Contains 37 stories which provide a rare look at the everyday lives of common people, especially women, in the villages of China.

From Africa, Burma, and Czechoslovakia to Turkey, Vietnam, and Wales here are more than 150 of the world's best-loved folktales from more than forty countries and cultures. These tales of wonder and transformation, of heroes and heroines, of love lost and won, of ogres and trolls, stories both jocular and cautionary and legends of pure enchantment will delight readers and storytellers of all ages. With black-and-white drawings throughout Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

collected and retold by Edna Ledgard The people of Burma/Myanmar call it Shwe Pyidaw, the Golden Land, their fertile valley cradled in a horseshoe of mountains. When squabbling Western nations vied for control of the newly-mapped country a century ago, the local population had already lived in the mountainous land for over a millenium. Throughout those centuries, the legends and tales rooted in animist religions created a rich tapestry of spirits that underlie the later arrival of Buddhism. "Nat" spirits, dragons, winged lion-dogs, ogres, mythical galon birds, sorceresses and many more populated the land. This volume brings together 25 of the most-loved of these folk tales.

A collection of 14 selkie (half-seal half-human creatures) tales from the Orkney and Shetland islands off the northern tip of Scotland which embrace the fantasy, romance and unusual perspective of the Scottish travellers.

Siberia. From this strange and beautiful land comes an oral tradition that has altered little in two thousand years. Here is a true spiritual democracy and purity of folk art rarely found in traditional tales.

Out of the country’s fascinating geography and history emerge a plethora of poetic and imaginative Icelandic legends that hold a particular wary respect of nature, and a wry wisdom at turns gentle and sharp: that we human beings are mere tenants on earth, with no control over weather or ghosts or wild. On the one hand, these stories come out of the great wellspring of Scandinavian tales that have so influenced the Western imagination: Here are elves and trolls, ghosts, goblins, and monsters; drama and mystery and moral. But Iceland’s particular geography, its long nights and savage weather, also led to the development of a unique oral tradition, from which grew the famous Icelandic family sagas and stories.

"Eight short read-aloud plays with engaging activities that build reading skills, add spark to social studies lessons, and explore diverse cultures"--Cover

A collection of Bengali folk tales. Among the stories of princes, devata (deities) and bloodthirsty rashash (demons), stories of women's lives and images emerge. Women and their goddeses bring to life not only the nurturing Bengali motherland itself, but demons as well.

For centuries, tales of little folk have delighted people all over the world. No matter what these mysterious little creatures are called --fairies, dwarfs, elves, pixies, brownies, hobgoblins, or nunus--they are said to possess magical powers. Some find their power in their wit, others in their ability to change forms, and still others in their name.