Books in Aesop Accolades series

"A treasure for everyone in the family." ―Bill CosbyNelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales is a cause for celebration, landmark work that gathers in one volume many of Africa's most cherished folktales. Mandela, a Nobel Laureate for Peace, has selected these thirty-two tales with the specific hope that Africa's oldest stories, as well as a few new ones, be perpetuated by future generations and be appreciated by children throughout the world. In these "beloved stories, morsels rich with the gritty essence of Africa," we meet, among many others, a Kenyan lion named Simba, a snake with seven heads and a trickster from Zulu folklore; we hear the voices of the scheming hyena and learn from a Khoi fable how animals acquired their tails and horns. Several creation myths tell us how the land, its animals, and its people all came into existence under a punishing sun or against the backdrop of a spectacularly beautiful mountain landscape. Whether warning children about the dangers of disobedience or demonstrating that the underdog can and often does; win, these stories, through their depiction of wise animals as well as evil monsters, are "universal in their portrayal of humanity, beasts, and the mystical." What is particularly exciting about this book is that many of the stories, in their oral form, are almost as old as Africa itself. Most of them were, in fact, first told in various African tongues around evening fires in centuries past; tales from, for example, the San and the Khoi, the original hunter-gatherers and livestock herders of Southern Africa. Translated into English and other European languages chiefly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from their original languages; be they Karanga, Nguni, Xhosa, or one of many others; these folktales are a testament to the craft of storytelling and the power of myth. Accompanied by dozens of enchanting, specially commissioned color paintings, Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales; culled from African countries as far-flung as Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya; presents a fountain of precious knowledge that will be treasured by children, as well as adults, for years to come. color illustrations

On New Year’s eve, 1847, eleven-year-old Baptiste finds himself far from his friends and family and his home in La Beauce. He has come to the woods of the Ottawa Valley to live and work among “the finest lumberjacks in Canada.” As the New Year approaches, Baptiste and the lumberjacks grow more and more homesick. Resolved to see their families again before the stroke of midnight, the crew board a magical canoe that lifts them into the air, across villages, and closer to home.This beautiful retelling of the Quebecois folktale reunites Roch Carrier with illustrator Sheldon Cohen and translator Sheila Fischman. (The Hockey Sweater, The Basketball Player, The Longest Home Run), and brings this beloved story to life.

Honor Book for the Society of School Librarians International’s Best Book Award - Language Arts, Grades K-6 NovelsSelected as one of four recipients of the 2004 Aesop AccoladeSelected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003At about the time the Grimm Brothers were gathering their famous collection of folk stories and fairy tales in Europe, in China a similar collection of almost five hundred stories had just been compiled by the scholar Pu Sing-ling. Drawing on oral and written sources, he called his collection of the strange and wondrous Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure. The fruits of his life’s work become immensely popular with storytellers who performed the stories in teahouses, where rapt audiences would sit for half a day drinking tea and listening to tales of ghosts, fox fairies, and other wonders.Almost unknown in the West, the stories are given new life in this important work by the masterful Michael Bedard.

In 1783, when John Chapman was nine, his father planted some apple seeds around their one-room cabin. A few years later, the fruit of those apple trees was feeding the growing Chapman family. Young Johnny marveled how all that was needed for this miracle to occur was the sun, the rain, and the apple seed . . . and so the “seeds” of a remarkable life took root.This engaging new account of a man whose name is known to all American schoolchildren incorporates the facts of John Chapman’s life while evoking the fanciful and fantastic aspects of his character. By providing an inside look at Johnny’s convictions and quirks, his visions and voices, the author achieves an intimacy with and an understanding of her subject that make his story both dramatic and satisfying. With insight and clarity, Durrant shows that Johnny Appleseed was not only the stuff of legend but also a very real man, an eccentric visionary who was generations ahead of his time.Here is a vivid fictional portrait of a real-life American folk hero, rich with colorful and carefully researched historic detail. Afterword, bibliography.

Dog lived in the noisiest part of Bialystok. All day long he heard the hubbub of the nearby marketplace, and all night long he heard the banging and clanging of workmen unloading their goods. When he could take the racket no more, Dog set off for the country to find a quieter place to live. On his first night in his new home, a gang of howling and yowling, hissing and screeching cats terrorize him, destroying his newfound peace and quiet. Inspired by a Jewish folk tale, how Dog outwits the rascally cats makes for a humorous, satisfying story, exuberantly illustrated with stunning jewel-toned paintings reminiscent of Marc Chagall’s. Afterword.

In 1783, when John Chapman was nine, his father planted some apple seeds around their one-room cabin. A few years later, the fruit of those apple trees was feeding the growing Chapman family. Young Johnny marveled how all that was needed for this miracle to occur was the sun, the rain, and the apple seed . . . and so the "seeds" of a remarkable life took root.This engaging new account of a man whose name is known to all American schoolchildren incorporates the facts of John Chapman's life while evoking the fanciful and fantastic aspects of his character. By providing an inside look at Johnny's convictions and quirks, his visions and voices, the author achieves an intimacy with and an understanding of her subject that make his story both dramatic and satisfying. With insight and clarity, Durrant shows that Johnny Appleseed was not only the stuff of legend but also a very real man, an eccentric visionary who was generations ahead of his time.Here is a vivid fictional portrait of a real-life American folk hero, rich with colorful and carefully researched historic detail. Afterword, bibliography.

With the humor and wisdom of her North Carolina roots, Alice McGill shares the stories she remembers from her father, mother, grandmother, and neighbors. Her telling is as fresh as “a loaf of bread still warm from the ashes” as she brings to life the creatures that so fascinated her as a child: Bruh Rabbit, Sis Possum, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Fox. Illustrated with zest and warmth, these stories were passed on for generations and are, ultimately, a celebration of the human spirit. For as sure as sunrise, the cleverness of the small but sassy Bruh Rabbit shines through as he outwits the more powerful, again and again.