Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella


Paul Fleischman - 2007
    . . in Ireland . . . in Zimbabwe . . . there lived a girl who worked all day in the rice fields . . . then spent the night by the hearth, sleeping among the cinders.Her name is Ashpet, Sootface, Cendrillon . . . Cinderella. Her story has been passed down the centuries and across continents. Now Paul Fleischman and Julie Paschkis craft its many versions into one hymn to the rich variety and the enduring constants of our cultures.A Junior Library Guild SelectionGlass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

The Storyteller


Evan Turk - 2016
    It had fountains of cool, refreshing water to quench the thirst of the desert, and storytellers to bring the people together. But as the kingdom grew, the people forgot the dangers of the desert, and they forgot about the storytellers, too. All but one young boy, who came to the Great Square for a drink and found something that quenched his thirst even better: wonderful stories. As he listened to the last storyteller recount the Endless Drought, and the Glorious Blue Water Bird, he discovered the power of a tale well told. Acclaimed illustrator Evan Turk has created a stunning multidimensional story within a story that will captivate the imagination and inspire a new generation of young storytellers.

Something from Nothing


Phoebe Gilman - 1989
    Gilman's modern adaptation and lively illustrations turn this favorite Jewish tale into a contemporary classic.

The Tortoise & the Hare


Jerry Pinkney - 2013
      This nearly wordless companion to the Caldecott Medal-winning The Lion & the Mouse is Jerry Pinkney's most stunning masterpiece yet. Even the slowest tortoise can defeat the quickest hare, and even the proudest hare can learn a timeless lesson from the most humble tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race! Here is a superbly rendered journey from starting line to finish that embodies the bravery, perseverance, and humility we can all find inside ourselves.  Don't miss these other classic retellings by Jerry Pinkney: The Little MermaidThe Lion & the Mouse The Grasshopper & the Ants The Three Billy Goats Gruff Little Red Riding HoodTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

The Rough-Face Girl


Rafe Martin - 1998
    But only the girl who proves she can see him will be his bride. The two beautiful but spoiled daughters of a poor village man try their best to be chosen, but it is their Rough-Face-Girl sister, scarred on her face and arms from tending fires, who sees the Invisible Being in the wonder of the natural world.The dramatic illustrations reflect the vibrant earth colors of the native landscape and the wisdom and sensitivity of the protagonist.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky


Elphinstone Dayrell - 1968
    But so many poured in that they were forced to move to the sky.

My Grandfather's Coat


Jim Aylesworth - 2014
    When my grandfather came to Americahe made himself a handsome coat!Then he wore it and he wore it and he wore it--until it was all worn out!So what did he do?He snipped and he clipped--and he stitched and he sewed...and out of the still-good cloth of his coat--he made himself a smart jacket!How many things can Grandfather makeout of that old frayed coat?

Abiyoyo


Pete Seeger - 1963
    The tale of how a father with his magic wand and a boy with his music triumph over the giant Abiyoyo is based on a South African lullaby and folk story.

The Funny Little Woman


Arlene Mosel - 1972
    . . . It's all done with a commendable amount of taste, imagination, and style."--School Library Journal (starred review)"A beautifully convincing tale."--The New York Times Book Review"Using elements of traditional Japanese art, the illustrator has made marvelously imaginative pictures."--The Horn Book"Lent's pictures are a lively blend of finely detailed, delicate drawings and rip-roaring good humor."--The Boston Globe"A good read-aloud with lots of suspense."--LearningAwards: ALA Notable Children's Book Child Study Association Book of the Year The Horn Book Fanfare

Swamp Angel


Anne Isaacs - 1994
    She single-handedly defeats the fearsome bear known as Thundering Tarnation, wrestling him from the top of the Great Smoky Mountains to the bottom of a deep lake. Caldecott Medal-winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky's stunning folk-art paintings are the perfect match for the irony, exaggeration, and sheer good humor of this original tall tale set on the American frontier.A Caldecott Honor BookAn ALA Notable BookA Time magazine Best Book of the YearA New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the YearWinner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book AwardA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

Goldilocks and the Three Bears


James Marshall - 1988
    . . . The illustrations are fraught with delicious humor and detail. Like its predecessor, perfect for several uses, from picture book hour to beginning reading."--Kirkus Reviews. Caldecott Honor Medal.

Rapunzel


Paul O. Zelinsky - 1997
    Zelinsky has once again with unmatched emotional authority, control of space, and narrativecapability brought forth a unique vision for an age-old tale. Few artists at work today can touch the level at which his paintings tell a story and exert their hold.Zelinsky's retelling of Rapunzel reaches back beyond the Grimms to a late-seventeenth-century French tale by Mlle. la Force, who based hers on the Neapolitan tale Petrosinella in a collection popular at the time. The artist understands the story's fundamentals to be about possessiveness, confinement, and separation, rather than about punishment and deprivation. Thus the tower the sorceress gives Rapunzel here is not a desolate, barren structure of denial but one of esoteric beauty on the outside and physical luxury within. And the world the artist creates through the elements in his paintings the palette, control of light, landscape, characters, architecture,interiors, costumes speaks to us not of an ugly witch who cruelly imprisons a beautiful young girl, but of a mother figure who powerfully resists her child's inevitable growth, and of a young woman and man who must struggle in the wilderness for the self-reliance that is the true beginningof their adulthood.As ever, and yet always somehow in newly arresting fashion, Paul O. Zelinsky's work thrillingly shows us the events of the story while guiding us beyond them to the truths that have made it endure.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses


Rachel Isadora - 2007
    A hidden passage.A secret underground world beyond imagining.Night after night, the princesses mysteriously wear out their shoes. But how are they doing it? The baffled king promises a great reward to any man who can solve the mystery.From the colorful flurry of the princesses? dressing room to a captivating nighttime scene on an underground lake, Rachel Isadora has revitalized and reimagined this well-loved Brothers Grimm fairy tale by bringing the story of the twelve princesses to Africa. Her collage of blazing colors, rich textures and dramatic shapes evoke the patterns and palette of this beautiful continent. Returning to the lush setting of The Princess and the Pea, the unique presentation of this classic tale is sure to enchant readers with its vibrant imagery.

The First Strawberries


Joseph Bruchac - 1993
    Long ago, the first man and woman quarreled. The woman left in anger, but the Sun sent tempting berries to Earth to slow the wife's retreat. Luminous paintings perfectly complement the simple, lyrical text. "Complete harmony of text and pictures: altogether lovely." -- Kirkus Reviews, pointer reviewJoseph Bruchac is an award-winning storyteller whose books for children include Eagle Song, Children of the Longhouse, and Arrow to the Sun (all Dial). He lives in Greenfield Center, New York. Anna Vojtech lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes


Margie Palatini - 2009
    He's nothing if not crafty, and in this humorous new spin on the well-known fable, fox's scheme is taken to new heights.