Collected Folk Tales

From the author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Treacle Walker and the Carnegie Medal and Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize-winning classic, The Owl Service The definitive collection of traditional British folk tales, selected and retold by the renowned Alan Garner.

This two-volume set collects 300 of the most entertaining and important folk and fairy tales of Giuseppe Pitré, a nineteenth century Sicilian folklorist whose significance ranks alongside the Brothers Grimm. In stark contrast to the more literary ambitions of the Grimms' tales, Pitré’s possess a charming, earthy quality that reflect the customs, beliefs, and superstitions of the common people more clearly than any other European folklore collection of the 19th century. Edited, translated, and with a critical introduction by world-renowned folk and fairy tale experts Jack Zipes and Joseph Russo, this is the first collection of Pitré’s tales available in English. Carmelo Letterer's illustrations throughout the volume are as lively and vivid as the stories themselves, illuminating the remarkable imagination captured in the tales.

The following volume of Swedish folk-tales represents a careful choice, after the best original sources, of those examples of their kind which not only appeared most colorful and entertaining, but also most racially Swedish in their flavor. For the fairy-tales of each of the three Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, have a distinct local color of their own. The wealth of material available has made it possible to give due representation to most types of fairy-tales, from the stories of older origin, the tales of giant, troll, and werewolf, to such delightful tales as "Lasse, My Thrall", "The Princess and the Glass Mountain" and "Prince Hat under the Ground" colored with the rich and ornate stylistic garb of medieval chivalric poesy. There has been no attempt to "rewrite" these charming folk-and fairy-tales in the translation.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Canadian Fairy Tales" by Cyrus MacMillan. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Nigerian folktales are epic stories that can explain the world around us. These stories and myths have been told within generations. Nigerian folklore include proverbs, myths, "just so" stories, and riddles. "Just so" stories are designed to explain features of an animal, such as their appearance or their habits. Morals are either explicitly stated at the end of Nigerian folktales, or hidden within the text. Animals, especially the tortoise, hold prominence in the tales from Nigeria, and unlike other folk tales from Africa, there aren't many "trickster" figures like Anasi. Reading some of the stories from Nigeria, you may note that the stories bear similarity to some European folk tales, filled with poor peasant girls, royalty, and magical properties; however, many of the folk tales bear a magic that is all their own, with grand narratives readers have loved for years. The collection of Folktales from Nigeria consists of one book with 40 folktales collected from Southern Nigeria. The stories are full of mentions of strange institutions, as well as of rare adventures. Book includes: The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter How a Hunter obtained Money from his Friends the Leopard, Goat, Bush Cat, and Cock, and how he got out of repaying them The Woman with Two Skins The King's Magic Drum Ituen and the King's Wife Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King Why the Bat flies by Night The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull The King who Married the Cock's Daughter The Woman, the Ape, and the Child The Fish and the Leopard's Wife; or, Why the Fish lives in the Water Why the Bat is Ashamed to be seen in the Daytime Why the Worms live Underneath the Ground The Elephant and the Tortoise; or, Why the Worms are Blind and Why the Elephant has Small Eyes Why a Hawk kills Chickens Why the Sun and the Moon live in the Sky Why the Flies Bother the Cows Why the Cat kills Rats The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant are bad Friends The Cock who caused a Fight between two Towns The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise; or, Why the Hippopotamus lives in the Water Why Dead People are Buried Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away Concerning the Leopard, the Squirrel, and the Tortoise Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat The King and the Ju Ju Tree How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus Of the Pretty Girl and the Seven Jealous Women How the Cannibals drove the People from Insofan Mountain to the Cross River The Lucky Fisherman The Orphan Boy and the Magic Stone The Slave Girl who tried to Kill her Mistress The King and the 'Nsiat Bird Concerning the Fate of Essido and his Evil Companions Concerning the Hawk and the Owl The Story of the Drummer and the Alligators The 'Nsasak Bird and the Odudu Bird The Election of the King Bird

Enjoy a collection of classical stories, culled from the greatest storytellers of all time, offering up tales of animals and other enchanted creatures to delight readers young and old. As fables, each story demonstrates a moral lesson or a piece of advice for readers some of whom may be struggling with related problems, difficulties, and stumbling blocks addressed by the lessons in each tale. Whether it's a rousing tale of stone soup, a tortoise and eagle, country and city mice, or foxes, hens, and farmers, readers of all ages will be entertained by the fresh story approach of Aesop, Roberts Dodsley, Phaedrus, and others, some retold from tales of cultures as diverse as those of Native Alaska, Africa, Arabia, the Far East, and more."

Full of lively stories, jokes, and games for performance, the book also includes 40 songs with melody and guitar chords. Written by outstanding practicing folk performer. Includes 44 illustrations.