Myths For Children

OF COURSE you think Cinderella was the sweetest belle of the ball. You don't know the other side of the story. Well, let me tell you....

Alan Bennett reads The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and Other Nonsense Rhymes by Edward Lear. The poems and limericks include "The Daddy Long-Legs and the Fly", "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat", "The Duck and the Kangaroo", "The Table and the Chair", "The Broom, the Shovel, the Poker and the Tongs", "Mr and Mrs Discobbolos", "The Nutcrackers and the Sugar Tongs", "The Two Old Bachelors", "The Pobble Who Has No Toes", "The Jumblies", "The Dog with a Luminous Nose", and many more.

Traditional stories endure generation after generation because, although they are not literal, they resound in truths on a human scale. Folktales remind us of wisdom so elemental it is often lost in the rush of everyday life - sometimes common sense makes no sense at all.

Jack trades his father's only cow for three magic beans. When an enormous beanstalk grows outside his window, Jack's adventure begins. What happens when Jack wakes the sleeping giant? Will Jack get back all the things the giant has stolen from his father?

It began as a dream, a quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom.

The journey is long and harrowing. When Soren and his friends finally arrive at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, they will be tested in ways they never dreamed and face challenges they never imagined.

Princess Harriet Hamsterbone hasn't been home for long, but she's already missing her life of grand adventure. How's a girl supposed to have any fun when her parents are constantly reminding her to be careful and act like a princess? So when her pal Prince Wilbur needs help retrieving a stolen hydra egg, Harriet happily takes up the quest. The thief's trail leads them to a wicked witch and a tall tower. It isn't long before Harriet discovers that the egg isn't the only one locked inside.

Did you ever wonder why spiders have no hair? After reading this African trickster tale, you will know. When Anansi goes to help his grandmother, he can't resist her steaming-hot pot of beans. Bobby and Sherry Norfolk take a wonderful new look at a classic story. Illustrated by Baird Hoffmire.

A collection of well-loved stories for witches and wizards of all ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard are the wizarding world's Grimm's Fairytales. This edition is translated from the original runes by Hermione Granger herself and contains helpful notes from both Professor Dumbledore and J.K. Rowling.

It's not easy being Princess Rose. Especially when a fairy curses you and you find yourself avoiding all sharp objects...and then end up pricking your finger anyway, causing you to slumber for a hundred years or so. And it's not easy being The Prince. Especially when your mother has some ogre blood and tends to chow down at the most unfortunate moments. A walk in the woods would help, you think. Until you find a certain hidden castle...and a certain sleeping beauty. Happily ever after? Not until the prince helps the princess awaken...and brings her home to Mother.

A magical beanstalk leads to a giant surprise in book four of Ursula Vernon's critically acclaimed Hamster Princess series. Harriet Hamsterbone doesn't go looking for trouble. Somehow it always finds her. So she isn't completely shocked when a salesman attempts to sell her some magic beans, or when one of those beans grows into a towering beanstalk leading up into the clouds. But even Harriet is surprised to find a giant castle - complete with one very poetically challenged giant - at the top of it.

You think you know the story of "Three Billy Goats Gruff"? You're in for a surprise. The troll SAID he wanted to gobble up the billy goats, but what's the real story behind his stomps and roars? A classic fairy tale gets a trip-trapping twist as the troll tells all.

The Underworld usually isn't really meant to be a fun place - but tell that to Hades! He loves the dark and the stinky smell of sulfur. However, there is one thing that Hades is not a fan of: dogs. And when Zeus and his fellow Olympians encounter Cerberus - a snarling, three-headed dog - Hades must conquer his fears and tame the hound so everyone can continue into the Underworld and deposit their Titan prisoner, Oceanus, back where he belongs!

A classic fable from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, read by Johnny Morris. Have you ever wondered how and why the animals came to be as they are? In these magical tales, drawn from stories he heard as a child in India as well as on folk traditions he later collected all over the world, Rudyard Kipling gives some wonderfully imaginative explanations.

When Henry H. Neff published the second book of his Tapestry series, Kirkus Reviews proclaimed that “young readers will clamor for more.” With The Fiend and the Forge, Neff unveils his most riveting adventure yet. Astaroth has claimed the Book of Origins, and the world is thick with goblins and trolls.

Coryn and the Band have returned to the Great Ga’HooleTree and restored order. With the ember safely hidden away, the tree shakes off its gaudy golden glow and recovers its natural majesty. Meanwhile, deep in the Palace of Mists, Bess finds an ancient map fragment that reveals that there are not five owl kingdoms - as has been thought since time immemorial - but six. Coryn and the Chaw of Chaws set off to find this unknown land and, in a landscape of perpetual winter, discover a monastery of serene, learned owls, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

Astaroth has been weakened, and the demon Prusias is taking full advantage of the situation to create an empire of his own. His formidable armies are on the move, and Rowan is in their sights. Rowan must rely on Max McDaniels and David Menlo and hope that their combined powers can stop Prusias's war machine before it's too late. But even as perils loom, danger stalks their every move. Someone has marked Max for death and no one is above suspicion.

An ancient malevolence that will threaten the very existence of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree has been loosed from the past. With his dying breath, Ezylryb tells Soren and Coryn to read the legends of Ga’Hoole hidden in his private library. There they find a world of treachery and magic in which a young king and queen struggle to keep peace while Grank, their most loyal friend and supporter, studies embers and flames in a distant land. Then a desperate plea comes from the king, and Grank rushes to the aid of his noble friends.

An approved textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since its first publication, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an indispensable guide to the magical beasts of the wizarding world. It showcases a menagerie of magical creatures, explained enchantingly by noted magizoologist, Newt Scamander, who you may remember from the film series of the same name.

Captivating the hearts and minds of kids and adults for generations, Aesop, a former Greek slave, developed simple and meaningful adventures featuring animals or insects to teach a moral standard or lesson for living. The most well-known and well-loved of Aesop's fables are included here.

Many years ago, the proudest animal in the jungle was not the peacock. The proudest animal was the tiger. In this folktale from Vietnam, we see how Tiger's pride leads him to covet wisdom and, with the help of a wise farmer, earn his stripes. Illustrated by Baird Hoffmire.