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).

    In this version, two magpies who live outside Cinderella's window make her a magnificent dress from bits of shiny paper they've collected. The jealous stepsisters rip it apart, and Cinderella is left in rags--until thanks to her friends the magpies she finds a magic ring belonging to her late mother. Her fairy godmother appears, and a new dress, a coach made of a pumpkin, and happy endings follow.

    Baba Yaga is a witch famous throughout Russia for eating children, but this Babushka Baba Yaga is a lonely old woman who just wants a grandchild?to love."Kids will respond to the joyful story of the outsider who gets to join in, and Polacco's richly patterned paintings of Russian peasant life on the edge of the woods are full of light and color." -- Booklist"A warm, lively tale, neatly mixing new and old and illustrated with Polacco's usual energetic action, bright folk patterns, and affectionate characterizations." --Kirkus Reviews

    So when Jack comes home with only an old can of baked beans in return for their last few pennies, his mother throws it out the window. Overnight it grows into a gigantic baked beanstalk, which takes Jack to the castle of a giant who spends all his time counting his huge fortune. Jack helps the giant to find something more fun to do, and saves the café in the process!

    The musician answers, "The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence."But Yoshio lives in Tokyo, Japan: a giant, noisy, busy city. He hears shoes squishing through puddles, trains whooshing, cars beeping, and families laughing. Tokyo is like a symphony hall!Where is silence?Join Yoshio on his journey through the hustle and bustle of the city to find the most beautiful sound of all.

    Perrault's Cinderella echoes the elegance and luxury of the French court of King Louis XIV, and it's from his version that we get the famous glass slippers. Sarah L. Thomson's beautiful retelling of the classic fairy tale is matched with the uniquely stunning artwork of Nicoletta Ceccoli. This is a picture book to treasure.

    Award-winning cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson transports young readers to the lush tropical shores of his native Hawaii. Fluent or not, young readers will be thrilled when they experience the transformative powers of a stirring literary work.

    When an old monk attempts to teach young Daozi about the ancient art of calligraphy, his brush doesn't want to cooperate. Instead of characters, Daozi's brush drips dancing peonies and flying Buddhas! Soon others are admiring his unbelievable creations on walls around the city, and one day his art comes to life! Little has been written about Daozi, but Look and So masterfully introduce the artist to children.

    Little Red is happily taking a basket of ginger ale to his grandmother when he stops to gather apples in the woods. Who should grab his red cape, but none other than the wily wolf, who runs immediately to the grandmother's house to devour her and wait for Little Red to be next! With a new, happily-ever-after spin on the story, the boy tricks the wolf into gulping down the entire ginger ale at once, which triggers the wolf to hiccup his grandmother out of his belly. Little Red gallantly overcomes the wolf and is the hero of the day! A charming variation of the classic fairytale, "Little Red Riding Hood," Little Red is set in Colonial America and is filled with imaginative illustrations and historical references.

    Along with bright, bold illustrations, the bestselling OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY series gives young children a fresh perspective on familiar tales. Read others in this series by acclaimed author Trisha Speed Shaskan, including TRULY, WE BOTH LOVE BEAUTY DEARLY! and HONESTLY, RED RIDING HOOD WAS ROTTEN!

    There was a little boy in Sam-sam-sa-mara named Sam...So begins this delightful telling of one of the most controversial books in children's literature, Little Black Sambo. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney reveal at the heart of this story a lively and charming tale of a little boy who triumphs over several hungry tigers. "Lester and Pinkney have stripped away the ugly racism and...reclaimed a great classic for children. AThe? expansive black storytelling voice is both folksy and contemporary, funny and fearful." --Booklist

    After being separated from her sister and sold to a cruel goat farmer, Astri makes a daring escape. She quickly retrieves her little sister, and, armed with a troll treasure, a book of spells and curses, and a possibly magic hairbrush, they set off for America. With a mysterious companion in tow and the malevolent “goatman” in pursuit, the girls head over the Norwegian mountains, through field and forest, and in and out of folktales and dreams as they steadily make their way east of the sun and west of the moon.

    He drew them everywhere, even where they should not be: on the temple walls and in the priest's books. Although the cats sometimes got the boy in trouble, one day they found a way to reward their skillful creator.

    In this poignant story, the counting rope is a metaphor for the passage of time and for a boy's emerging confidence in facing his blindness.

    On her way to deliver a basket of food to her sick grandmother, Elisabeth encounters a sly wolf.Book Details: Format: Library Binding Publication Date: 6/1/1982 Pages: 32 Reading Level: Age 5 and Up