In the cold north, when Sixteen-Face John, a shaman, learns that his first child, a soonchild, cannot hear the World Songs that inspire all newborns from their mother’s wombs, he sets out on a quest that takes him through many lifetimes and many shape-shifts, as well as encounters with beasts, demons and a mysterious benevolent owl spirit, Ukpika, who is linked to John’s past.
Fantasy
Fantasy genre
Shadows Cast By Stars
To escape a government that needs antigens in aboriginal blood to stop a plague, sixteen-year-old Cassandra and her family flee to the Island, where she not only gets help in communicating with the spirit world, she learns she has been chosen to be their voice and instrument.
The Table That Ran Away to the Woods
The Table That Ran Away to the Woods tells the story of a writing desk that one day “grabbed two pairs of shoes / ran downstairs, and took flight,” escaping into the countryside with its owners in barefoot pursuit. This is the first time the tale—first published in a Polish newspaper in 1940 and re-created in this exquisite collaged version in 1963—has been made available to an English-speaking audience.
Sylvia Long’s Thumbelina
From best-selling artist Sylvia Long comes an exquisite version of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved tale about a thumb-size girl and her larger-than-life adventures. Jewel-toned paintings depict the story’s settings from light and airy meadows to Mole’s dark and dismal underground home while whimsical details bring the classic cast of characters to life and make this storytime favorite a visual feast.
The Tooth Mouse
This finely rendered fable introduces readers to the Tooth Mouse, France’s version of the tooth fairy, and to Sophie, a sweet young mouse who must prove she is brave, honest and wise enough to take over this important job.
Christmas Wombat
Christmas from a wombat’s point of view, including competition for the carrots children have left out for Santa’s reindeer, and guess who gets stuck in the chimney?
The Man from the Land of Fandango
Illustrations and rhyming text introduce a dancing, juggling, bouncing man who appears once every five hundred years.
Next Stop–Zanzibar Road!
In Africa, Mama Jumbo puts on a jazzy dress, struggles to get her hat straight with no mirror, then jumps in Mr. Motiki’s taxi to go to the market, where she finds everything she needs and more.
The Goldilocks Variations
Everyone knows what happened when Goldilocks met the three bears. But when she encounters a whopping thirty-three bears, the strange-talking Bliim, or even three little pigs, the stories end a bit differently. Lift the flaps and pull the tabs to join Goldilocks in a hilarious series of adventures, as award-winning storyteller Allan Ahlberg and his daughter, Jessica, put their own stamp on the timeless tale.
Elmer and Wilbur
When Elmer and the other elephants search for Wilbur, they have trouble finding him because he is a ventriloquist and they keep looking in the wrong places.