Books in Storytelling series

People of all ages love to watch the escapades of tricksters. In modern times, we watch Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote—even Ace Ventura and Bart Simpson. But these contemporary characters have roots in antiquity. The trickster is a universal archetype, found in every culture: Anansi among the African people, Coyote in the American Southwest, Raven in the Pacific Northwest, Rabbit in the American South, the leprechaun in Ireland, Fox in South America. Josepha Sherman has collected forty stories of tricksters from around the globe. Sometimes human, sometimes animal, most often male (but occasionally female, as Sherman demonstrates), the trickster is like a force of nature, an Id unchecked by Superego. He is the sort of being who says, while acting on impulse,"What happens if I do this? What will happen next?" These stories come from a variety of cultures, including ancient Babylon, Botswana, China, India, Eastern Europe, Morocco, Central and South America, and the Creole, African-American, Algonquin, Apache, and Blackfoot peoples in North America. Sherman's notes cite bibliographic sources and folklore motifs. Each major section includes an ornate line drawing by David Boston.

Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!Manny and his friends Olivia and Mei blow bubbles in this playful introduction to geometry. Manny's wand is a circle. Olivia's wand is a square. Mei's wand is a heart. What shape will their bubbles be? (Surprise! They're all spheres.)Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Winner of PLA/ALLS Best New Books for New Adult Readers and the Storytelling World AwardThis collection of fifty folktales and parables was selected from diverse story traditions such as Sufi, Zen, Taoist, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, African, and Native American. Comprised of ancient plots both poignant and comical, this anthology contains simple truths, common sense, and the promise that we can benefit from past generations' wisdom and experience.By metaphorically suggesting constructive strategies for living, these ancient tales resonate with a universal appeal. "The characters in these stories may gain wisdom by observing a good example or by bumbling through their own folly," Heather Forest observes. "I hope these stories will provide discussion and offer insight into joys, sorrows, fears and farce of human experience." Wisdom tales offer useful insights into life's joys and sorrows that all of us experience.

Winner of Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award & Selected as Outstanding by the Parent CouncilNationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux grew up Cajun for true, surrounded by the stories, music, food, and culture of rural communities in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Cajun Folktales serves up a spicy gumbo of more than twenty traditional Cajun animal stories, fairy tales, ghost stories, and humorous tales. A traditional storyteller who collects by word-of-mouth, Reneaux has developed her repertoire over years of collecting―on front porches, school playgrounds, and her beloved fishing trips. She has refined her work in performances nationwide, including the National Storytelling Festival, where she has appeared numerous times. These stories of Cajun treasure and lost jewels will teach readers the importance of resourcefulness, courage and responsibility. Publishers Weekly wrote, "While the tales of African Americans and Native Americans have been much anthologized, the vibrant oral folk tradition of the Cajun has been more or less neglected by American publishers. This excellent anthology by Reneaux helps plug that inexplicable gap. Reneaux, a noted storyteller and a Cajun herself, retells 27 tales she heard in childhood from relatives or has heard since from fellow Cajuns. Their folklore is as spicy and interesting as their famed food and reflects a variety of flavors and influences."

Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!After playing in the snow, Olivia and Mei are ready for cocoa. There's one marshmallow for Olivia and one marshmallow for Mei. But what will they do with the third marshmallow? How can two friends share three things fairly?Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!Take a trip to the farmers' market in this playful story about spatial sense. Olivia is searching for something just the right size to fill her basket. The apple is so small that it rolls around. The zucchini is so long that it sticks out. What will fit just right? Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Join the countless professionals who have benefited from the best "how to" storytelling guide available today. Storytelling: Art and Technique is a proven handbook and selection tool that shows you how to select, prepare, and tell stories to and for children aged 3 to 13. Ideal for both beginning and experienced storytellers working in public or school library settings, this useful volume reveals the storyteller's art--from planning through performance.

Bank Street College: Best Children's Books of the Year & Parent's Guide to Children's Media Young Adults' Choice AwardLatin America today presents a complex tapestry of native, Spanish, European, and African influences. For the past three decades, Pleasant DeSpain has explored Latin America – its landscapes, customs, cultures, and especially, its stories. Here he presents his finely-honed retellings of traditional folktales, myths, and legends from a broad array of Latin American cultures: Guatemala, Haiti, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Chile. The fifteen tales presented here are full of compassionate souls, tricks and humor, explanations of nature and geography – and always, fine storytelling. Mario Lamo-Jiménez's Spanish translation reverberates with the rich, vibrant quality for which Latin tales are known. These animal stories are wild with llamas, jaguars and lessons for readers. Oh my! Messages of courage, fairness and resourcefulness run rampant in these folktales.

String games are fun. They invite children to exercise skill, imagination and teamwork. They are ideal for family travel, creative play, and party tricks. Following the success of Pull the Other One!, this second book of string games has more of Michael Taylor's favourites. Now you see it ... has string games from ancient cultures, as well as new figures such as computers, space shuttles, and trampolines that have been invented by children today. Here are tried and tested string games and stories with clear instructions and diagrams, as well as string tricks and tips for performers, a rainbow string, and illustrations to color.

Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!Mei explores measurement as she plants a sunflower seed and watches it grow. The plant starts off as tall as her toe, but soon it's up to her knees, then her waist, then her shoulders. How tall will it get? Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

The late Jackie Torrence, known to audiences nationwide simply as The Story Lady, had a way with words. These lively, engaging stories feature characters from folklore (Br'er Rabbit and Tar Baby) and from the Bible (Hosea and Gomer, the Lost Son), with a few of her family stories that have proven to be crowd pleasers ( Pa's Trip from Town: A Ghost Story, and The Strawberry Pie). The title essay encourages African-American youth to learn and preserve the stories of their people as a source of ....