Jacques and De Beanstalk

I don know fo sure if dat story is true, But down where de Cajuns live on de bayou, When dey tell dem stories, dey shore like to talk About dat boy Jacques and his magic beanstalk. You know the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk, but you’ve never heard it like this before. Told in Cajun dialect with a distinct bayou flair, this book is perfect for reading aloud. There is even a glossary and pronunciation guide to help! The creators of Petite Rouge (which Publishers Weekly called a sassy, spicy outing) once again deliver a hilarious twist on a well-known fairy tale.

Stockings of Buttermilk: American Folktales

This handsome volume brings together eighteen American stories from eleven states, all of which are based on traditional tales of the European cultures that had the earliest influence on this country-the British Isles, France, Spain, and Germany. Some stories are variants of familiar favorites like “Snow White” (“A Stepchild That Was Treated Mighty Bad”), while others, like “The Little Bull with the Golden Horns,” are less well known; some are funny, some poignant. All share a characteristic freshness, energy, and informality that mark them as purely American. Vividly colored illustrations in the style of American folk art add humor and charm to this collection of lively, colloquial tales-tales that just beg to be read aloud. An authoritative introduction and notes place each in its folkloric context.

Jean Laffite and the Big Ol’ Whale

When a huge white whale gets stuck between the banks of the Mississippi River causing the water to stop flowing, Jean Laffite finds a way to get the river moving again.

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett

Sally Ann, wife of Davy Crockett, fears nothing–and proves it when braggart Mike Fink tries to scare her. On the day she is born this amazing baby proudly announces she can out-talk, out-grin, out-scream, out-swim, and out-run any baby in Kentucky. Within a few years Sally is off to the frontier, where she stuns a hungry grizzly bear, makes a lasso out of six rattlesnakes, and is more than a match for the mighty Mike Fink. And when Sally Ann rescues Davy Crockett from a pair of ferocious eagles, even her hornet’s-nest bonnet and skunk perfume don’t stop him from proposing marriage. You won’t find Sally Ann in any history book, but that hasn’t kept her from becoming an authentic American frontier legend and the unforgettable heroine of Steven Kellogg’s most delightfully rip-roaring tall tale.