Swedish Folktales and Legends


Lone Thygesen Blecher - 1994
    Ranging from the ribald to the romantic, from the rustic to the mythical, these are lively translations of 150 tales drawn from unique sources including the Swedish National Folklore Archives and numerous private collections, while the humorous and dramatic illustrations are gathered from classic volumes of Swedish folktales. Lone Thygesen Blecher's engaging introduction details the purpose and background of folktales and legends as well as the history of their collection. This distinctive selection presents the storytelling artistry of Sweden's lush folkloric tradition.

Arab Folktales


Inea Bushnaq - 1986
    Out of alleys of Cairo and Bedouin tents, from the Moroccan laborers and Syrian peasants, this collection of 130 tales comes from Arab worlds from North Africa to the Holy Land.

Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies


Moss Roberts - 1980
    Illustrated with woodcuts.With black-and-white drawings throughoutPart of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

Folk-Tales of the British Isles


Kevin Crossley-Holland - 1985
    It is a first-of-a-kind anthology including stories from English, Celtic and Norse traditions. Illustrated.

African Folktales


Roger D. Abrahams - 1983
    Nearly 100 stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in both the animal and human realms.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales


Franz Xaver von Schönwerth - 2015
    With this volume, the holy trinity of fairy tales - the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen - becomes a quartet. In the 1850s, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth traversed the forests, lowlands, and mountains of northern Bavaria to record fairy tales, gaining the admiration of even the Brothers Grimm. Most of Schönwerth's work was lost - until a few years ago, when thirty boxes of manu­scripts were uncovered in a German municipal archive.Now, for the first time, Schönwerth's lost fairy tales are available in English. Violent, dark, and full of action, and upending the relationship between damsels in distress and their dragon-slaying heroes, these more than seventy stories bring us closer than ever to the unadorned oral tradition in which fairy tales are rooted, revolutionizing our understanding of a hallowed genre.

Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World


Kathleen Ragan - 1998
    Gathered from around the world, from regions as diverse as sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, from North and South American Indian cultures and New World settlers, from Asia and the Middle East, these 100 folktales celebrate strong female heroines.Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters is for all women who are searching to define who they are, to redefine the world and shape their collective sensibility. It is for men who want to know more about what it means to be a woman. It is for our daughters and our sons, so that they can learn to value all kinds of courage, courage in battle and the courage of love. It is for all of us to help build a more just vision of woman.

Japanese Fairy Tales


Yei Theodora Ozaki - 1903
    Some are "Momotaro, "The Son of a Peach", "The Jellyfish and the Monkey", "The Mirror of Matsuyama", "The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child", "The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa."

Irish Folk Tales


Henry Glassie - 1985
    Spanning the centuries from the first wars of the ancient Irish kings through the Celtic Renaissance of Yeats to our own time, they are set in cities, villages, fields and forestsfrom the wild Gaelic western coast to the modern streets of Dublin and Belfast.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

The Victorian Fairy Tale Book


Michael Patrick Hearn - 1988
    M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, here are seventeen classic stories and poems from the golden age of the English fairy tale. Some of them amuse, some enchant, some satirize and criticize, but each one–in the words of Laurence Houseman, author of the classic Rocking-Horse Land– “is an expression of the joy of living.”Accompanied by the illustrations from the original editions of these works–by such celebrated Victorian artists as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Maxfield Parrish, and Arthur Rackham–this collection will delight readers both young and old.

Tales of Ancient Egypt


Roger Lancelyn Green - 1967
    But there are also tales told for pleasure about magic, treasure and adventure - even the first ever Cinderella story.

Latin American Folktales


John Bierhorst - 2001
    Among the essential characters are the quiet man's wife who knew the Devil's secrets, the three daughters who robbed their father's grave, and the wife in disguise who married her own husband—not to mention the Bear's son, the tricksters Fox and Monkey, the two compadres, and the classic rogue Pedro de Urdemalas.Gathered from twenty countries, including the United States, the stories are brought together here in a core collection of one hundred tales arranged in the form of a velorio, or wake, the most frequent occasion for public storytelling. The tales are preceded by a selection of early Colonial legends foreshadowing the themes of Latino folklore and are followed by a carefully chosen group of modern Indian myths that replay the basic stories in a contrasting key. Riddles, chain riddles, and folk prayers, part and parcel of the velorio along with folktales, are introduced at appropriate junctures.The collection is unprecedented in size and scope, and most of the tales have not been translated into English before. The result is the first panoramic anthology of Hispano-American folk narratives in any language.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

More Celtic Fairy Tales


Joseph Jacobs - 1894
    In this book feature over two dozen stories taken from popular oral tradition and united with John D. Batten's black and white drawings, full of movement and energy. Many of the earliest children's books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pook Press are working to republish these classic works in affordable, high quality editions, using the original text and artwork so these works can delight another generation of children. John Dickson Batten (1860-1932) was a British painter, illustrator and print maker who was a leading light in the Art Nouveau movement. He illustrated a series of fairy tale books written by Joseph Jacobs as well as English language versions of Arabian Nights and Dante's Inferno. His illustrations are strongly influenced by the printmakers of Japan and are characterised by an intense romanticism and refined technique.

Yiddish Folktales


Beatrice Silverman Weinreich - 1988
    Collected from people of all walks of life, they include parables and allegories about life, luck, and wisdom; tales of magic and wonder; stories about rebbes and their disciples; and tales whose only purpose is to entertain. Long after the culture that produced them has disappeared, these enchanting Yiddish folktales continue to work their magic today.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

Folktales from India


A.K. Ramanujan - 1992
    Gods disguised as beggars and beasts, animals enacting Machiavellian intrigues, sagacious jesters and magical storytellers, wise counselors and foolish kings--all inhabit a fabular world, yet one that is also firmly grounded in everyday life. Here is an indispensable guide to India's ageless folklore tradition.With black-and-white illustrations throughoutPart of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library