This book, from Cliveden Press (the 1979 edition), was the other primary fairy tale book of my childhood. As with the Childcraft book discussed below, when I think of fairy tales, a lot of the default versions in my head come from this book. And, also as with the Childcraft book, the boys didn’t spend nearly as much time with this book as I had as a child.
Authors: Many and uncredited
Illustrator: Uncredited
Comments Off on Classic Fairy Stories of the World
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Animals, Childcraft Folk and Fairy Tales, Classic Fairy Stories of the World, Cliveden Press, Denmark, England, fairy tale, food, France, Germany, I read this as a kid, Italy, out of print, translated
This book, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, and The Elephant’s Airplane and Other Machines are peas in a pod. In all of them, various animals want something (a prize-winning project for a festival, a house, a means of transportation). In all of them, there really isn’t a story beyond that. The pleasure in these books (and there is a lot of it!) is all in the highly-detailed illustrations by Doris Susan Smith, whose artwork is very special. Of the three books, this was the least popular in our house and is the least essential. But it is still well worth having, again for the art alone.
Author: Anne-Marie Dalmais
Illustrator: Doris Susan Smith
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged And May the Best Animal Win!, Animals, Anne-Marie Dalmais, Doris Susan Smith, food, Machines, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, out of print, The Elephant's Airplane and Other Machines, translated
My family of origin had the whole 15-volume Childcraft set (the 1961 edition) when I was a child, but I ignored most of them (with the exception of this volume, Storytelling and Other Poems, Animal Friends and Adventures, Life in Many Lands, and Great Men and Famous Deeds). Most of them were non-fiction, and already VERY dated. This volume, however, was a favorite. It contains a variety of (mostly European) folk and fairy tales by lots of different authors and illustrators. When I think of fairy tales, a lot of the default versions in my head come from this book.
While I read some of the stories in it to the boys (fairy tales are important for cultural literacy!), they didn’t spend nearly as much time with this book as I had as a child. (After looking at the rest of the 1961 set as an adult, I ended up donating all the other volumes).
Authors: Many
Illustrators: Many and uncredited (although some pictures are signed)
Comments Off on Childcraft Folk and Fairy Tales
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Aesop, Africa, Animal Friends and Adventures, Animals, Childcraft, Childcraft Folk and Fairy Tales, Denmark, England, fable, fairy tale, food, France, Germany, Great Men and Famous Deeds, Greek, Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, I read this as a kid, India, Life in Many Lands, Machines, Mama's Choice, Middle-East, out of print, Russia, series, Spain, Storytelling and Other Poems, translated
Once upon a time, a merchant asked his three daughters
what he should bring them from the city. The first asked
for pearls, the second for gold, but the youngest longed for
a singing lark. The merchant found a gold necklace and a
bracelet of gold, but there were no songbirds to be had for love
or money that winter.
He turned towards home, sorry to disappoint his youngest
daughter. The road took him past a fine castle, with a grand
garden full of spring flowers in spite of the winter snows. At the
top of a laurel tree, a lark sang.
While the boys show polite interest in The Magic Nesting Doll, by the same author and illustrator, they adore this book (which combines and reworks elements of The Singing, Springing Lark; Beauty and the Beast; and East of the Sun, West of the Moon). They each want a copy of their own and I can absolutely see why. (It is gorgeous. Plus, lions and dragons and griffins. Oh, my!) My oldest enjoys pointing out the plot follows the Frozen principle of getting to know someone before marrying them and my youngest repeatedly (forcefully) requests it as a bedtime story.
Author: Laurel Long and Jacqueline K. Ogburn/The Grimm Brothers
Illustrator: Laurel Long
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Beauty and the Beast, bedtime, East of the Sun West of the Moon, fairy tale, frozen, garden, Grimm Brothers, Jacqueline K. Ogburn, Laurel Long, out of print, The Lady & the Lion, The Magic Nesting Doll, The Singing Springing Lark, translated
Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
We went to see,
We went to see some. . .
A girl and her toy monkey imagine going to see all kinds of animals. That’s it, really (with one small visual twist at the end). Visual clues give a hint to what type of animal they will be going to see next (in the photo above, they are anticipating elephants), which is fun, and this is an outstanding read aloud; the repetitious refrain (quoted above) is perfect (if ungrammatical).
When the boys were very, very small, they each loved this book. Like When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, it arrived in a Cheerios box in 2008 (which was a truly banner year for the spoonfuls of stories promotion in our house). The version we have is very small and, well, it was free, so I had no qualms about flapping it about to make the boys laugh (especially on the bats page, to make the bats “fly”).
The boys have outgrown it now, but this book is highly recommended.
Author: Emily Gravett
Illustrator: Emily Gravett
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Emily Gravett, Monkey and Me, Mono y Yo, spoonfuls of stories, toys, translated, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything
Several fairy tale archetypes originate with the Greek myth Cupid and Psyche (including, especially, Beauty and the Beast). This beautiful version by a mother-daughter team (don’t judge this book by its cover; it is much more compelling inside) draws from the best parts of several ancient variants and retains the darkness and interest of the myth. The boys are fascinated with it.
Author: Charlotte Craft/Thomas Bulfinch/Lucius Apuleius
Illustrator: Kinuko Y. Craft
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Beauty and the Beast, Charlotte Craft, Cinderella, Cupid and Psyche, fairy tale, Kinuko Y. Craft, Lucius Apuleius, Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch, translated, Valentine's Day
This clever book doesn’t need much of an introduction. Like The Wild Swans (by the same author, translator, and illustrator), it is a great translation of a classic story with beautiful illustrations.
Author: Naomi Lewis/Hans Christian Andersen
Illustrator: Angela Barrett
Comments Off on The Emperor’s New Clothes
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Angela Barrett, fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen, Naomi Lewis, out of print, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Wild Swans, translated
Over the last thirty years, Dutch author Toon Tellegen has written over 300 stories about a group of anthropomorphized animals. This book is contains nine of these stories that all, in one way or another, relate to parties. The stories are whimsical, delicate, and quiet. The characters glory in lists, details, and internal discourses. The book itself is beautifully and thoughtfully produced (down to a bright ribbon bookmark). It is charming, bittersweet, and perfect for bedtime.
Author: Toon Tellegen
Illustrator: Jessica Ahlberg
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Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, birthday, food, Jessica Ahlberg, series, The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties, Toon Tellegen, translated
Far, far away, in the land where the swallows fly during our winter, there lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter, Elisa. The eleven brothers–princes all of them–went to school, each wearing a star at his heart and a sword at his side. They wrote on leaves of gold with diamond pencils; whatever they read, they learnt at once. You could tell straight off that they were princes! Their sister Elisa sat on a little stool made of looking-glass, and had a picture book that had cost half a kingdom.
Oh, they lived royally, those children! But it did not last.
Hans Christian Andersen’s stories verge on being too dark and long for reading to younger children. But they are also beautiful, and the artwork and the translation here reflects that.
This book was a happy surprise, found the morning before a family wedding in a very unusual bookstore housed in an old bank (complete with a vault for the rarest volumes).
Author: Naomi Lewis/Hans Christian Andersen
Illustrator: Angela Barrett
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Angela Barrett, Animals, fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen, Naomi Lewis, out of print, The Wild Swans, translated
This is a classic story with beautiful illustrations, but all those jokes about the grim Grimm Brothers exist for a reason. This retelling hews very close to the Grimm tale, which in turn was based on an even darker French version. You won’t want to read it with your kids before they’re ready (or, perhaps, before bed), but you also won’t want to miss reading this aloud:
“Grandmother! What big, hairy ears you have grown!” she said.
“The better to hear you with, my dear.”
“Oh, Grandmother! Your eyes are so shiny!”
“The better to see you with, my dear.”
“Your hands look so strange, Grandmother!”
“The better to catch you and hug you with, my dear.”
“Please, Grandmother, why do you have such big, sharp teeth?”
“Those are to eat you up with, my dear!”
Author: Trina Schart Hyman/The Grimm Brothers/Charles Perrault
Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Caldecott Honor, Charles Perrault, fairy tale, food, Grimm Brothers, Little Red Riding Hood, translated, Trina Schart Hyman