A turtle the size of an island. A cricket that can possess you if swallowed. A giant who turns enemies to stone.
The legends of Southeast Asia — or “the lands below the winds,” as explorers used to call it — are populated with a whole menagerie of colorful beasts that inspire awe and fear in equal measure.
Yet, passed on as they are through story and song, so many of these stories remain rooted in some long-forgotten past and bound by the borders of the region, creatures of myth and memory and nothing more. Until now.
The upcoming book “The Beasts Beneath the Winds: Tales of Southeast Asia’s Mythical Creatures” is a collection of the region’s most elusive cryptids by a team of bestselling and award-winning authors, among them a two-time Newbery medalist and National Book Award finalist.
Within these illustrated pages, readers will find the stories of 17 regular kids who encounter these mythical creatures in the here and now, and — fortunately or unfortunately — live to tell the tale.
Contributors include Hanna Alkaf (“The Weight of Our Sky,” “Queen of the Tiles“) — who also edited the compilation, Nadia Mikail (“The Cats We Meet Along The Way“), Brandon Hoang (“Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend“), Mandy Moe Pwint Tu (“Monsoon Daughter“), Moniza Hossain (“Being Ace“), V.T. Bidania (“Astrid & Apollo and the Happy New Year“), Emma Goddard, Dow Phumiruk (“One Girl,” “Maya Lin“), Erin Entrada Kelly (“Hello Universe,” “We Dream of Space,” “The First State of Being“), Gail D. Villanueva (“My Fate According to Butterfly,” “Sugar and Spite“), Greg van Eekhout (“The Boy at the End of the World,” “COG“), Jesse Q. Sutanto (“Dial A for Aunties“), June CL Tan (“Jade Fire Gold“), Mae Respicio (“The House that Lou Built,” “Any Day With You“), Shing Yin Khor (“The Legend of Auntie Po“), Van Hoang (“Girl Giant & The Monkey King“) and Veeda Bybee (“Courage on Ice,” “Lily and the Great Quake“).
Alkaf, the editor, writes Malasian young adult and middle-grade novels and lives in Kuala Lumpur with her family.
For more information, go to abramsbooks.com.
