not get a moment's rest until you stand fast and face him." The dialogue in this book added fantastic detail to the story.

However, I found that the characters were rather bland and uninteresting. The main characters consisted of Fin, Fin's wife, and a mean giant named Cucullin. The reader never learns why Culcullin is so nasty! The story would have been more intriguing if we had gotten some background information.

Although the characters didn't particularly catch my interest, I was very intrigued by the illustrations in the book. After reading the book's afterward section, I learned that each text block was intentionally surrounded by border designs. The designs were inspired by early Irish jewelry and metal work. After learning this fact, I looked back at the text and found that the borders added a whole new layer of meaning to the story. For example, during the climax of the story, Fin bites off Cucullin's brass finger. The border during this part of the story shows a snake was an exaggerated tongue! Overall, the big picture of this book is that one can get out of trouble using cleverness and wit. ( )