When the village girls cruelly trick the daughter of their king, he will forgive them only if they kill Nabulela, a treacherous white-skinned monster.

Africa has a wonderfully rich store of folk tales that have been passed down from one generation to the next. There are stories about how the world came into being, stories that tell of the relationships between human beings and between man and his environment, and of the lessons to be learned from everyday experience. The tales are like the fairy talkes told all over the world, but they have a strong African flavour that is as real as the smell of rain on hot earth. The Best of African Folklore takes the reader into an enchanted world where animals can talk and humans are often changed into different forms, where magic is commonplace and reality is turned delightfully on its head. Despite numerous setbacks, things usually turn out all right in the end. Wicked and greedy people (and animals) come off worst and the good receive their just rewards. The gods are stern but fair, and every story has a moral for those who are wise enough to see it.

KEY BENEFT: This book presents a comprehensive discussion of international children's books and their use in K-8 classrooms. KEY TOPICS Global Perspectives in Children's Literature reviews the status of children's literature around the world and elaborates on the benefits of international children's literature for children's development and the curriculum. The book presents various genres such as picture books, fiction, informational books, and poetry. Issues in the field and criteria for selecting books to be used in the classroom are provided, as well as a discussion of history and contemporary trends worldwide. Specific ways to share international books are also presented, as they relate to theme studies, specific content areas, visual literacy, and language arts. Useful for anyone interested in global education, specifically that of Children's Literature.

This collection of essays analyzes the work of 29 authors and illustrators. South African children's and youth literature has a long history. The country is the most prolific publisher of children's books on the continent, producing perhaps the highest quality literature in Africa. Its traditions resonate within the larger world of children's literature but are solidly grounded in African myth and archetypes. The African diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere have stories rooted in these oral traditions. Much has changed in South African literature for children since the 1994 transformation of the country. A field once dominated by all white and mostly female writers and illustrators has diversified, adding many new voices.