How Chipmunk Got His Stripes


Joseph Bruchac - 2001
    Brown Squirrel doesn't believe him, so the two wait all night to see if the sun will rise. Sure enough, the sky reddens and the sun appears. Brown Squirrel is so happy to be right that he teases Bear. What happens when a little brown squirrel teases a big black bear? Brown Squirrel gets stripes and is called chipmunk from that day forward . . . Joseph and James Bruchac join forces to create this buoyant picture book, based on a Native American folktale.Illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey.

Revolting Rhymes


Roald Dahl - 1982
    Fairy tales have never been more revolting!

The Light Princess


George MacDonald - 1864
    A princess doomed by a witch to lose her “gravity” results in a silly heroine that has neither physical nor spiritual weight. George MacDonald’s masterful teaching on the subject of sacrificial love is delivered eloquently in the events and characters of this engaging story.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom


Christopher Healy - 2012
    Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a completely original take on the world of fairy tales, the truth about what happens after “happily ever after.” It’s a must-have for middle grade readers who enjoy their fantasy adventures mixed with the humor of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Witty black-and-white drawings by Todd Harris add to the fun.

Sleep Tight, Snow White


Jen Arena - 2017
    With a good night's sleep, even the Wicked Queen can have a new day, fresh and clean!Say good night to your favorite characters from beloved fairy tales and nursery rhymes in this enchanting bedtime book from author Jen Arena with gorgeous illustrations from Lorena Alvarez.

Each Peach Pear Plum


Janet Ahlberg - 1978
    Each beautifully illustrated page encourages young children to interact with the picture to find the next fairy tale and nursery rhyme character. This board book edition is perfect for little hands. In this book "With your little eye, Take a look, And play 'I spy'". This familiar rhyme has been given the brilliant Ahlbreg treatment to which no young child can fail to respond. It's a book which will be read over and over again . . . just perfect!'"Deceptively simple. 'Each Peach Pear Plum' is a work of genius." - Elaine Moss

The Green Fairy Book


Andrew Lang - 1892
    100 illustrations.

Interrupting Chicken


David Ezra Stein - 2010
    It's time for the little red chicken's bedtime story—and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can't help herself! Whether the tale is "Hansel and Gretel" or "Little Red Riding Hood" or even "Chicken Little," she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters from doing some dangerous or silly thing. Now it's the little red chicken's turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting? Energetically illustrated with glowing colors—and offering humorous story-within-a-story views—this all-too-familiar tale is sure to amuse (and hold the attention of) spirited little chicks.

Bubba, the Cowboy Prince: A Fractured Texas Fale


Helen Ketteman - 1997
    Bubba never complains, though. He's a real cowboy - tough as leather (and cute as a cow's ear).When Miz Lurleen, the purtiest rancher in Texas, decides to throw a ball to find herself a real feller, Bubba has to stay at home. "You smell more like the cattle than the cattle do," laugh Dwayne and Milton. But with the help of Bubba's fairy godcow, and a little Texas magic, Miz Lurleen finds the cowboy prince she's always dreamed of.With its western brand of language and humor, this Texas retelling of the Cinderella story will really rope in readers.

Duck on a Disco Ball


Jeff Mack - 2018
    A boy wants to stay up late, but his parents won’t let him. But sometimes in the morning, he notices things look a little off—like when he sees a disco ball in the kitchen…with his toy duck on it. So one night he decides to stay up. And that’s when the fun really begins.Silliness builds with each page of this high-energy, pun-filled companion to Duck in the Fridge until the moment when sleep eventually takes hold and morning arrives once more.

I, Too, Am America


Langston Hughes - 2012
    I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.Langston Hughes was a courageous voice of his time, and his authentic call for equality still rings true today. Beautiful paintings from Barack Obama illustrator Bryan Collier accompany and reinvent the celebrated lines of the poem “I, Too,” creating a breathtaking reminder to all Americans that we are united despite our differences.

Fanny's Dream


Caralyn Buehner - 1996
    Someday, she believes, she will marry a prince. When the town mayor announces he is throwing a grand ball, Fanny is convinced her time has come. She puts on her best calico dress and goes out to the garden so that she'll be ready when her fairy godmother arrives. As the seconds tick by, Fanny waits and waits. Finally, she hears a voice. It isn't her fairy godmother-but it is someone who will change her life forever.

The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine


Mark Twain - 2017
    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.

Little Red


Bethan Woollvin - 2015
    The wolf is hungry, and Red Riding Hood looks tasty, so he hatches a dastardly plan, gobbles up Grandma and lies in wait. So far, so familiar. But this Little Red Riding Hood is not easily fooled, and this big bad wolf better watch his back. In this defiant interpretation of the traditional tale, the cheeky, brave little girl seizes control of her own story (and the wolf gets rather more than he bargained for).

Sylvia Long's Thumbelina


Sylvia Long - 2010
    Jewel-toned paintings depict the story's settings from light and airy meadows to Mole's dark and dismal underground homewhile whimsical details bring the classic cast of characters to life and make this storytime favorite a visual feast.