One king, his queen and their daughter lived once in a big castle which was so rich because of the magical golden donkey they had. One day the queen died. Her last wish was that the king would remarry only if he found someone as beautiful as her. But it was not an easy task because such beauty was nowhere to be seen. Eventually the king realized that his own daughter was as magnificent as her own mother, so he decided to marry her. The poor girl however was not willing to marry her own father so she sought advice from her fairy godmother. The girl had to make impossible demands and if she was granted all of them, the king was going to get her consent. One of the conditions was the skin of the king’s precious golden donkey. Do you think the king will sacrifice the source of the kingdom’s wealth? Find out in "Donkey Skin". Charles Perrault (1628-1703) was a French author. He is known for being a pioneer of the fairy tale genre, deriving his stories from traditional folk tales. His most famous stories include "Puss in Boots", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Cinderella". His stories have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with classic animated films like "Sleeping Beauty" and "Cinderella". His story "Puss in Boots" was the basis for the character from the animated films "Shrek 2" and "Puss in Boots".

A princess uses a gift from her father, a donkey skin, to conceal herself from her father's soldiers who come looking for her after she runs away.

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of The Hero and the Crown: the story of a princess who flees her father’s unwanted attention and finds an unexpected new life. Princess Lissla Lissar is the only child of the king and his queen, who was the most beautiful woman in seven kingdoms. Everyone loved the splendid king and his matchless queen so much that no one had any attention to spare for the princess, who grew up in seclusion, listening to the tales her nursemaid told about her magnificent parents. But the queen takes ill of a mysterious wasting disease and on her deathbed extracts a strange promise from her husband: “I want you to promise me . . . you will only marry someone as beautiful as I was.” The king is crazy with grief at her loss, and slow to regain both his wits and his strength. But on Lissar’s seventeenth birthday, two years after the queen’s death, there is a grand ball, and everyone present looks at the princess in astonishment and whispers to their neighbors, How like her mother she is! On the day after the ball, the king announces that he is to marry again—and that his bride is the princess Lissla Lissar, his own daughter. Lissar, physically broken, half mad, and terrified, flees her father’s lust with her one loyal friend, her sighthound, Ash. It is the beginning of winter as they journey into the mountains—and on the night when it begins to snow, they find a tiny, deserted cabin with the makings of a fire ready-laid in the hearth. Thus begins Lissar’s long, profound, and demanding journey away from treachery and pain and horror, to trust and love and healing.

Both film and fairy-tale studies scholars will enjoy Duggan's fresh look at the distinctive cinema of Jacques Demy.

Designed to be used by children in their first six months of school PM Starters One and Two

After putting on a lion disguise, a silly donkey amuses himself by frightening all of the animals in the forest until he meets a clever fox.

2012 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Most early fairy tale authors had a lot to say about what they wrote. Charles Perrault explained his sources and recounted friends' reactions. His niece Marie-Jeanne Lhéritier and her friend Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy used dedications and commentaries to situate their tales socially and culturally, while the raffish Henriette Julie de Murat accused them all of taking their plots from the Italian writer Giovan Francesco Straparola and admitted to borrowing from the Italians herself. These reflections shed a bright light on both the tales and on their composition, but in every case, they were removed soon after their first publication. Remaining largely unknown, their absence created empty space that later readers filled with their own views about the conditions of production and reception of the tales. What their authors had to say about "Puss in Boots," "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Rapunzel," among many other fairy tales, is collected here for the first time, newly translated and accompanied by rich annotations. Also included are revealing commentaries from the authors' literary contemporaries. As a whole, these forewords, afterwords, and critical words directly address issues that inform the contemporary study of European fairy tales, including traditional folkloristic concerns about fairy tale origins and performance, as well as questions of literary aesthetics and historical context.

The queen’s wish before she died was that the king would marry a woman as beautiful as her and with hair as golden as hers. The king did everything he could to keep the promise he gave to his wife. But nowhere was to be found such a lady. One day he realized that his own daughter looked almost like her mother. And he decided to marry her. The princess was however so horrified that she ran away from the kingdom, seeking shelter in another castle. You know how most tales go – from maid to princess. This time it was the other way around. The princess became a maid. But will she spend the rest of her life in the kitchen or fate will gift her with happiness and love? Children and adults alike, immerse yourselves into Grimm’s world of folktales and legends! Come, discover the little-known tales and treasured classics in this collection of 200 fairytales. Brothers Grimm are probably the best-known storytellers in the world. Some of their most popular fairy tales are "Cinderella", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Red Riding Hood" and there is hardly anybody who has not grown up with the adventures of Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Snow White. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s exceptional literature legacy consists of recorded German and European folktales and legends. Their collections have been translated into all European languages in their lifetime and into every living language today.

Kids will love this cumulative and hysterical read-aloud that features a free downloadable song "I was walking down the road and I saw... a donkey, Hee Haw And he only had three legs He was a wonky donkey." Children will be in fits of laughter with this perfect read-aloud tale of an endearing donkey. By the book's final page, readers end up with a spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey Download the free song at www.scholastic.com/wonkydonkey.

Even frustrated grammarians will giggle at the who’s-on-first routine that begins with a donkey’s excited announcement, “I yam a donkey!” Unfortunately the donkey’s audience happens to be a yam, and one who is particular about sloppy pronunciation and poor grammar. An escalating series of misunderstandings leaves the yam furious and the clueless donkey bewildered by the yam’s growing (and amusing) frustration. The yam finally gets his point across, but regrettably, he’s made the situation a little bit too clear . . . and the story ends with a dark and outrageously funny twist.