A collection of traditional stories from around the world, reflecting the cumulative wisdom of Sufi, Zen, Taoist, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, African, and Native American cultures.
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Outfoxing Fear: Folktales from Around the World
Humans of all eras and cultures have lived with fear: of becoming jaguar prey, of being besieged by Vikings, or of nuclear holocaust. Folktales help us transform this fear into action, into solutions, into hope. Kathleen Ragan has scoured the globe and collected these 64 tales that respond to fear in its wide variety of incarnations. From the old Japanese woman who tricks the tengu monster to the bluebird that uses the Chinook wind to teach her mother compassion, Outfoxing Fear is a collection of positive, even utopian, folktales arranged thematically around topics such as the nature of fear and courage, the importance of laughter, and the need for hope.
The Dancing Granny
Spider Ananse gets Granny started dancing so he can raid her garden, but his own trick does him in.
The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales
A collection of folktales gathered by the author in Haiti with comments on Haitian folklore.
The New Patterns in the Sky: Myths and Legends of the Stars
This book provides astronomical data on the constellations and relates myths and legends associated with each one.
Hey Canada!
Gran has decided that she is taking nine-year-old Alice and eight-year-old Cal on a road trip across Canada “before she’s old and creaky.” With a sparkling combination of poems, silly songs, tweets and blogs, the trio records the trip for readers everywhere to share. Starting in St. John’s Newfoundland, where they have a “find-it” list that includes a moose and an iceberg and going all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the gang offers a delightful way to learn about vast, varied, and surprising Canada. The book combines narrative, poems, photos, comics about historical events such as the battle at Fortress Louisburg, maps (including provincial flags, birds, and flowers), in a lively, easily accessible format.
Ghosts of the Titanic
Alternates between the tales of Angus Seaton, the youngest crew member on a boat recovering bodies from the Titanic wreckage in 1912, and Kevin Messenger, a modern-day class clown in Victoria, British Columbia, who helps lay a victim’s spirit to rest.
Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa
A collection of twelve folktales from different parts of Africa.
From Angola to Zanzibar, Verna Aardema retells 12 tales of justice and revenge, greed and generosity, sly trickery, and off-the-wall silliness.
Kamakwie: Finding Peace, Love, and Injustice in Sierra Leone
Kathleen Martin spent several weeks in the tiny village of Kamakwie in the interior of Sierra Leone, where she worked with a Canadian medical team. Staying in the grounds of the community hospital, Kathleen had the opportunity to meet with the people of the village. The experience was a revelation. Her mission was to talk to people about their lives, aspirations and their memories of the civil war. She also had a camera though which she developed a visual chronicle. Above all, she was struck by the children. Their resilience, their hopes, their enjoyment of the moments when they could gather and sing and play soccer.
Initially, the writer is an observer, but it is not long before the observer is passionately involved.
In this vivid and moving account of her time in Kamakwie, Kathleen Martin provides a window into a world far from the comfortable lives of most Americans – a world that through this book will become a colorful, sometimes horrifying, sometimes beautiful reality.
The Cow-Tail Switch: and Other West African Stories
Seventeen stories from West Africa including Cow-tail switch Kaddo’s wall, Talk, and others.