World Folktales & Fables Week: March 17-23, 2019

This week is World Folktales and Fables week.  So I'm sharing folktales from around the world. Here's a few of my favorites . . . .

The People Could Fly: A Picture Book by Virginia Hamilton
In this retelling of a folktale, a group of slaves, unable to bear their sadness and starvation any longer, calls upon the African magic that allows them to fly away.

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
Retells in verse the Indian fable of the blind men discovering different parts of an elephant and arguing about its appearance. The illustrations depict the blind arguers as mice.

One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia DeFelice
A very poor, humble couple live so simple a life they share everything, until the husband discovers a pot with magical powers buried under the very last potato in the garden.

Anansi Does the Impossible by Verna Aardema
Anansi and his wife outsmart the Sky God and win back the beloved folktales of their people.


More Folktales --
Aesop's Fables by Lizbeth Zwerger
Armadilly Chili by Helen Ketteman
Cinderlily by David Ellwand
Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman
East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer
The Firebird by  Jane Yolen
Fox Tails: Four Fables from Aesop by Amy Lowry
The Full Belly Bowl by Jim Aylesworth
The Girl of the Wish Garden by Uma Krishnaswami
Hansel & Gretel by Holly Hobbie
The Horned Toad Prince by Jackie Hopkins
Iron John by Marianna Mayer
Jamie O'Rourke and the Giant Potato by Tomie DePaola
Koi and the Kola Nuts by Verna Aardema
Martina: The Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy
Monster Stew by Mitra Modarressi
Mouse & Lion by Rand Burkert
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
The Nightingale by Jerry Pinkney
The Nutcracker by Stephanie Spinner
Ouch! by Natalie Babbitt
Peter and the Wolf by Chris Raschka
The Princess Mouse by Aaron Shepard
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
Tom Thumb by Eric Carle
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
The Ugly Duckling by Jerry Pinkney
Urso Brunov and the White Emperor by Brian Jacques

Check out these and more books on display at the Arnold Branch through March 23, 2019.

Fable Comics edited by Chris Duffy

This collection of fables, familiar and unfamiliar, has been retold in graphic novel format.  While most of the fables are taken from Aesop, there are several from Middle Eastern, European, and Russian cultures.  Each fable has been retold and drawn as seen by the graphic novelist -- so some are strict retellings while others have been embellished and expanded.  This book, the third in a series including Nursery Rhyme Comics and Fairy Tale Comics, is a great book for kids, teens and adults.