Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure

Author	Marianna Mayer
ISBN	0688133827

Condemned by a jealous king, Bellerophon must win the trust of the legendary winged horse Pegasus or face certain death. From the poignant meeting the growing bond of friendship between horse and man to the dramatic slaying of the fearsome fire-breathing Chimera, this is an unforgettable adventure...

Author	Shirley Climo
ISBN	0064438538

"A luminescent interpretation. Meticulously researched illustrations faithfully depict the ornate beauty of an ancient land" (Kirkus Reviews).

In this jewel-like version of a classic story, popular folklorist Shirley Climo tells the tale of Settareh, the Persian Cinderella.

Magic...

Author	Frank R. Stockton
ISBN	0763622397

Written at the turn of the 20th century, The Bee-Man of Orn shurgs off the didactic noose which threatened a lot of children's literature at the time and, instead, seems to honour the themes and ideas prevalent in the earlier traditional tales in which it feels like it has been based. Here we encounter...

Author	Jacqueline K. Ogburn
ISBN	0803724144

Katya's grandmother took a little matryoshka, a nesting doll, out of a small box. "If your need is great, open the doll and help will come. But you may only do so three times. After that the magic will be gone." A wicked spell has changed a handsome young prince to a pale glassy figure made of "living ice,"...

Author	Ruth Sanderson
ISBN	0316779822

I love to read picture books, mainly for their illustrations. Ruth Sanderson's illustrations are always exceptional. Here, she knocks this out of the park because this is full of magic and the most amazing illustrations.

As for the story, this has a happier ending compared to the story I knew...

Author	Kathy Tucker
ISBN	0807573108

Seven Chinese sisters, each with a different talent, live together and take care of each other. When the Seventh Sister, a baby, is kidnapped by a dragon, her sisters use their talents to save her.

I found it hard to remember which sister had which talent, and it bothered me that the sisters promised...

Author	Jane Ray
ISBN	0763637475

With sumptuous artwork, Jane Ray tells an original fairy tale of a humble princess whose love for nature’s beauty restores a kingdom.

Once there was a kingdom full of laughter, happiness, trees, and birdsong. But when the queen dies, the land becomes quiet and barren, and everyone is filled...

Author	Jane Yolen
ISBN	0762420480

The same story that captivated readers in 1977 is back in a stunning new edition! Hwei Min, the only daughter of the emperor of China, has been blind since birth. Her father offers a reward to anyone who can find a cure for the little girl. It seems that no one from magicians to physicians can help her. Then,...

Author	Odds Bodkin
ISBN	0152163506

Here is my blackboard response on The Crane Wife and Dawn, two traditional tales on the same theme that were quite relevant and depressing after screwing up big time with a physically and intellectually beautiful girl this summer.

What They Were About (NECESSARY SPOILER ALERTS)

The...

Author	Teresa Bateman
ISBN	1570916519

Great book. Fiona is so confident she thinks she can outwit the Leprechaun that took all the luck from Ireland. Now cows can't milk and chickens don't lay eggs and there are no potatoes. Not just anyone wants to square off against King of the Leprechauns. This is one of the spiritual laws of the universe....

Author	Phyllis Root
ISBN	0763626007

"Among the many creation retellings and variations, this one takes the cake." — THE HORN BOOK (starred review)

When Big Momma makes the world, she doesn’t mess around. With a baby on her hip and laundry piling up, she demands light and dark, earth and sky, creepers and crawlers, and lots...

Author	Emily Arnold McCully
ISBN	0590374877

This is the kind of a story that could have come from the minds of Disney's finest writers and animators during the days when Disney feature films were just about the biggest thing in show business. The quality is that high.

Beautiful Warrior is the story of two Chinese girls whose lives seem unconnected,...

Author	David Wiesner
ISBN	8426135331

The Loathsome Dragon is a retelling of the traditional English tale, The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh, based on an 18th-century ballad and retold by British folklorist Joseph Jacobs.

Although beautifully written, the tale is pretty standard fare: royalty, "fair" characters, magic,...

Author	Amy Ehrlich
ISBN	0525473459

Cinderella's transformation from poor girl to princess never fails to captivate young ones, and this stellar retelling, exquisitely illustrated by Susan Jeffers, is a must for every library. When the original version of this book was published in 1985, Publishers Weekly called it "a treasure for...

Author	Eric A. Kimmel
ISBN	0823418774

“Three Samurai Cats” is an ancient Japanese folktale about how three samurai cats come to the Daimyo’s castle to defeat a savage rat with the last samurai cat giving the rat a taste of his own medicine. Eric A. Kimmel’s hilarious retelling and Mordicai Gerstein’s colorful drawings...

Author	Barbara Knutson
ISBN	1575056577

One day, high in the Andes Mountains, Cuy the Guinea Pig is searching for wild spinach to eat when Tio Antonio the Fox comes in search of Cuy to eat! Tio Antonio thinks he's found dinner, but crafty Cuy has other plans. Quick-witted Cuy fools Tio Antonio not once, but three times. Combining striking wood...

Author	Judy Sierra
ISBN	0689821883

In the Spice Islands, where clove and nutmeg trees grow,
a girl named Damura lived long ago.
Damura is a beautiful girl, as kind and lovely as the little green parrot that perches on the nutmeg tree. But Damura's stepmother and stepsister mistreat her. They force her to rise before dawn, carry...

Author	Hudson Talbott
ISBN	0698118898

Someone has stolen the witch of Crookhaven's horse, and there will be no peace in the village until it is returned. So bold, brassy Kate O'Sullivan takes matters into her own hands. But instead of saving the day, she manages to land herself--and her family--in trouble with the king. So Kate sets out to...

Author	Mary Pope Osborne
ISBN	0689825501

This feminist twist on the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk really resonanted with me. I think this would so excellent to be included in a classroom for girls, and boys, to experience the idea that yes, girls can be heroines, even against great odds.
In this version, written by Mary Pope...

Author	Dashka Slater
ISBN	0803733747

Not all princesses are made of sugar and spice--some are made of funnier, fiercer stuff

Princess Amanita laughs in the face of danger. Brakeless bicycles, pet scorpions, spiky plants--that's her thing. So when quiet Prince Florian gives her roses, Amanita is unimpressed . . . until she sees...

Author	Steven Kellogg
ISBN	0688140424

On the day she is born this amazing baby proudly announces she can out-talk, out-grin, out-scream, out-swim, and out-run any baby in Kentucky. Within a few years Sally is off to the frontier, where she stuns a hungry grizzly bear, makes a lasso out of six rattlesnakes, and is more than a match for the mighty...

Author

Margaret Read MacDonald

Our pre-school story time crowd enjoyed standing up and doing the actions suggested in this picture book. (There were nearly sixty children in one session and thirty-five in another session. We don't have sign-ups, name-tags, or age-breaks. The littlest ones sit on laps and the others fill our decorative...