Book picks similar to
The Little Mermaid by Deborah Hautzig
fairy-tales
fantasy
fiction
classics
Corduroy
Don Freeman - 1968
When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button. It's a brave new world! He accidentally gets on an elevator that he thinks must be a mountain and sees the furniture section that he thinks must be a palace. He tries to pull a button off the mattress, but he ends up falling off the bed and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman hears the crash, finds Corduroy, and puts him back on the shelf downstairs. The next morning, he finds that it's his lucky day! A little girl buys him with money she saved in her piggy bank and takes him home to her room. Corduroy decides that this must be home and that Lisa must be his friend. Youngsters will never get tired of this toy-comes-alive tale with a happy ending, so you may also want to seek out Dan Freeman's next creation, A Pocket for Corduroy. (Ages 3 to 8)
Holes
Louis Sachar - 1998
A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.
Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti
Gerald McDermott - 1973
He is a rogue, a mischief maker, and a wise, lovable creature who triumphs over larger foes.In this traditional Ashanti tale, Anansi sets out on a long, difficult journey. Threatened by Fish and Falcon, he is saved from terrible fates by his sons. But which of his sons should Anansi reward? Calling upon Nyame, the God of All Things, Anansi solves his predicament in a touching and highly resourceful fashion.In adapting this popular folktale, Gerald McDermott merges the old with the new, combining bold, rich color with traditional African design motifs and authentic Ashanti language rhythms. Anansi the Spider is a 1973 Caldecott Honor Book.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
Lewis Carroll - 1871
This mini book contains the entire topsy-turvy stories of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, accompanied by practical notes and Martina Pelouso's memorable full-colour illustrations.
Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Judy Blume - 1971
Suddenly his mother is intent on climbing the social ladder; his grandmother isn't allowed to cook for the family anymore since they've hired a housekeeper; and his older brother, Ralph, who's always wanted to be a teacher has suddenly decided to go into business.
The Princess Diaries Box Set, Volumes I-III
Meg Cabot - 2001
Princesses rejoice!
Little Red Riding Hood
Vera Southgate - 1920
The tale is sensitively retold, retaining all the key parts of the story beginning with Little Red Riding Hood heading to her grandmother's house, only to meet with the big bad wolf!
Other exciting titles in the Ladybird Tales series include The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rapunzel, The Magic Porridge Pot, The Enormous Turnip, Puss in Boots, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Big Pancake, Dick Whittington, Chicken Licken, Princess and the Frog, The Ugly Duckling, Little Red Hen, Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Pea. Ladybird Tales are based on the original Ladybird retellings by Vera Southgate, with beautiful pictures of the kind children like best - full of richness and detail. Children have always loved, and will always remember, these classic fairy tales and sharing them together is an experience to treasure. Ladybird has published fairy tales for over forty-five years, bringing the magic of traditional stories to each new generation of children.
Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls
Jane Yolen - 2000
These thirteen folktales have one thing in common: brainy, brawny, brave heroines--and not one damsel in distress! From Bradamante, the fierce female medieval knight, to Li Chi, the Chinese girl who slays a dreaded serpent and saves her town, these heroines use their cunning, wisdom, and strength to succeed. Drawing from diverse cultures around the world, renowned author Jane Yolen celebrates the smart, strong, and sassy heroines of legend and lore in a collection that will encourage bravery in every girl.
My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George - 1959
Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons. Jean Craighead George, author of more than 80 children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves, created another prizewinner with My Side of the Mountain--a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book. Astonishingly, she wrote its sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain, 30 years later, and a decade after that penned the final book in the trilogy, Frightful's Mountain, told from the falcon's point of view. George has no doubt shaped generations of young readers with her outdoor adventures of the mind and spirit. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
The 13 Clocks
James Thurber - 1950
It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery. What we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is Thurber.There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story: if you have always wanted to love a Princess; if you always wanted to be a Prince; if you always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished; or if you always wanted to live happily ever after. Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Barbara Shook Hazen - 1939
Pictorial cover with Rudolph lighting the way for the sleigh with his wonderful nose.
The Flame of Olympus
Kate O'Hearn - 2011
Suddenly allied with a winged horse she’d always thought was mythical, Emily is thrust into the center of a fierce battle between the Roman gods and a terrifying race of multiarmed stone warriors called the Nirads. Emily must team up with a thief named Paelen, the goddess Diana, and a boy named Joel in order to return Pegasus to Olympus and rescue the gods from a certain death. Along the way, Emily and her companions will fight monsters, run from a government agency that is prepared to dissect Pegasus, and even fly above the Manhattan skyline—all as part of a quest to save Olympus before time runs out.
Fablehaven
Brandon Mull - 2006
The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite.Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken -- Seth is a bit too curious and reckless for his own good -- powerful forces of evil are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most.
Half Magic
Edward Eager - 1954
Mark's wish zaps them to a desert without island, where half-talking cat Carrie gabbles to a camel. Romantic Katherine battles Launcelot. Eldest Jane rejects siblings for another family. Stubborn youngest, Martha, causes a riot downtown.