Trees contain the cosmos; when night falls, the spirits they nurture glimmer into life.A visual ode to trees rendered by tribal artists from India, this handcrafted edition showcases three of the finest living Gond masters. This collection of their distinctive styles is enchanting—an excellent gift for those fascinated by trees, art or folk traditions.

       As he did with his Caldecott-winning The Lion and the Mouse, Jerry Pinkney has masterfully adapted this story of the hardworking hen and her lazy neighbors. Its Golden Rule message and sassy finale are just as relevant and satisfying as ever. Read it in tandem with Pinkney’s Puss in Boots and The Tortoise and the Hare or David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs.     "Perfect [for] sharing with one listener, or a crowd." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)   “Cheerful [and] luminous. Kids will gleefully chime in.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)   “A lush light-filled rendition of a folktale staple.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

    Collection of the following titles: A Bag of Gold Coin, Choice of Friends, How Friends are Parted, Tiger and the Woodpecker, Friends and Foes

    When a series of misfortunes finally bring her to China where she is asked to make a tent for the Emperor, Fatima comes to realize the value of all her past experiences in helping her forge a new and happier life.

    The Book of Angels shines a light on little-known facts of angel lore that have been hidden away for centuries in forgotten books and histories kept from wide circulation. Boldly illustrated with Ruth Thompson’s stunning full-color artwork, this book shows you details of angel history and heraldry that have never been so vividly rendered, and that you cannot glean from traditional myths and legends. A special section on Angelic Lore is also included, which recounts stories from the Bible, literature, and history. This is your introduction to beings of awe and mystery, and a realm illuminated by their valor and magnificence.

    Every night he is awakened by the fireflies outside his window. And when Gecko doesn't get his rest, he gets a little grumpy. So he goes to Elephant, the head of the village, to complain. His request that the fireflies stop working at night sets off a comical chain of problems for everyone in the village and complicates everyone's life. Through this cumulative tale from the Balinese tradition, Gecko learns that his well-being depends on that of the entire village and he finally goes to sleep, a little wiser. This Balinese folktale will teach readers the importance of respect, sharing and citizenship.

    But in a deep, swampy bayou of Louisiana, he's known as Papa No�l. In such a hot and humid place, there can be no sleds or reindeer, so Papa No�l rides the river in a boat that's pulled by eight alligators, with a snowy white one named Nicollette in the lead. On this particular Christmas Eve, it's so foggy on the river that even Nicollette's magical glowing-green eyes may not be enough to guide Papa No�l. The alligators are tired, grumpy and bruised from banging into cypress trees, and Papa is desperate to get all the gifts to the little children. Well, "quicker than a snake shimmies down the river," the clever Cajun people come up with a solution that saves the day. A colorfully inventive Christmas tale, Papa No�l is a lesson in fast thinking, as well as a witty introduction to a part of America that's rich in folklore and legend.

    

    Both brothers were physically deformed with humps on their backs. One brother was good and kind, helpful and friendly, and the other was the opposite. It was time to repair the old hut up in the mountains, but even though it was the lazy brother's turn, he didn't want to go. So the good brother went and did the job instead. On his way through the forest, he saw the beauty in everything he passed, from a sparkling stream to poisonous, iridescent mushrooms to a warty old toad. In the night, magical beings visited him. What happened that night changed both brothers' lives forever. This lyrical folktale reinforces the power of positive thinking.

    After the sun insults her, the moon gets very upset and disappears. With the help of her friends, the moon gains more self-confidence each day until she is back to her full size. The Creative Minds section explains the phases of the moon and also includes moon crafts and games.

    With the help of his newfound treasure he finds wealth and happiness . . . and wins the heart of the Sultan's daughter.AnansiRead by Denzel WashingtonOriginal Music by UB40 These two stories feature Anansi, the hilarious spider of West Indian folklore. In the first, he outwits a prideful snake to win possession of all the stories in the jungle. The second recounts his getting tangled in his own web of lies at his mother-in-law's funeral.East of the Sun, West of the MoonRead by Max von SydowOriginal Music by Lyle Mays In this Norwegian tale, a peasant farmer sends his youngest daughter to live with a mysterious white bear in exchange for untold riches. But when the girl ignores the bear's advice she must travel to a castle East of the Sun and West of the Moon to face the Troll Queen and make things right.The Five Chinese BrothersRead by John LoneOriginal Music by Bill Douglass and David Austin Five brothers, each of whom has an amazing physical gift, join forces to outwit the evil Emperor who has forced thousands into slavery to build the Great Wall of China. The older brothers are put to the test but the youngest proves to be the most gifted of all.

    First Woman asks the Bird People, the River People, and the Water People for assistance, but everyone she speaks to has an excuse. Not me, said Mockingbird. The smoke would hurt my voice and I would never sing again. Not me, said Snail. I carry my house with me and I am slow. No, said Beaver. We'd like to help, but our river home would become a desert if we changed the flow of water. At last, First Woman asks the mysterious Frog for help. Will he be able to stop the flames before they reach the village? Author Patricia Hruby Powell's retelling of this Navajo folktale is as graceful as it is compelling, and Kendrick Benally's bright, folk-inspired contemporary paintings are as magical as the mythical time the story describes. Enter the village of the First People and become a part of the time when the world was new.This Children's book is written in both Navajo and English.

    Offers a collection of Chinese folk tales that celebrate the power of good over evil, including the story about a fisherman who outwits his greedy landlord and the child-eating monster who meets her match during an encounter with a kindhearted little girl.

    BlowingWind MountainChild had all of these and lost them, just as she was starting on what she thought would be the greatest adventure of her life. Now, she is being called out by the forces of life and undertaking the journey into adulthood alone. However, journeys always seem to entail healing, and a quest to find her lost love turns into something even greater. Take Ryu is a boisterous magma ryugami trapped for five years beneath Mt. Fuji for the crime of becoming too engrossed in human affairs. Upon the end of his imprisonment he emerges to find a strange and undefended shaman woman within his territory. Falling prey once more to his kind heart he too is swept up in the threads of a destiny that neither human nor dragon could have ever believed. This is the first book of the Dragon Shaman series, which will follow BlowingWind and her family in a saga of such depth and breadth, that some greater being, or beings must surely be behind the scenes. But for what purpose?More than supernatural romance, more than fantasy, this multi-genre series will have a very different end than what the author usually finds to read...which is just how she wants it.

    A freshly baked gingerbread man escapes when he is taken out of the oven and eludes a number of pursuers until he meets a clever fox.

    The furious lion attacks the hyena, and the other animals then give the ruler so much that there is little left for them. "The lion's share is not fair," is the stark message.

    Nothing scared her?not rattlesnakes or wild horses or even Wild Bill Hickok. Quicksand could not keep her down. As an army scout, Calamity Jane rescued a wounded captain from the middle of a bloody battle. She never even got a scratch. As a Pony Express rider, she outwitted a band of robbers and sent them running. Even smallpox didn't dare tangle with her. Catch some of Calamity Jane's spirit in this fast-paced tale.

    These original settlers mixed with the black races of the interior, and it is from this mixture that the people now called Swahili have sprung. The word Swahili, or Sawaheli, comes from the Arabic word Sawahil, meaning coast, and hence the east coast of Africa.A language derived partly from Arabic and partly from several African Bantu tongues came into being. This is called Kisawaheli, or the Swahili language, and different dialects of it are spoken practically the whole length of the East African coast and the islands close to it. [Pg vi]The stories which follow are drawn from a number heard at different times and in different places, and they have been written down as nearly as possible as told by the Swahili himself. Some were told by story-tellers in the coast towns, others were overheard on the march in the interior or round the camp-fire at night.These stories have not been kept in any book or written document, but have been repeated from mouth to mouth, perhaps for hundreds of years. Either they are narrated by a professional story-teller of a coast town, who hands on his stock of them to his son after him, or they are told by mothers to their children almost from the time they can toddle. These children, when they grow up, tell them, in their turn, to their children, but the story is always told in the evening.During the day-time there is work to do and no good woman has time to waste in idleness. She must go out into the fields with her baby strapped on her back and hoe and weed the crops in the hot sun, she must grind the maize or millet into flour between two stones, winnow the grain, cook her husband's dinner, draw the water, [Pg vii] collect firewood, and perform many other duties.When the day's work is done and the evening meal is finished they sit round the fire outside the hut, for they have no lamps or even electric light. Perhaps they sit in a little courtyard, surrounded by a high palisade, for fear of the lions, or perhaps, no lions having been heard of late, they sit in the cleared space in the centre of the village, each family by its little fire. Then the mother tells her stories to the children, who soon get to know them all by heart, yet never tire of hearing them again and again. "Tell us, mother, the story of Nunda, so that we may join in the chorus—"Siye mwanangu siye, siye Nunda mlawatu." (It is not he, my child, not Nunda the eater of folk.)Or it may be on a journey after a long and tiring day's march, the evening meal is cooked and eaten, and then the tired porters lie round the camp-fire and call on one of their number to tell a story, "So that we may forget the toil of the day."As the Swahili is himself a mixture of the [Pg viii] Arab and the African, so his stories form a curious combination of the elements of both races. The finer and more witty points are generally of Arab origin, whilst the more homely and jungle scenes are drawn from Africa. The jin or fairy, both good and bad, has been brought from Arabia with the Sultan and the idea of wealth and precious stones.

    The king then made a proclamation: whoever wakes the prince will receive any reward they choose...but up until now, not one has achieved it. Now, Witch Sayla, scorned by the outside for being a witch, attempts this task as the 99th contender, not for the sake of the prince's hand in marriage like the princesses before her, but solely for the king's national treasure, the Sapphire of Illusions. Can a witch, who is hated even in fairy tales, be the heroine of this one? Follow Sayla as she goes to meet this sleeping prince inside his dreams.