In this adaptation of the classic tale, Cinderella, a loving mother spends years making her daughter a magic coat of moss and gold thread. When she is wearing the coat, whatever she wished would come true. Then it was time for her to leave her home and she wished herself 100 miles away. There she found employment in the kitchen of a great house. The owners of the house were kind, but the other servants bullied her and made her do the dirtiest tasks in the kitchen.

Ancient, rich, and strange, these magical and eerie tales from across Britain and Ireland have been passed down from generation to generation. A handsome, cocky young man is swept up by a dark horseman and cast into a life-or-death adventure. A pair of green children emerge from a remote hollow and struggle to adapt to a strange new land. A dauntless farm girl finds that her fearlessness earns her a surprising reward. Dark but often funny, lyrical yet earthy, the folktales presented here have influenced our landscape and culture. This definitive collection of forty-eight stories, retold by master storyteller and poet Kevin Crossley-Holland, opens a doorway to a lost world and shows the enduring power of language and imagination.

Do you think that legends are all about princes and princesses, knights and heroes, giants and monsters? Well, they aren't always. The stories in this book are about girls like you and girls you might know: clever, strong, brave and resourceful. Here you can read the story of Vasilisa, who wasn't afraid of the deep dark forest; Mollie Whuppie, who knew how to trick a giant; Tipingi, who was able to call on her friends to help her get out of trouble; Seren, who used her love of singing to help others; and many more fearless characters. Storyteller Fiona Collins has chosen the best of the old tales from all around the world and reworked them into new and exciting versions to be enjoyed by everyone, accompanied by magical illustrations by talented artist Ed Fisher.

The life of the travelling musician hasn't changed much over the millennia. For a prehistoric harper, a medieval fiddler or a modern guitar player, the experience is pretty much the same: there are times when everything goes well and others when nothing does. But it's not just performing that can go wrong – listening can also be dangerous! Can you stop dancing when you get tired or must you keep going until the music stops ... if it ever does? What happens if it carries on past midnight? What if it turns you to stone? Pete Castle has selected a variety of traditional tales from all over the UK (and a few from further afield) to enthral you, whether you are a musician, a dancer, or a reader who likes to keep dangerous things like singing and dancing at arm's length.

“The most satisfactory general collection of folktales to come out of England since the advent of modern collection and classification techniques.”—Journal of American Folklore Tales of unnatural beings, curses, and ghosts, tall tales, shaggy dog stories—this collection from a renowned British folklorist offers a wide historical range, as well as commentaries. If wonder tales are not as abundant in England as elsewhere, other kinds of folktales thrive: local traditions, historical legends, humorous anecdotes. Many of the favorite tales which English-speaking peoples carry with them from childhood come from a long tradition—stories as familiar to Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Spenser, and their many contemporaries as they are to us. This volume is a “fine, homely feast” for anyone interested in the folklore of the world (Times Educational Supplement). “Should be of special concern to Americans since many of the tales are parallel to or the source of our own folk stories.”—Choice “This is entertainment, to be sure, but is also part of man’s attempts to comprehend his world.”—Quartet

English teachers are always keen to explore new ways of motivating their pupils to engage with reading, both for learning and for pleasure. Literacy Activities for Classic and Contemporary Texts 7-14 is a practical, friendly book which uses the ‘whoosh’ to cover some of our best known classic and contemporary texts and offers a thoroughly enjoyable way for pupils to become part of the story, rather than just passive recipients of it. As an innovative and active learning strategy, the whoosh technique allows all students, regardless of gender, age, ability, learning need or command of language, to partake on an equal footing. For younger pupils, the activities in this book provide an ideal way to internalise structure and key elements in story telling through physical response. For older students, they provide an enjoyable way to engage with challenging texts as well as facilitating the analysis of themes, issues, characterisation and setting. Students themselves become the story as its characters, sounds and even objects – once they are familiar with whooshing, many students will want to write and produce a whoosh of their own. Classic authors and texts covered by this book include:- Aesop’s fables, Greek myths and legends; Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Oscar Wilde; Shakespeare (The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream); Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley; Andrew Norriss , Frank Cottrell Boyce, Nina Bawden, Michelle Magorian and much more... You can use a whoosh to introduce a new text, to examine conflict, dilemma, plot, setting or characterisation, whoosh a controversial section of text to provoke discussion, or overcome reluctance to engage with archaic language by whooshing key sections of a story. Discussion starters, lesson objectives and follow-up activities are included throughout the text alongside the whooshes, and scripts enabling pupils to deliver dialogue are provided on the book’s eResource. This book is an invaluable resource, providing whooshes across a wide range of genres to meet the learning needs of children from 7 to 14, for both practising primary and lower secondary teachers.

The islands of Britain and Ireland hold a rich heritage of plant folklore and wisdom, from the magical yew tree to the bad-tempered dandelion. Here are traditional tales about the trees and plants that shape our landscapes and our lives through the seasons. They explore the complex relationship between people and plants, in lowlands and uplands, fields, bogs, moors, woodlands and towns. Suitable for all ages, this is an essential collection of stories for anyone interested in botany, the environment and our living heritage.

Beyond the His Dark Materials series lies a vast fictional realm populated by the many diverse character creations of Philip Pullman. During a more than 30-year career, Pullman has created worlds filled with quests, trials, tragedies and triumphs, and this book explores those worlds. The picture books, novellas and novels written for children, adolescents and adults are analyzed through the themes of innocence and experience. The journeys Pullman sets his characters on teach them that one must embrace change, loss and suffering to grow in wisdom and grace.

Contains twenty versions of the fairy tale Cinderella, demonstrating the development and transmission of the tale throughout the centuries.

Once upon a time fairy tales weren't meant just for children, and neither is Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales. This stunning collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales and hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories from countries all around the world- from the Arctic to Asia - and no dippy princesses or soppy fairies. Instead, we have pretty maids and old crones; crafty women and bad girls; enchantresses and midwives; rascal aunts and odd sisters. This fabulous celebration of strong minds, low cunning, black arts and dirty tricks could only have been collected by the unique and much-missed Angela Carter. Illustrated throughout with original woodcuts.