Theme: Greed

The Cloud Spinner

By Book Importer | Published: April 3, 2012

One small boy has a special gift—he can weave cloth from the clouds: gold in the early morning with the rising sun, white in the afternoon, and crimson in the evening. He spins just enough cloth for a warm scarf. But when the king sees the boy’s magnificent cloth, he demands cloaks and gowns galore. [...]

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Chinye: A West African Folk Tale

By Book Importer | Published: June 14, 2011

Poor Chinye! Back and forth through the dark forest she goes, fetching and carrying for her cruel stepmother and lazy stepsister. Terror lurks behind every tree, and ghostly figures cross her path–but strange powers are watching over her, and waiting somewhere in the moonlight is a hut piled high with magic gourds.

Descriptors: Africa, Folklore, Nigeria, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment

Hungry Hyena

By Book Importer | Published: June 14, 2011

Fish Eagle uses Hyena’s overriding greed to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget when she tells him the biggest, sweetest meat is in the sky and he just has to climb up to get it.

Descriptors: Africa, Fantasy, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Why the Sky Is Far Away: A Nigerian Folktale

By Book Importer | Published: June 14, 2011

The sky was once so close to the Earth that people cut parts of it to eat, but their waste and greed caused the sky to move far away.

Descriptors: Africa, Folklore, Nigeria, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: » Leave a comment

Ananse’s Feast: An Ashanti Tale

By Book Importer | Published: June 14, 2011

Unwilling to share his feast, Ananse the spider tricks Akye the turtle so that he can eat all the food himself, but Akye finds a way to get even.

Descriptors: Africa, Early Years (ages 2-6), Folklore, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Tanzania » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

Luba and the Wren

By Book Importer | Published: May 5, 2011

In this variation on the story of “The Fisherman and His Wife,” a young Ukrainian girl must repeatedly return to the wren she has rescued to relay her parents’ increasingly greedy demands.

Descriptors: Folklore, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Ukraine » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment

The Impudent Rooster

By Book Importer | Published: May 5, 2011

Using his amazing swallowing ability, a rooster foils the evil plans of a greedy nobleman and brings back riches to his poor master.

Descriptors: Early Years (ages 2-6), Folklore, Picture Book, Romania » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Playhouse

By Book Importer | Published: April 30, 2011

Rene asks her father and mother to build her a playhouse, a play barn, a play cow, and more, until finally her parents decide that they’d like to have a play Rene.

Descriptors: Americas, Canada, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

The Crows of Pearblossom

By Book Importer | Published: March 17, 2011

Originally published: New York: Random House, 1967.

Descriptors: England (UK), Fantasy, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Sun and Moon

By Book Importer | Published: February 23, 2011

This Korean version of Little Red Riding Hood is a pourquoi for the sun and moon creation. The boy and girl become the sun and the moon after the life-threatening tiger is killed. The tiger is as greedy as the wolf in western version of Little Red Riding Hood.

Descriptors: Folklore, Korea, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment