Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Pinocchio has delighted audiences since the late nineteenth century. Now in Graham Philpot’s fresh and lively new version, this sophisticated tale has been simplified into a fast-paced, funny adventure that introduces young readers to the enormous appeal of the original.
A retelling of a classic Italian tale that predates the Grimms’ Rapunzel by nearly two hundred years features a golden-tressed young woman who uses wit and magic to outsmart the wicked ogress and wed her prince.
Psyche falls in love with her wonderful, yet invisible, host as she finds herself locked away in a castle, but when she betrays his love, she is forced to perform three impossible tasks to win back his trust, in a classic Greek myth of romance and love.
Ariadne, Minos’s daughter and the Minotaur’s half-sister, learns love’s price after falling for her father’s handsome prisoner, Theseus, in an evocative, beautifully illustrated retelling of an ancient myth.
Amidst light, shadow, and magic emerge the drama of a king’s decision, an angry thirteenth fairy, a prince undaunted by a wall of brambles, and a lovely princess, fast asleep. For at that moment, a thicket of briars grew tall and wide around her court and castle, enveloping it with mystery. A legend began to spread.
Snow White and her sister, Red Rose, let a cold bear into their home to rest one night, but as he leaves, he warns them of the dangers of a little man, so when a evil dwarf shows up on the doorstep, the girls begin to get very worried.
In ancient Greece, the gods control every life, from peasant to King. When newborn Princess Atalanta is left to die on a mountainside because her father wanted a son, the gods send a bear to care for her. Adopted by a woodsman, she grows into a great hunter and athlete, and is eventually reunited with her father, the King. But as she gets older, Atalanta has no use for the gods and gives them no credit. When she must run the most important race of her life, on which her future happiness rides, the gods intercede once more–and Atalanta learns they will not be ignored forever.
King Midas is not a cruel man, but his passion for gold surpasses all else, save his love for his daughter.If only everything he touched would turn to gold! When Midas is granted that single wish, he rejoices — until he nearly loses his beloved child to his greed.
A dejected soldier makes a pact with the devil in this haunting, ultimately hopeful fairy tale. When a person gives up hope, is he still human? Such is the story of a soldier who has lost everything to war: his childhood home, his family and friends, his youth, and his innocence. Enter that sly opportunist, the devil, who wraps the soldier in the armor of a dead bear’s skin, fills its pockets with gold, and makes a dangerous and horrible wager.
The king offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to the young man who can produce three perfect peaches.