Folk Myths

What happens to a fox that won't stop teasing the others animals? Listen to this Peruvian tale to find out. Some lessons can change everything.

Think there's just one fairy tale with a beautiful girl and a monster? Think again! Cultures all around the world have their own Beauty and the Beast stories. Visit France, China, and Switzerland, to find out who asks for a grape instead of a rose, and whose beast is a snake.

A beautiful girl with extraordinarily long golden hair is imprisoned in a lonely tower by a witch.

Anansi, one of the great folk heroes of the world, is saved from a terrible fate by his six sons in this traditional tale from West Africa.

Maleficent was a different sort of faerie. For one thing she was raised by all the Fair Folk after her parents were killed. For another she believed there had to be some good in everyone, even humans. Happy and spirited, Maleficent was beloved by all who knew her. That is until she experienced the ultimate betrayal by a trusted friend.

This playful tale is one of the best known of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories. In this one, pride and arrogance prove to be the downfall of a lazy camel.

The children who populate these classic stories are heroes and heroines of timeless tales. Their unpredictable antics confound evil and treachery at every turn and leave listeners of generation after generation transfixed and uplifted. A forced marriage. A dangerous job. A horrible assignment. "Character-building experiences," we quip. And that's the truth. Painful as the truth may be, we cannot achieve our potential without facing force, danger, and horror head-on.

An old favorite as you've never heard it before! Simms Tabak gives us a rollicking, ear-popping version of the well-loved poem.

The Children of Odin: Booktrack Edition is enhanced with a musical soundtrack from Booktrack for an immersive listening experience! Before time as we know it began, gods and goddesses lived in the city of Asgard. Odin All Father crossed the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard. Thor defended Asgard with his mighty hammer. Mischievous Loki was constantly getting into trouble with the other gods, and dragons and giants walked free.

Embark on a magical journey with the "Golden Gazebo Guardians," a tale of friendship, courage, and the power of destiny. In the heart of Greenwood Park stands the Golden Gazebo, an enchanted structure shrouded in mystery and guarded by ancient forces. When four curious children—Emma, Alex, Lily, and Noah—stumble upon this mystical realm, they are drawn into an adventure beyond their wildest dreams.

This breathtaking, full-color illustrated fantasy is inspired by Chinese folklore, and is a companion to the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most thrilling tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller. Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night.

Nothing ever happens in Filomena Jefferson-Cho’s sleepy little suburban town of North Pasadena. The sun shines every day, the grass is always a perfect green. But one day, when Filomena is walking home on her own, something strange happens. Filomena is being followed by Jack Stalker, one of the heroes in the Thirteenth Fairy, a series of books she loves about a brave girl and her ragtag group of friends who save their world from an evil enchantress. She must be dreaming or still reading a book. But Jack is insistent - he’s real, the stories are real....

Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there's no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge. Tristan must return to Alke - and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby - in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation.

All Momo wants for her twelfth birthday is an ordinary life—like everyone else's. At home, she has to take care of her absentminded widowed mother. At school, kids ridicule her for mixing up reality with the magical stories her mother used to tell her. But then Momo’s mother falls gravely ill, and a death hag straight out of those childhood stories attacks Momo at the mall, where she’s rescued by a talking fox . . . and “ordinary” goes out the window. It turns out that Momo's mother is a banished Shinto goddess who used to protect a passageway to the land of the dead.

The young boy Peter, together with his friend the bird, manages to catch a hungry wolf who has come to his garden, looking for food and chasing all the animals, including a duck whom he manages to swallow. After the wolf has been caught with a lasso, hunters arrive, intending to shoot him. Instead, Peter proposes to bring him to the zoo, and the hunters, Peter, his grandfather, and the animals form a procession to deliver the wolf.

It's not easy being Zarf. As a troll, he's stuck at the bottom of the middle school hierarchy, way below the prince and knights (populars), ogres and giants (jocks), and even the lowly minstrels (band geeks). Plus, trolls aren't exactly known for their brain power or cool demeanor. But it gets worse. When the king disappears and Zarf's archenemy, the prince, ascends the throne, he makes Zarf's life even more miserable.

Filled with bold decisions and wise leadership, this set of tales shows how intelligence always wins the day.

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming, who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms. But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long.

Young witch Swampelina has lost her wand in a mucky bog. Luckily, a voice calls out saying it’ll retrieve the magical item if the girl promises to be its friend. Unluckily, the creature is a pretty pink butterfly! Swampelina likes all things spooky and gross, so she wants nothing to do with the beautiful bug. Will the witch use every spell she knows to avoid the butterfly, or will she learn that looks can be deceiving?

Red Riding Hood encounters an urbane wolf on the way to her sick grandmother's house.