Disney Pixar Brave - Family Legend Trailer

Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin, surly Lord Macintosh and cantankerous Lord Dingwall. Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it's too late.

Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time

If you're smart, heroic, funny and cool like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasly and Princess Merida then you'll LOVE Echo McCool.


Here are the links:


Paperback - Amazon.com
Ebook - Amazon.com
Paperback - Amazon.co.uk
Ebook - Amazon.co.uk

Disney Pixar's Brave - Sneek Peek Trailer

Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin, surly Lord Macintosh and cantankerous Lord Dingwall. Merida's actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it's too late.

Echo McCool - Megan O'Leary Review

I’m something of a Youtube addict and lately I’ve been checking out the many trailers for the up and coming Disney/Pixar movie “Brave.” The internet is already awash with iconic pictures of the courageous red-headed Princess Merida, the lead character in “Brave.” However I can see parallels between her and Echo McCool, another valiant red-haired girl character. This said, Echo is a time traveller and has other magical gifts such as her ability to see snatches of the past. I’m sure we’ll see “Brave” setting the trend for fearless girl heroines so this summer is set to be a treat for fans of Princess Merida and Echo McCool alike.

Megan's Review on Goodreads

Echo McCool - Thu Barton Review

The character of Echo McCool reminds me very much of the Princess Merida character in the Disney Pixar film BRAVE. Both are feisty and strong and red-haired and grew up in a British folklore world. Echo McCool was first published in January 2011 but Pixar must've been working on Princess Merida for a long time so I'm not sure which came first - but both are totally awesome!  Thu Barton's Review on Goodreads

Echo McCool - "An Engaging Fantasy Novel" - Billy Askew Review

This book starts with an enticing opening sentence: "She heard the twang of a bowstring beyond the glade." The story that follows is both original and charming. Echo McCool is a karate-kicking half-dryad girl from medieval times. After narrowly escaping death by hiding inside a hollow tree she awakes in the present day and befriends 12-year-old Jason Fleeting. With Echo's help, Jason goes off in search of his missing sister.

Both Echo and Jason are endearing characters who show tremendous resourcefulness and courage. This is an empowering message to young readers and the book is a pleasure to read. Recommended for readers aged 8-13.

Dryads in Fiction

From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryad
Dryads are mentioned in Milton’s Paradise Lost, in Coleridge, and in Thackeray’s work The Virginians.^[12] Keats addresses the nightingale as ‘light-winged Dryad of the trees’, in his Ode to a Nightingale. In the poetry of Donald Davidson they illustrate the themes of tradition and the importance of the past to the present.^[13] The poet Sylvia Plath uses them to symbolize nature in her poetry in “On the Difficulty of Conjuring up a Dryad”, and “On the Plethora of Dryads”.^[14]
In the ballet Don Quixote Dryads appear in a vision with Dulcinea before Don Quixote, they also appear in the classical ballet Sylvia
Dryads are also featured extensively throughout The Chronicles of Narnia by British author C.S. Lewis and are shown to fight along side Aslan, son of the Emperor-Over-The-Sea, and the Pevensie Children.
The same characters recur in David Eddings’ The Belgariad, where Dryads live in seclusion on the Wood of the Dryads within the Tolnedran Empire and among the most prominent in the storyline is Ce’Nedra.
In the animated show Monster School, the character Rose Greendae is a dryad who can turn into a tree at will.
In the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, there is a dryad named Juniper who is the girlfriend of Grover Underwood.
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Other dryads in fiction:
Sue Maynard – Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ebon-Black-Seven-Dryads-ebook/dp/B005HSPMUS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319464657&sr=8-1
Frank Stockton – The Lost Dryad
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Dryad-Stockton-Frank-Richard/dp/1110970137/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1319464733&sr=8-7
The Dryad Project – James Moy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dryad-Project-James-D-Moy/dp/1843866900/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319464820&sr=1-1
The Dryad by Justin Huntly McCarthy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dryad-Novel-Justin-Huntly-McCarthy/dp/1103049151/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319464820&sr=1-3
The Oracle of the Missing Dryad – Kristin Groulx
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oracle-Missing-Dryad-Kristin-Groulx/dp/0981131522/ref=sr_1_56?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319465055&sr=1-56
Mr Griffin and the Dryad – Frank Stockton
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-Minor-Canon-Pipes-Dryad/dp/1425468659/ref=sr_1_100?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319465215&sr=1-100