Her talent as a weaver has ensured that she can support herself--and perhaps win the love of the handsome Prince. But when an evil giant takes Tatsinda prisoner and plans to destroy the kingdom, it will take all the magic, skill, and love that Tatsinda and the Prince can muster to foil the giant and restore peace and beauty to the mountain. “This timeless story will make an absorbing read-aloud.”--School Library Journal

    Blessed with a kind family and a loving friend, she manages to create her own small patch of sunlight in a dark and dangerous world. Bella is a blacksmith's daughter; her friend Julian is a prince -- yet neither seems to notice the great gulf that divides his world from hers.Suddenly Bella's world collapses. First Julian betrays her. Then it is revealed that she is not the peasant she believed herself to be: She is Isabel, the daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. Now he wants her back, so Bella is torn from her beloved foster family and sent to live with her deranged father and his resentful new wife. Soon Bella is caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life -- and the kingdom -- forever. With the help of her godmother and three enchanted gifts, she sets out on a journey in disguise that will lead her to a destiny far greater than any she could have imagined.Amazon

    Then, as the play begins, the perspective shifts and reader becomes the real audience to this unique performance.

    He finds the way to his old home, but the house is dark, with three rusty padlocks on the door. A black cat with eyes of fire appears and leads him through Prague's silent streets and monuments in seach of the three golden keys that will open the door of his boyhood home and restore the city to life. In this reissue of one of his most personal works, Peter Sís recaptures the wonder of his own lost childhood in Prague and celebrates the city's wonderful cultural heritage, reborn after forty-five years of Communist rule. He wrote it for his young daughter, Madeleine, who is growing up in the New World, so that when she is old enough to understand it she will have a record of the strange and wonderful heritage that is her birthright. An utterly magical book on every level.

    Her masterful and authentic retellings of twelve treasured tales are well-matched by Jane Ray's evocative illustrations. Teeming with rich colors, golden trim patterns, silhouettes, and symbols, these pictures—like the timeless stories they interpret—are to be pored over and cherished. Come back to CINDERELLA, SNOW WHITE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE FROG PRINCE, and eight other beloved tales. Enter a haunting world of magic and enchantment.

    Cursed by an evil fairy at her christening, Princess Melisande grows up bald but finds herself facing another set of problems when her wish for golden hair is fulfilled.

    

    The humor, the magic, and a lush Renaissance setting are all on glorious display, and a well-placed gatefold adds to the drama. This elegant new edition of Charles Perrault's folktale is essential for every child's library. Read it in tandem with other Pinkney classic picture books like The Little Red Hen and The Lion and the Mouse."This book is larger than life."-Library Media Connection

    Did you ever wonder how the dwarves felt after Snow White ditched them for the prince? Do you sometimes wish Cinderella hadn't been so helpless and petite? Prepare to see fairy tales from a completely new angle!

    Retold by Barbara Karlin, Cinderella will be a favorite of all children. "Retold and illustrated with wit and humor, this is an excellent version of the favorite fairy tale."--School Library Journal (starred review) "This collaboration is whimsical and fresh and full of undeniable child appeal."--The Horn Book "Saccharine-free and filled with a robust, earthy humor, this rendition has a studied nonchalance laced with wit. . . . [It] will take its rightful place on the fairy-tale shelves, but won't sit there for long!"--Booklist (starred review)

    In a hotel in Paris one evening in 1879, Mark Twain sat with his young daughters, who begged their father for a story. After the girls chose a picture from a magazine to get started, Twain began telling them the tale of Johnny, a poor boy in possession of some magical seeds. Later, Twain would jot down some rough notes about the story, but the tale was left unfinished . . . until now. Plucked from the Mark Twain archive at the University of California at Berkeley, Twain’s notes now form the foundation of a fairy tale picked up over a century later. With only Twain’s fragmentary script and a story that stops partway as his guide, author Philip Stead has written a tale that imagines what might have been if Twain had fully realized this work: Johnny, forlorn and alone except for his pet chicken, meets a kind woman who gives him seeds that change his fortune, allowing him to speak with animals and sending him on a quest to rescue a stolen prince. In the face of a bullying tyrant king, Johnny and his animal friends come to understand that generosity, empathy, and quiet courage are gifts more precious in this world than power and gold. Illuminated by Erin Stead’s graceful, humorous, and achingly poignant artwork, this is a story that reaches through time and brings us a new book from America’s most legendary writer, envisioned by two of today’s most important names in children’s literature.

    “The inherent drama of the story, combined with the haunting images the art provides, gives the picture book a timeless quality.”--Booklist

    Frank Baum's magical character conjures a world where diminutive munchkins live and work, wicked witches run riot, and the mighty Oz himself rules over an Emerald City reached by a yellow brick road. The Wizard of Oz: The First Five Novels is your passport to this marvelous realm and wonders that have enchanted readers young and old for more than a century. Lavishly illustrated by W. W. Denslow and John R. Neill, this volume includes:The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Marvelous Land of OzOzma of OzDorothy and the Wizard in OzThe Road to OzThe Wizard of Oz: The First Five Novels is one of Barnes & Noble's Collectible Editions classics. Each volume features authoritative texts by the world's greatest authors in an exquisitely designed bonded-leather binding, with distinctive gilt edging and a silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old and are an indispensable cornerstone for every home library.

    Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall — the only Folk Keeper in the city of Rhysbridge — sits hour after hour with the Folk in the dark, chilly cellar, "drawing off their anger as a lightning rod draws off lightning." The Folk are the fierce, wet-mouthed, cave-dwelling gremlins who sour milk, rot cabbage, and make farm animals sick. Still, they are no match for the steely, hard-hearted, vengeful orphan Corinna who prides herself in her job of feeding, distracting, and otherwise pacifying these furious, ravenous creatures. The Folk Keeper has power and independence, and that's the way she likes it.One day, Corinna is summoned by Lord Merton to come to the vast seaside estate Cliffsend as Folk Keeper and family member — for she is the once-abandoned child he has been looking for. It is at Cliffsend that Corinna learns where her unusual powers come from, why she is drawn to the sea, and finally, what it means to be comfortable in her own skin. Written in the form of a journal, The Folk Keeper is a powerful story of a proud, ferociously self-reliant girl who breaks out of her dark, cold, narrow world into one of joy, understanding, and even the magic of romance.

    "Executed with chromatic splendor--a unique combination of brilliance and restraint".--The Horn Book. Full-color illustrations.