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(P) The Tortoise & the Hare by Jerry Pinkney (Fable) In Jerry Pinkney’s book, he retells the famous fable of The Tortoise & the Hare in a visual way. This book doesn’t have many words, but has great details in every illustration. The book incorporates many animals to watch the race (they even are wearing clothes), between the Tortoise and the Hare. As the race begins, the Hare is moving quickly through every obstacle while the Tortoise is taking his time and moving slower. Once the Hare sees how ahead he is from the Tortoise he decides to relax, eat something and take a nap. But this isn’t the best idea because the Tortoise continues to move “slow and steady” through the race and ends up winning. The Hare realizes that you need to always finish what you started and put in all your effort like The Tortoise because “slow and steady” wins the race. Great for teaching children that quality work is better than rushed work. This book is also great for younger kids because there aren’t many words so they can enjoy the book through pictures. It is also great for allowing the kids to participate, ask questions and interpret the story their own way. Interest Level: Pre-k- 1st grade Grade Level Equivalent: Kindergarten
(P) Pecos Bill by Steven Kellogg (Tall Tale) This book is about the legendary Pecos Bill who makes a name for himself with his talented cattling skills. When Pecos Bill was a little baby, his family decided to leave New England to settle in an area that was less crowded (the Western part of the country). When his family was moving across the Pecos River, Bill pulled out a fishing rod and was pulled in the river by a large fish. A coyote near by rescued Bill and helped raise him. Bill stayed with his coyote family until he was a young man, which was about the time that he met a boy named Chuck who took Bill with him because he was a Texan not a coyote. Chuck influences Bill to start cattling, which and is surprised at Bill’s ability to cattle. Bill is able to fight of many animals such as longhorns, rattlesnakes and mixed creatures. He even was able to do the impossible and tame the wild, white stallion named Lightning. Pecos Bill earns his label of the best cowboy ever and a true Texan; especially when he teaches people how to cattle using lassos. Interest Level: Grades 1-4 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.9
(P) The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Fractured Fairy Tale)- The 3 little pigs is a famous fairy tale that we all know, however the famous fairy tale may not be the truth. In this book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, we get to hear how the 3 little pig’s houses really blew down...according to the Big Bad Wolf. The Big Bad Wolf whose name is actually Al tells readers that the reason everything happened was caused by the combination of sneezes and sugar. Al was innocently going around door to door asking for a cup of sugar that he needed to make his grandmother’s birthday cake, but while he was waiting outside, his awful cold was flaring up. This caused Al to sneeze “a great sneeze” and blow the first two pig’s houses down. Then when the third pig insults Al’s grandmother, things don’t end well. The cops come and arrest Al and name him the big bad wolf. According to Al, he was framed. This is a great twist to the typical fairy tale of “The Three Little Pigs”; great for teaching children that there are two sides to every story. Interest Level: K-3 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.0
(P) Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe In an African village a man named Mufaro has two daughters named Nyasha and Manyara, who were both known as being beautiful by their entire village. Manyara is cruel, inconsiderate and selfish, while Nyasha is kind hearted, sweet and always wants to do what is best for others. Nyasha works hard in her vegetable gardening everyday and sings as she does her chores. While Manyara makes fun of Nyasha and is cruel to her when their father Mufaro isn’t around. Eventually the King from the city that is close by to their village calls for the “most beautiful girl in the village”; due to the fact that Mufaro believes that his daughters are as beautiful as each other (on the outside), he sends them on a quest to the city. However in the middle of the night Manyara sneaks off before Nyasha so she can be the first to the city and marry the king. But when Manyara acts selfish and isn’t respectful to the people on the way, she ends up in a sticky situation. The next morning Nyasha heads off in the city to find her sister and meet the King; as she travels along the same path that Manyara does she feeds the hungry little boy that Manyara didn’t and also gives some seeds to the old woman that helped her get directions. When Nyasha enters the city she meets the King who turned out to be the little boy, old lady and garden snake that she met along the way. The King rewards Nyasha for her kind actions and asks her to be his wife, while Manyara is punished for her cruel actions and is now a servant at Nyasha and the King’s palace. This story is great to teach students the concept of beauty “only being skin deep”. It also teaches students the importance of being kind to others. Interest Level: K-4th grade Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2
(P) Fiona’s Luck by Teresa Bateman (Folktale) Ireland is a country that is surrounded by luck; luck is practically in the air from all of the leprechauns. However, the Leprechaun King believes and is worried about all the “big folk” aka humans, are using up all the luck. The Leprechaun King selfishly declares that all the luck in Ireland has to be locked away and taken from all the people, so the humans can’t use it all up. However when this happens everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong. All the “big folk” and Ireland as a country begin suffering, especially when all their potatoes go bad (introducing potato famine to kids). But a determined young girl named Fiona helps create a plan to get the luck back into Ireland and save her country. At the end Fiona is able to gain the balance and luck back into her country by using some reasoning and talking her way out of this problem. This is great for teaching students the importance of how acting selfish can hurt and affect others around you. It is also great for teaching children the importance of reasoning with people and doing what is fair. Interest Level: 3-5 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.7
(P) Lon Po Po by Ed Young (Folktale) Long Po Po is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. This book begins with a mother leaving her three daughters at home, while she visits the children’s grandma, whom they refer to as Po Po. Their mother instructs the three daughters to please stay inside the house while she is gone. The 3 daughters follow their mother’s instructions, however their night is interrupted when the wolf that lives nearby comes by for a visit... dressed up as their Po Po. The children don’t suspect anything different about Po Po until they notice how weird it is that she will only be seen in the dark and that she is hairy, has large teeth and a tale. The oldest and most clever daughter Shang was able to piece together that this truly was not their Po Po and comes up with a plan. Shang decides to talk to the wolf about the most delicious nuts, called Ginkgo nuts that are at the top of a tree. The three kids make their way up the tree and help pull the wolf up using a basket. While the wolf believed that he was just getting a delicious treat, the kids dropped the basket that was holding the wolf, and eventually killed him. This story ends positively because the kids were safe from the big bad wolf next door, and were able to enjoy all the treats that their mother brought back from them, from the real Po Po. Interest Level: K-3 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen (Fairy Tale) This story focuses on two little children who didn’t have much, named Kay and Gerda. Kay and Gerda were not related, but they were close enough and loved each other just like siblings. One day an awful thing happened to Kay when a splinter of the mirror from the Devil flew into Kay’s heart and eye; this made Kay look hideous. Because of Gerda’s rude words, Kay decided to flee and was taken in by the Snow Queen. But the Snow Queen did something quite harsh to Kay; she casted a spell upon Kay which caused Kay to completely erase long time friend Gerda and his own parents. Gerda who was extremely worried about Kay decided to go on a voyage to find him. But Gerda ran into some situations herself on her journey to find Kay; she met an elderly woman who wanted to hear all about Gerda’s situation, but also tried to keep her. Eventually Gerda left, and was able to continue to look for Kay who was with the Snow Queen. Many animals, doves, princesses, the Finnish woman and robber girl influenced and directed Gerda to reunite with Kay. Kay was eventually relieved from the spell and the ice came out from Kay’s eyes, the color went back to her face and Kay was normal again. Both Kay and Gerda were back together again with a relationship just as strong as before. Interest Level: Grade 3 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.7