Books in Folk Tales series

Shota is a young Lakota girl who lives in a contemporary American city. When the block that her family and friends live on is threatened by development, they use long-standing Lakota traditions to find a solution that saves their homes. In working together, they create a beautiful quilt that resolves more than just their problem. This story weaves together traditional folktale values with modern concerns for the urban environment and green issues. In addition to the beautiful folk-style native art illustrations, the complete text of the story is presented in Lakota as well as English.

Storyteller Tim Porteus brings together stories from the rugged coastlines, golden beaches, rolling countryside and dramatic Lammermuir Hills of the ancient county of East Lothian. In this treasure trove of tales you will meet Scottish Kings and Queens, saints and sinners, witches and wizards, ghosts and giants, fools and tricksters - all as fantastical and powerful as the landscape they inhabit. Retold in an engaging style, and richly illustrated with unique line drawings, these humorous, clever and enchanting folk tales are sure to be enjoyed and shared time and again.

Masha’s mother sells eggs at market, and Masha loves to paint their smooth shells. One day, deep in the forest, Masha meets the magical Firebird, guardian of the eggs of the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. The Firebird asks Masha to paint its eggs so that they blend with the elements, hiding them from the vicious witch, Baba Yaga. At first, the plan works well, but Baba Yaga finally gets her hands on the last egg, and Masha sets off on an amazing journey to find it. This poetic tale features the Firebird’s magical poem in English and Russian, along with suggestions to inspire children to paint their own eggs.

In this Korean folktale, a hungry tiger plots to steal an ox from the village. Outside a small cottage, the tiger overhears a mother calming her baby with the offer of a dried persimmon. The tiger mistakenly assumes that a dried persimmon is the wildest and fiercest beast in the world — because the mere mention of it quiets the child instantly. When a thief jumps on the tiger’s back, the terrified tiger runs off to his mountain convinced the fierce persimmon is after him. Park’s brilliant color illustrations, modern adaptations of the Korean artistic tradition, bring to life the humor and wit of this tale that she first heard from her grandmother.