A retelling of several key ancient Roman myths, with background information describing the history, geography, belief systems, and customs of ancient Rome
Europe
Materials from Europe
Ariadne Awake
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.
Into The Forest
One morning a young boy wakes up to find that Dad is gone. And in this affecting tale from acclaimed picture book artist Anthony Browne, nothing seems quite right after that. When Mom sends the boy to deliver a cake to Grandma, he decides to cut through the forest, a route he’s been warned not to take. Soon he’s off on a strange, dreamlike journey full of fairy-tale allusions – a personification of a child’s anxiety as reflected in the surreal illustrations of Anthony Browne. It’s a haunting place where nothing is quite what it seems, until the boy – and the reader – are deeply relieved to arrive at a warm, welcoming homecoming.
Charlie And Lola: I Will Be Especially Very Careful
Lola and Lotta’s friendship is put to the test! LolaÂ’s bestest best friend Lotta has a new coat, which was an extra-special gift from her granny. It is the fluffiest, softest, most loveliest coat Lola has EVER seen and she absolutely must borrow it. Lotta says okay, but only as long as Lola promises to not wear it in the rain or spill food on it or get it dirty. Will Lola be able to keep her promise? With Lauren Child’s signature wit and verve, this new Charlie and Lola adventure shows how important honesty is in bestest-best friendships.
Birds of a Feather and Other Aesop’s Fables
An illustrated retelling in verse of ten fables by Aesop, including “The Laborer and the Nightingale,” “The Frogs Choose a King,” and “The Horse and the Donkey.”
The Goose Girl
On her way to marry a distant prince, a young princess is forced to trade places with her evil serving maid and becomes a goose girl instead of a bride when she reaches her destination.
Sleeping Beauty
When the king and queen throw a banquet in honor of the birth of their daughter, they invite all of the fairies, but one, Skura, who attends the feast, seeking revenge. She curses the baby, but her evil intentions are undone by the good fairy who instead promises years of sleep.
Persephone
A beautifully illustrated retelling of the ancient Greek myth about the seasons describes how Hades, god of the underworld, kidnaps Persephone, the daughter of the goddess Demeter, to be his wife.
Hercules
Journey back to ancient Greece and meet the greatest hero who ever lived-Hercules! With eleven difficult tasks behind him, he now must face the last and most terrifying. To bring back the three-headed monster dog, Cerberus, Hercules must enter the Underworld-where the dead go-and come back alive!
Ophelia
As Ophelia rushes to comfort her friend Kevin, who is suffering from butterflies in the stomach, she meets up with various friends who misunderstand the problem, each one adding a new ailment and cure to the growing list.