Fables and Fairy Tales Books

This latest book from Shelley Fowles continues in the ethno-cartoon genre aimed at children and brings a fun, dynamic and cultural perspective to both art and historical folk tales. Highly recommended!

Cloud Weavers: Ancient Chinese Legends by Rena Krasno and Yeng-Fong Chiang is a compilation of enduring Chinese fables, which are beautifully illustrated in full color with an artwork style that seems to blend Eastern and Western influences. The simple, easy-to-follow text offers particular appeal for young children, and would well serve as quick bedtime stories. Cloud Weavers is recommended for family and community library Folklore, Fairytale & Mythology collections.

I'm really not sure why this book is targeted at young children because it's a wonderful book that virtually anyone can enjoy - and only adult readers are likely to truly appreciate the treasury of old-time memories collected here. This book really is living history, reflecting the memories and traditions of a generation no longer with us, taking us back to olden days when life was simpler and the world seemingly a much better place. Southerners in particular will identify with these stories and gain much clearer insight into the lives of their grandparents and great-grandparents.

Arkansas folklorist Roy Edwin Thomas interviewed countless elderly men and women over the course of a quarter century, recording precious stories and memories that would otherwise be lost to us. These subjects were just regular folks who grew up in isolated communities around the Appalachian, Ozark, and Ouachita mountains, many of them past their 80th, 90th, and even 100th birthdays at the time. Most of the interviews that went into this particular book were conducted in the early 1970s, thereby preserving the words and wisdom of a generation now passed from this earth.

The 94 tales you'll find in this book vary a great deal in terms of their subject matter, but they all help paint a vivid picture of rural life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with some of the stories taking us all the way back to the time of the War Between the States. Don't expect to be entertained each and every time, though, as some of these stories are factual, in the sense that they describe how meat was stored, how lye soap was made, how education was oftentimes a luxury, etc. A strong sense of community, with neighbors helping neighbors, comes through particularly clearly - but even more obvious is the depth of feeling these individuals felt for those days gone by.

Many of the stories will make you laugh - there's no doubt of that. As poor and rural as these bygone families were a century or more ago, folks still knew how to have a good time. Basically, these are the kinds of stories you wish you could go back and ask your departed grandparents to tell you. Thank goodness that someone like Roy Edwin Thomas came along and preserved so many of these memories before they were forever lost to us.

this is a wonderfull book it is written by my family and feel special to be a part of the family if you get a chance read it please email me at emreald@hotmail.com I will feel fourtanate to here your resopns

I think a lot of children may think of being Christian as something imposed on them--having to go to church, having to follow rules. This book shows them that God can be a source of strength in bad times and that being a Christian can be a joyful, fun thing. Ben, Helena and the children live in a time when being a Christian was dangerous, but they bravely confront their oppressors and draw strength from the stories of Jesus. The adventure and humor in this book make it accessable even to children who are not Christian and to old fogies like me!

It just doesn't get any better than Frank Baum for children. Amazingly imaginative stories and unique characters.

My (mainly Spanish-speaking) kindergarteners love this story, and enjoy helping their hopelessly monolingual teacher pronounce the Spanish words. The repetition is great for this age, the song is catchy, and the humor makes the story fun for the teacher too. We also took the time to examine Panama (where the story originated) on the map.

This is one of the handful of books I pull out when we've got that extra 5-10 minutes, or when they're wild and I need to get them focused again.

"A work of blue collar philosophy bawdy enough to keep Joe Sixpack turning the page"

"Unlike anything I have ever read"

"The first chapter in a new book of modern myths"

"a story that moves along with a certain propulsion that intrigues the reader"

"it's amazing how this author has made even the most secondary of his characters unique, real and interesting...Please tell us another one Mr. Lindstrom"

Robert Etheridge Townsend, a young writer, recounts his twelve amatory encounters on his path to a conventional life style. Within his tales, he left an account of the behaviors of members of a relict leisure class in which ancestry, snobbery and pride of place were kept alive by infusions of wealth acquired through marriages of convenience.

The story is an old one, the illustrations are wonderful and have updated this tale. "Gone is gone." is said over and over as the man realizes how valuable woman's work really is.