East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon
10 best books like East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon (Peter Christen Asbjørnsen): Cupid and Psyche, The Persian Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, The Water Of Life: A Tale From The Brothers Grimm, The Orange Fairy Book, The Weaving of a Dream, The Snow Princess, The Tale of the Firebird
| Author | M. Charlotte Craft |
| ISBN | 0688131638 |
Psyche is the most beautiful woman in the world, yet the oracle at Delphi foresees she will fall in love with a creature feared even by the gods themselves.
Magically, Psyche finds herself in a magnificent castle fitted with sweet music, attentive servants, and a charming but invisible host....
| 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 | Max Eilenberg |
| ISBN | 0763631604 |
Exquisite paintings and a lush retelling bring a treasured classic to new life.
A beautiful daughter dreams of meeting a handsome prince, but in order to save her father's life, she leaves home to live with a terrible, frightening beast. Though her patron is hideous, his disarming generosity...
| Author | Ingri d'Aulaire |
| ISBN | 1590172175 |
In this spectacular follow-up to their beloved Book of Norse Myths, the husband-and-wife team of Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire explore the uncanny reaches of Norse mythology, an enchanted night-world populated by trolls of all kinds--mountain trolls, forest trolls, trolls who live underwater...
| Author | Marianna Mayer |
| ISBN | 0688085008 |
Sweet, lovely Vasilisa lives with her jealous stepmother and stepsisters on the edge of a dark forest inhabited by the evil witch Baba Yaga. One night the stepmother sends Vasilisa to visit Baba Yaga, an errand from which the gentle girl has little chance of returning alive. "An engaging text and accomplished...
| Author | Jacob Grimm |
| ISBN | 0823409074 |
Now, I have read many stories from the Brothers Grimm and I had enjoyed every single one of them! So, imagine my surprise when I finally came upon one of the Brothers Grimm’s stories being put into a singular children’s book called “The Water of Life” retold by Barbara Rogasky along with...
| Author | Andrew Lang |
| ISBN | 0486219097 |
The first Fairy Book I've read so far without any overt racism in it anywhere (and it's the antepenultimate one; sigh).
Look! The black characters get illustrated heroically and everything:
Hooray!
On the other hand, there are quite a few of those stories that...
| Author | Marilee Heyer |
| ISBN | 0140505288 |
A retelling of the Chinese folktale "The Chuang Brocade"
The Weaving of a Dream is the story of a widow who provides for her sons by creating intricate brocades. One day, she trades a brocade for a beautiful painting of a palace. She then spends years lovingly recreating the scene in brocade only...
| 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 | Gennady Spirin |
| ISBN | 0399235841 |
In all the world there is said to be nothing more beautiful than the Firebird. When Ivan-Tsarevitch, youngest son of the Tsar, goes on a quest for the amazing bird, he finds himself flying over mountains and woods on a talking wolf, confronting a wicked Baba Yaga, and rescuing an enchanted princess from...
| Author | Jacqueline K. Ogburn |
| ISBN | 0803726511 |
Love and honor can overcome even the fiercest obstacles, as we see in this spellbinding fairy tale, with shades of "Beauty and the Beast." To save her father, a young woman must go to the castle of a menacing lion. She fears for her life, but finds kindness rather than danger there, for the lion by day is a...
Well, I have modern sensibilities and could never get into Arthurian lore. But I loved Saint George and the Dragon by this team, and so I had to try this. Very glad I did. Not dumbed-down for kids, not updated for feminists, it is what it is. And it does set up the scene, tone, atmosphere, values... well enough...
| Author | E. Nesbit |
| ISBN | 0763607177 |
This delightful "modern" fairy tale describes the trials of a royal family beset with too many traditions from "historical" fairy tales. Borrowing themes from Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Melisande is a tale of traditional fairytale and mathematical logic. Unexpected things happen to characters...
| Author | Laura Amy Schlitz |
| ISBN | 0763627305 |
A dejected soldier makes a pact with the devil in this haunting, ultimately hopeful fairy tale, masterfully retold and vividly illustrated.
Man or bear? When a person gives up hope, is he still human? Such is the story of a soldier who has lost everything to war: his childhood home, his family...
| Author | Anonymous |
| ISBN | 0517436205 |
I hate to say that these were really disappointing :(
(There was literally only ONE story about vikings in this whole book!)
Also worth noting, is that these tales are heavily influenced by early christian views of the Scandinavian countries, rather than the pantheon of norse gods and goddesses....
Catkin is a tiny cat given by the Wise Woman to protect the human child Carrie. One day Carrie is taken under the hill by the Little People. Sent to bring her back, Catkin finds his courage and cleverness tested to the full.
Antonia Barber's original story reads like a classic fairy tale. Rich with...
| Author | Katrin Hyman Tchana |
| ISBN | 0316387010 |
I've just read this quickly before sending it to my niece. I'm disappointed that the prose doesn't sparkle. Tchana is a pedestrian stylist and there are certainly better-written folktales. But the content is fabulous. The 'princesses' are bright, curious, patient, physically courageous, thoughtful,...
| Author | Mercer Mayer |
| ISBN | 0689711131 |
"Mayer's telling is an interweaving of plot elements from the original Scandinavian fairy tale with inventions of his own and details from The Frog Prince. The spellbound frog is whisked off to the trolls' castle and the ungrateful lass loses her chance to marry a handsome prince until she creates a...
| Author | William H. Hooks |
| ISBN | 0027443558 |
This simply wonderful Appalachian adaptation of the globally popular and celebrated Beauty and the Beast folktale type actually also contains many many elements of the Norwegian East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and it reminds me at least somewhat of the Russian folktale of Finist the Falcon Prince...
| Author | John Bauer |
| ISBN | 0863154573 |
John Bauer's original, evocative illustrations bring these classic Swedish folk tales to life. This collection includes Elsa Beskow's "When Mother Troll Took in the King's Washing"; "The Magician's Cape" by Anna Wahlenberg; "The Seven Wishes" by Alfred Smedberg; "The Ring" by Helena Nyblom; "Stalo...
