Fables and Fairy Tales Books

This is our fourth encounter with the Legends of the World Series and we thoroughly enjoyed it!! This volume finds us in Jamaica, spending time with Solidae, her Gran'mother, living a simple but fulfilling life gather the fruits of the forest and sea. As the story starts out, Solidae comes to her Gran and tells her that the once colorful fish are now brown and drab as the mud...all the color is gone. Gran'mother knows immediately that it is Mancrow and begins to tell Solidae his story, the only creature among man and beast who never chose one nature over the other and who had slunk away into the forest, with this dark and savage heart. With that Gran leaves for the village for a few days and advises Solidae to stay away from Mancrow and not to speak to him at all.

Naturally, she does have an encounter with him and Iguana loses his colors as a result and Mancrow steals all the light and color from the world in his anger...Solidae goes home, but eventually Gran'mother returns and she confesses her part in the lasting darkness and decides that she must track down Mancrow and pluck his colored feather to set things right again. In the end, The Magic Feather is an interesting look at this folk story and we all enjoyed reading how Solidae worked with all the other animals in the end to pluck Mancrow's magic feather and bring back light and color to their island. The kids also picked up that storms must be something people living on Jamaica were worried about, and that's why they had the story to explain why storms happen and how Mancrow might one day return.

What I like about this series is that the language is simple and straightforward, even if the point is a bit sometimes ambiguous...and the illustrations are a riot of color...or a totally bleak landscape devoid of color and life, giving the story a rich and vibrant feel! We enjoyed this tale and I would recommend this book without hesitation!

Overall, I think this series is a great basic introduction to a wide array of stories from many cultures the world over...a jumping off point also for kids to research more into the culture and mythology, legend and/or folklore of any given place. I'd recommend this for introducing young children to mythology and folklore. The age range cited is 9-12 which is probably the range of kids who would most appreciate and benefit from the story and additional information provided...but even younger kids (say 5-8) will love the stories and vivid, colorful illustrations...the stores aren't so complex or long that they will lose interest in them. I would definitely buy this for my permanent collection and hope to read more from this series soon! I give it a solid A...kids of all ages can enjoy this tale!

The Magic Flute is a children's picturebook adaptation of the classic opera by Mozart. In this timeless fairy-tale, Prince Tamino must save Princess Pamina from her evil mother, the Queen of the Night; fortunately, he has a magic flute and the aid of his trusted friend Papageno. Deftly retold and brought to vibrant life with colorful illustrations, The Magic Flute is a wonderful children's introduction to the majesty of opera and especially recommended for children's public library collections.

My 7 year old daughter received this book for Christmas and what a wonderful book for any child who loves horses and stories about them.

This book breaks down the stories by country and describes in detail the history of the breed of horse specific to that region and the story. It is a wonderful blend of fact and folklore with gorgeous illustrations. The stories are rich in detail but are not "fairy tales" nor are they about unicorns or flying horses or other horse-like animals. They are folktales about horses with special wisdom or magical powers.

I'd say this book wouldn't hold the attention of a typical 5 year old. Some stories are 2 or 3 pages long with only small illustrations that might become dull for a younger child.

But if your child is a fan of folklore and/or horses, he or she will love this book!

she laughed and laughed. Nice light reading. Beware... If you have a child that loves to read, they could read these books very quickly. Very entertaining.

We just bought the last Airy Fairy having just discovered them at Christmas and my daughter (5 1/2) has loved all of them. She also likes the rainbow/jewel/weather fairies and Disney fairies but has enjoyed these as much as any of them.

All of the Airy Fairies are very funny and cute. My 5 1/2 yr old has thoroughly enjoyed them.

I cannot think of a better way to introduce the poetry of Robert Browning than this small volume. The selection is excellent and of interest you the young reader. The commentary is quite relevant as are the pictures which accompany it. I find that often now, our young people go all the way through the early grades in school and many of them have never heard of Browning, much less read his poetry. This was the sort of stuff my generation and the generation before it grew up on and cut our teeth on. I do not feel I am any worse for the wear. I am fearful that we are bringing up an entire generation (rightfully or wrong, although I feel it is the later) of young folks who will have no appreciation to this great art form and will miss a lot. This book helps. This entire series helps, as a matter of fact and I certainly recommend you add this one and the others to your library. Actually, it is rather fun reading these with the young folk and then talking about them. Not only do you get to enjoy the work your self and perhaps bring back some great memories, but you have the opportunity to interact with your child or student. It is actually rather surprising what some of the kids come up with. I read these to my grandchildren and to the kids in my classes at school. For the most part, when I really get to discussing the work with them, they enjoy it. Recommend this one highly.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3NDK2RJ4UUEJC See more of the Magical Scarecrows including the celebrity video downloads at: [...]

"The Magical Scarecrows opens the hidden gate to a charming world where everything comes to life, even the fire; a world where the brave hearts and clever minds of two Scarecrows and their animal friends face real dangers, real fears, and find real ways to deal with them. Embodying every child's feelings of both isolation and specialness, of being slightly out-of-place and misunderstood in the grown-up world, The Magical Scarecrows shows children how to look at situations with a different perspective, how to combine their talents with other people's, and how to face challenges with hope, determination, and imagination. The child in all of us will recognize the loneliness of each Scarecrow, thinking they're the only one of their kind. The spiritual in each of us will recognize the bond of friendship among the Scarecrows and animals that spans the globe with hope." - Pamela Jaye Smith, Mythologist, story consultant, and filmmaker and author of INNER DRIVES [...]

"These enchanting stories capture a timeless, universal truth that supports the inherent goodness associated with being kind." - Gilliam Rumpf, The Leukemia Foundation

"Imagine! A magical scarecrow being airlifted to the fire station by wild birds in order to save the animals and the forest!! You're going to love this Lynn Santer kid's thriller!! (It's for us grown up kids as well!!!) I love, love, LOVE these stories!!!" - Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and founder of The ROAR Foundation www.shambala.org

"We have been listening to Auntie Lynn's Magical Scarecrow stories almost since we were born. Mum read them to us regularly when we were very young and Auntie Lynn used to read them to us too when she was visiting. Now we can read them ourselves and understand the messages inside the stories.
We love the excitement and the friendship and the happiness they bring, and hope you like the drawings we made for the beginning of each chapter.
We are really happy that lots of other children are going to be able to enjoy our stories now and hope that as many children as possible do get to listen to or read about the Scarecrows. We know they will love them as much as we did." Lachlan and Joshua O'Brien

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RXRMF41IQV6I8 See more of the Magical Scarecrows including the celebrity video downloads at: http://www.themagicalscarecrows.com

"The Magical Scarecrows opens the hidden gate to a charming world where everything comes to life, even the fire; a world where the brave hearts and clever minds of two Scarecrows and their animal friends face real dangers, real fears, and find real ways to deal with them. Embodying every child's feelings of both isolation and specialness, of being slightly out-of-place and misunderstood in the grown-up world, The Magical Scarecrows shows children how to look at situations with a different perspective, how to combine their talents with other people's, and how to face challenges with hope, determination, and imagination. The child in all of us will recognize the loneliness of each Scarecrow, thinking they're the only one of their kind. The spiritual in each of us will recognize the bond of friendship among the Scarecrows and animals that spans the globe with hope." - Pamela Jaye Smith, Mythologist, story consultant, and filmmaker and author of INNER DRIVES www.mythworks.net

"These enchanting stories capture a timeless, universal truth that supports the inherent goodness associated with being kind." - Gilliam Rumpf, The Leukaemia Foundation

"Imagine! A magical scarecrow being airlifted to the fire station by wild birds in order to save the animals and the forest!! You're going to love this Lynn Santer kid's thriller!! (It's for us grown up kids as well!!!) I love, love, LOVE these stories!!!" - Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and founder of The ROAR Foundation www.shambala.org

"We have been listening to Auntie Lynn's Magical Scarecrow stories almost since we were born. Mum read them to us regularly when we were very young and Auntie Lynn used to read them to us too when she was visiting. Now we can read them ourselves and understand the messages inside the stories.
We love the excitement and the friendship and the happiness they bring, and hope you like the drawings we made for the beginning of each chapter.
We are really happy that lots of other children are going to be able to enjoy our stories now and hope that as many children as possible do get to listen to or read about the Scarecrows. We know they will love them as much as we did." Lachlan and Joshua O'Brien

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While in San Francisco's Chinatown, I stumbledacross the delightful children's book called The Magical StarfruitTree. The virtues of sharing and respect for elders are thecornerstone of Chinese philosophy. Author Rosalind Wang conveys this message perfectly in her version of the famous Chinese folktale.

The story takes place in a small village on a very hot day. A greedy peddler refuses to share his star fruit with an elderly and thirsty beggar. Realizing the beggar is in desperate need of liquid, a young boy shares all of his money to buy a star fruit for him. ...

Following the "Do unto others as you would have done unto you" Golden Rule, the book's message transcends all racial boundaries and historical timelines. It creates a perfect opportunity for parents to discuss morals and ethics with their children.

The Magical Starfruit Tree is published by Beyond Words Publishing END