Included are such favorites as "Hansel and Gretel," "The Brave Little Tailor," "Cinderella," "Little Red Riding Hood," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Snow White" as well as less familiar ones: "The Danced-Out Shoes," "The Golden Bird," "The Six Swans," "Mother Holle," and "Straw, Coal and Bean." Stanley Appelbaum provides excellent English translations on pages facing the original German, allowing students to read some of the finest stories of the Brothers Grimm in the original while simultaneously improving their German language skills.

    Full color.

    Each story offers a glimpse of Tibetan culture. The stories also impart simple wisdom and exemplify living in peace and kindness. The book includes a special foreword from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

    It is alive with the awareness of the holiness of Creation and the boundlessness of God's mercy, and is utterly honest about the necessity of living such awareness in loving service to all beings. It is a wisdom that fuses the highest mystical initiations with the most down-home celebration of life and a rugged commitment to social and political justice in all its forms. In other words, it is a wisdom that is never, as my old prep school headmaster would put it, "too divine to be of any earthly use." from the Foreword by Andrew HarveyMartin Buber, author of Tales of Hasidim, was the first to bring the Hasidic tales to life for modern readers in the middle of the twentieth century. His groundbreaking work was the first time that most readers had ever encountered the lives and teachings of these profound and enigmatic spiritual masters from Eastern Europe.In Hasidic Tales: Annotated & Explained, Rabbi Rami Shapiro breathes new life into these classic stories of people who so marvelously combined the mystical and the ordinary. Each demonstrates the spiritual power of unabashed joy, offers lessons for leading a holy life, and reminds you that the Divine can be found in the everyday. Without an expert guide, the allegorical quality of Hasidic tales can be perplexing. But Shapiro presents them as stories rather than parables, making them accessible and meaningful. Now you can experience the wisdom of Hasidism firsthand even if you have no previous knowledge of Jewish spirituality. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that explains theological concepts, introduces major characters, offers clarifying references unfamiliar to most readers and reveals how you can use the Hasidic tales to further your own spiritual awakening."

    For centuries Indian children have grown up hearing Ganesh's story--how his mother, Parvati (an incarnation of the great mother goddess), created a small boy from sandalwood soap and commanded that he guard the palace against all intruders while she took her bath. How her husband, Shiva (the fearsome god of destruction), didn't take kindly to being barred from his own home. How Shiva beheaded the boy during the cosmic war that followed, but then, when he realized that the balance of the entire universe was at stake, brought the boy back to life by grafting an elephant's head onto his body and made him the people's intercessor against the powers of destruction. Ganesh's timeless story teaches children about the steadfast power of dedication to duty, the awe-inspiring power of a mother's love for her child, and the gentle power of compassion, which holds the world together. Accompanied by rich, color illustrations prepared according to the traditional Hindu canon, How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head will transport children to a magical world filled with ancient wisdom.

    They're rather good examples of their genre, but still clearly amateur. Perhaps she was unwilling to lean too heavily on the work of the past, but there's no shame in borrowing from the masters, and it would have added greatly to the feel of the book. For the devoted fan of shapeshifter lore, Half Human, Half Animal is worth buying for the resource list alone. New fans to the genre could do worse than to start with this book, which covers a wider variety of myths and legends than the usual Euro-centric werewolf-exclusive fare. It's not the most elegantly written volume on the subject, as Hall seems to be finding her feet in this first literary excursion. Still, I'm looking forward to the second volume Hall claims to be assembling; with luck she'll have fully overcome her first time writer's foibles without losing her fan's enthusiasm for the subject. Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures will help round out any folklore fan's shelf.

    Highlights: - Includes magical folktales of familiar trees such as Cherry Blossom and Chesnut and also the more exotic Kapok and Pomegranate- Ideal gift book for the whole family, and for anyone with an interest in their natural surroundings and environmental issues- Each story has an introduction giving informative notes about each species- Introduces Rina Singh, a new author from Toronto, Canada

    Focusing on a poor boy and his grandmother, adventure begins when the boy discovers an old, limping horse. Though ridiculed by his tribe, the boy cares for the horse and brings it back to health. In turn, the animal helps his friend achieve greatness, only to be betrayed. The boy's remorse is sincere, but will he be forgiven?Captivating readers, Caldecott medalist Paul Goble shows how a loving friendship changes the lives of a people.

    A dramatic retelling of a Comanche legend of how Texas became known as the blue bonnet state."Come every spring the bluebonnets cling to prairies the showers renew.Come, gather near, settle down, and you’ll hearof how the first bluebonnets grew."This beautiful Comanche legend of how a young girl sacrifices her most precious possession, even as the bravest men refuse, to save her land and people from a terrible drought, is retold here in dramatic verse and striking full-color paintings.

    On his journey he encounters a lizard, a Gila monster, a snake, and a flock of sun-yellow birds. Will they help Red Bird find Spider Woman in time to save the crops?This children's book is written in both Navajo and English.

    In "Anansi," an uproarious story from Ghana, the tables are turned on lazy Anansi. "The Boy Who Wanted the Moon," set in the Congo, explains why there are monkeys in the world. "Shansa Mutongo Shima," a thrilling story of the Tabura people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reveals the dangers of judging by appearances. In "The Roof of Leaves," from the Congo, a married couple learns a lesson about anger and forgiveness. "The Wedding Basket," set in Nigeria, is a cautionary tale about taboos. In "The Talking Skull," from Cameroon, a foolish man learns too late the wisdom of keeping his mouth shut.Each tale reflects the rhythms and cadences of the storyteller's muse. For her research, Donna Washington consulted as many written and oral sources as she could find. And award-winning artist James Ransome's stunning water-color paintings illuminate the diversity of the African people, clothing, architecture, landscape, and wildlife. Readers will discover that despite the variety, these stories about human foibles hold universal truths for everyone, everywhere.