This ring has great magical powers. It’s said it can even alter the way events happen. The Snake Ring’s magic is unique, unseen yet powerful. It can change the way events happen, warn good people of danger and lead villains into failure and disgrace. It belongs to young Thomas, who is preparing to set off to seek his fortune. He leaves the ring in the care of his sweetheart, Gerda, but she is careless and allows the ring to fall into a river nearby… Thomas arrives at the Shining Kingdom, where he finds work in the king’s kitchen. To his surprise, one day the king gives the boy a knighthood and a bag of gold, even suggesting he might marry a princess. But Thomas is true to his love and asks to return home. The king equips him with a horse, a sword, a badge to prove his importance and… the Snake Ring! It has appeared to protect him once again. Feeling pleased with himself, Thomas ignores the ring’s warning not to take the path through the forest on his journey home. He is captured by robbers, who lock him in a cave and take his ring to the next town to sell it. Meanwhile Gerda is beginning to think Thomas will never return and is being urged to marry another man. Is the ring’s magic strong enough to make a miracle happen and bring Thomas and Gerda back together? The Strange Tale of the Snake Ring is a folk tale full of magic and danger. It is an ideal read for boys and girls aged nine to thirteen, as well as parents who enjoy reading with their children.

The Snake Ring returns to help an innocent family triumph over an evil wizard... With strong moral messages threaded throughout, readers of 9+ will enjoy this charming world of wizards and magic. Snake Ring in Flight takes the young reader back in time to when magic was everywhere and wizardry was a serious business. Important people had their own private wizards: the king’s wizard was Frederic, and the queen’s sorceress was Friedabel. There was even a trade union of sorts called the ‘Wizardry Ladder’. The top twenty members of which are responsible for the rules and making sure they are kept. Breaking the rules can bring punishment - as one wicked wizard called Fruminax discovers as he breaks three important rules and is sentenced to live quietly in the village, only to use magic to entertain children. Our story begins 15 years later, with Friedabel’s family little suspecting that Fruminax is about to play out his master plan. Its purpose is to punish the family and leave him in possession of the magic Snake Ring. He bewitches the granddaughter Belle and takes her away, laying a false trail for her brother to follow to the prince’s castle. Belle and Tom must find the courage and faith to triumph over their trials, enlisting the power of the Snake Ring. Will Fruminax’s plan be foiled? Will Belle and Tom make it home? And when challenged to a magical contest by Fruminax, will the hero win - or the villain...? Praise for John Holroyd’s previous books: “These are appealing stories.” - British Fantasy Society “Each story in Snake Ring at Risk and Other Stories features a strong moral message and young characters, so it’s easy for 9+ readers to relate to them and understand actions and consequences.” - Lovereading4kids

Imagine this. You take a bite from the king’s dish which is a white snake. Then suddenly you start understanding the language of animals. And this gets you out of numerous problems. Does it sound believable? Well it should because this is what the servant in our story experienced. However what are those troubles that he found himself in? Could he really understand all animals and how did this help him? If a servant takes a bite from the king’s dish, you would expect punishment to follow. Did it? Or the servant got a reward? If you want to know how and why, you can read "The White Snake". 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.

Edgar Allan Poe's "Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales" presents readers with a captivating collection of stories that revolve around the mysterious and intriguing lives of cats. The narrative offers a series of tales that delve into the unique perspectives and behaviors of these enigmatic creatures. Set against the backdrop of various settings, the stories within the collection explore themes of curiosity, independence, and the mystique of feline nature. Each tale provides a glimpse into the world as experienced by cats, shedding light on their relationships with humans and the environments they inhabit. The anthology delves into themes of mystery, symbolism, and the interplay between humans and animals. Through Poe's imaginative storytelling, readers gain insights into the multifaceted personalities of cats and the ways in which their behaviors often mirror human emotions and motivations. "Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales" captures the allure of the feline world and the intrigue of their interactions with the human realm. Edgar Allan Poe's narratives invite readers to ponder the enigmatic nature of cats and to appreciate the complex relationships that exist between humans and their feline companions.

This book of oral tales from the south Indian region of Kannada represents the culmination of a lifetime of research by A. K. Ramanujan, one of the most revered scholars and writers of his time. The result of over three decades' labor, this long-awaited collection makes available for the first time a wealth of folktales from a region that has not yet been adequately represented in world literature. Ramanujan's skill as a translator, his graceful writing style, and his profound love and understanding of the subject enrich the tales that he collected, translated, and interpreted. With a written literature recorded from about 800 A.D., Kannada is rich in mythology, devotional and secular poetry, and more recently novels and plays. Ramanujan, born in Mysore in 1929, had an intimate knowledge of the language. In the 1950s, when working as a college lecturer, he began collecting these tales from everyone he could--servants, aunts, schoolteachers, children, carpenters, tailors. In 1970 he began translating and interpreting the tales, a project that absorbed him for the next three decades. When Ramanujan died in 1993, the translations were complete and he had written notes for about half of the tales. With its unsentimental sympathies, its laughter, and its delightfully vivid sense of detail, the collection stands as a significant and moving monument to Ramanujan's memory as a scholar and writer.