folklore

"Presents fifty of the very first adventure stories, set out across seven sections, featuring Heroes and Heroines; Epic Battles; Magical Events and Miracles; Villains, Crime and Murder; Quests and Journeys; Animal stories; and Love Stories. Ranging from long and complex epics developed around historical figures including Charlemagne, King Arthur and Alexander the Great, to smaller, vibrant tales absorbing local characters on the periphery. Featuring both the stories and art behind Merlin, Christine de Pisan, Sir Gawain, Renard the Fox, Dante and Beatrice, the Odyssey, Saint Brendon and Tristan and Isolde, this book provides an intimate insight into the medieval mind. [The author} has used her profound knowledge of the British Library's illuminated manuscript collections to explore some of literature's . . . celebrated stories, together with the deep history of the books and chronicles in which they were first preserved. Presented alongside them in full color are some. . . examples of art to survive from the 8th to the 16th centuries: works of supreme beauty inspired by the stories"--OCLC.

"In this Indian folktale, a young turtle shares a shallow lake with unlikely friends - two geese. But when the lake starts drying up, the stubborn turtle must follow his winged friend's advice, or he'll be left out to dry"--Publisher.

This popular West African tale follows the events of the famous race between the boastful hare and the persevering tortoise.

A fox who teases other animals receives a lesson in humility when he is left behind, uninvited to a party.

"In this Swedish folktale, a young boy longs for all the nice things other children have. An old woman tells the boy a secret for granting wishes: sprinkling salt on a magpie's tail. Bit, before the magpie will grant the boy's wish, the bird has some strange requests of his own"--Publisher.

"In this Chinese folktale, a woman spends years weaving, day and night, until one day she reveals a magical cloth. But moments later, the cloth mysteriously disappears! Now her three young sons must set out on a long, mystical journey to find it"--Publisher.

"In this Irish folktale, a young and powerful king, has an embarrassing secret: he has horse's ears! Then one day the royal barber discovers this unusual trait. Can he keep the king's long-held secret, or will the barber be banished form the kingdom for good?"--Publisher.

A colorful, illustrated children's book that tells the ancient Inuit legend about the dreaded amautalik that goes about scaring Inuit children.

A retelling of the legend of Kaugjagjuk, an orphan who is mistreated by other villagers but is helped by his gaurdian, the Man of the Moon.

"Privately questioning her remote community's superstitions about dangerous powerful spirits in their Devil's Alley home, Cecelia Rios experiments with the forbidden art of brujer?a to rescue her kidnapped sister"--OCLC.