Fables and Fairy Tales Books

Amy Ehrlich's selection of fairy tales is excellent. Although all are familiar, these are unusually well written and nice to read, both to oneself and aloud.

I was, however, attracted to the book because of the beautiful pencil illustrations done by Diane Goode. In fact, that's why I purchased the book. Both her pencil and colored pencil illustrations are detailed and well rendered with delicate lines and tones. She has a wonderful sense of design, making each page a new treat. A child would never tire of looking at these illustrations while listening to the stories.

I enjoyed the short biographies at the end of the book, especially reading how Goode approaches her artwork. This book is now hard to get so I'm pleased to have it in my collection

Denise Hillman Moynahan
The Great Cavern of the Winds: Tales from Backbone Mountain

The book is hilarious. Author's sense of humor will be greatly appreciated by the adults, who will be reading their kids to sleep using this Beth Webb's tale. And I promise that the kids will be dreaming of polite and gentle multicolored dragons and eating toasts with sardines for quite some time. The tale teaches to appreciate all the people (and creatures) made by God, even though they are not like you.

Warlord's Beads tells of a man fortunate to live under the roof of a powerful Chinese warlord - but only as long as his worried father, an accountant, finds good favor with the warlord. It's up to the young man to rescue a father in trouble with a clever solution in this problem-solving story of intrigue and faith.

this is a good story for children ....kids love reading it and cannot put it down.....this author knows how to write great stories

The lore of Aukele, who stole the magical "water of Kane" to revive his dead nephew and brothers, along with a host of other folktales from the varied islands of Hawaii. Suitable to be told or read to younger children and read independently by older children and adults.
--- from publisher's synopsis

STORY
Based on the well know Christmas song, Geraldine McCaughrean has written a wonderful adaptation that is just perfect for winter reading to your children. A story of warmth, compassion and Yuletide spirit, this book should do great with both parents and children alike.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Somewhere online someone (I think it was a publisher) wrote that if ever any artist was perfect for his chosen medium, it was Christian Birmingham. With 'Wenceslas', this amazing artist shows once again how true that remark is. I could go on and on about the amazing textures this craftsman has created with his pastels, brilliant choices of colour (beautiful hues of blue, purple, yello and orange) and other artistic choices Birmingham has made here, but it all comes down to this: this is a gorgeous book, you'll be paging through it again and again just for gazing at the artwork.

From the introduction of the book one can take that the author has written this book for children, but it is fun to read for adults as well. It is not only, that it gives an insight in the folk tales of Africa, it also introduces the reader to the African wildlife in a far more entertaining way then the normal guide book. The illustrations of Rod Clement are just as good as photos, sometimes even better, because good close-ups of mainly the small and nocturnal animals are quite rare. Nick Greaves tells stories, tales, fables and legends from the African tribes about different animals and after each section gives facts about them. By doing this especially for tourists the book gives a general idea of the wildlife one might come across while traveling in Africa and furthermore the book supplies the not native speaker with useful vocabulary. "When Lion Could Fly" follows up Nick Greaves earlier book of African tales "When Hippo Was Hairy", which is highly recommendable, too.

Although written for children, this collection of myths and legends from Ethiopia is also enjoyable and informative for adults who have friends from Ethiopia or who enjoy learning about other cultures.
I thought it was particularly interesting that the stories were collected from throughout Ethiopia, and include representations from the diverse subcultures within that rich and varied country.
The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful.

Great for reading with Chinese studnets. The goddess Qin tries to steal a beautiful brocade but has difficulty when a little boy decides to fight for it. Nice little chinese story with Chinese style illustrations.

i have own this book for several years, given to me by my grandmother (i'm Beth's daughter, her mother gave the book to me) and i recommend it to anyone who adores hearing about the Native American stories, or wants to compare these stories to European books. The White Wolf Woman story is my favorite one.