Peter and the Whimper Whineys Coloring Book
Description
<p><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;">This coloring book version of the best-selling “whine-stopper” children’s story was designed for kids to enjoy reading the rhyming, as well as being able to illustrate their own version of Peter’s nocturnal adventure into the woods.</span><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;" /><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;" /><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;">Peter’s mother warns him that if he doesn’t stop whining and crying, he’ll have to go live with the Whimper-Whineys. His adventure continues as he later hops into the woods and finds lots of frightening Whimper-Whineymen! He discovers that the Whimper-Whineys are very ill-mannered and rude, and that everything is sour in Whimper-Whineland. He decides his mother was right. If only he can get back home!</span><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;" /><br style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;" /><span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:Merriweather, Georgia, serif;font-size:14px;">According to a recent critique, “I cannot imagine any parent or guardian not wanting to read this book to their child! ... Parents everywhere applaud you!”</span></p>
Story Behind The Book
King James I was a great witch hunter, and considered himself an expert on the subject. So why would Shakespeare write a play about witches setting up his ancestor, so to speak? At face value, it doesn't seem to make sense. However, a closer look at Holinshed gives us an alternative: "the common opinion was, that these women were either the weird sisters, that is (as ye would say) the goddesses of destiny, or else some nymphs or fairies imbued with knowledge of prophesy."
Well, that is something altogether different! The word "weird" has its origins in the Saxon word wyrd meaning fate, or personal destiny. Some even attribute the first modern use of the word "weird" to Shakespeare. If you look at the Weird Sisters from the Scandinavian point of view, the word wyrd translates to Urd, one of the Norns of mythology who controlled the destiny of mankind. Presumably that would be more palatable than agents of the devil.
If we were to accept that the Witches were actually the Norns, their presence makes more sense to me. Like the Greek Fates, their will was thought to be unalterable. The Norns are said to appear at the bedside of a newborn and shape the child’s future. Hence they appear several times in my novel; their heavy guiding hand is never entirely far away. Although modern scholars tend to believe that Banquo and his heirs never really existed, if their genealogy is good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for me!
