Folktales and Fairytales

It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale

Once upon a time a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a one-room hut. Because they were so crowded, the children often fought and the man and his wife argued. When the poor man was unable to stand it any longer, he ran to the Rabbi for help. As he follows the Rabbi’s unlikely advice, the poor man’s life goes from bad to worse, with increasingly uproarious results. In his little hut, silly calamity follows foolish catastrophe, all memorably depicted in full-color illustrations that are both funnier and lovelier than any this distinguished artist has done in the past.

The Phoenix Dance

A journey through madness and mania On the island of Faranor in the kingdom of Windward, twelve princesses dance their shoes to shreds each night. No one knows why. Not the king or queen. Not the knights, lords, or ladies-in-waiting. When the queen blames the royal shoemaker, his apprentice, Phoenix Dance, puts her life at risk to solve the mystery. She braves magic spells, dragons, evil wizards, and the treachery of the princesses themselves. As Phoenix faces these dangers, she finds herself caught in the dangerous dance inside herself – a dance of darkness and light, a dance that presents her with the greatest challenge of her life. This captivating companion to Aria of the Seaweaves a retelling of Grimm’s fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses with the story of a young woman’s inward journey toward an understanding of a scary, unpredictable part of her own nature.

The Talking Eggs

A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman and is duly rewarded.

The Thief and the Beanstalk: A Further Tales Adventure

Everyone knows the story of Jack and the beanstalk. Everyone also knows that Jack’s little adventure made him a very rich man. But what they don’t know is what happened a long time after Jack…. That’s where Nick comes in. Orphaned and desperate, Nick joins a rugged band of thieves in hopes of a warm meal and a little protection. In exchange Nick must help them break into the lavish white castle rumored to belong to an old man named Jack. Legend says it’s full of riches from Jack’s quest up a magical beanstalk decades ago. When Nick’s dangerous mission leads him straight to Jack, he sees a chance to climb the famed beanstalk himself. But what Nick doesn’t know is that things are different from when Jack made his climb. There are new foes at the top now. Ones with cruel weapons and foul plans — plans that could destroy the world as Nick knows it. Will Nick come down the beanstalk a hero? Will he come down at all?

Three Little Cajun Pigs

In this rhyming version of the familiar folktale, a big bad gator comes after the three pig brothers, Ulysse, Thibodeaux, and Trosclair, in the Louisiana bayou.