Treasury of magical tales from around the world

Treasury of magical tales from around the world

Donna Jo Napoli, 1948-

Book - 2021

"A flower-spouting princess, gobbling prince, emerald-winged fairy, foolish giants, fearsome ogres, and talking frog and fish are just a few of the captivating characters found in this anthology of beloved stories from 29 places around the world, from the Arctic to Africa to Asia to Australia to Europe to the Americas"--

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Subjects
Fairy tales.
Magic > Folklore.
Folk tales.
Genres
Folk tales
Fairy tales
Published
Washington, D.C. : National Geographic [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Donna Jo Napoli, 1948- (author)
Other Authors
Christina Balit (illustrator)
Physical Description
208 pages : color illustrations, color map ; 31 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 204-205) and index.
ISBN
9781426372483
9781426372490
  • The speaking bird (Italy)
  • Dick Whittington's cat (England)
  • The poor boy and the golden lamb (Hungary)
  • Half-a-rooster (Berber, Morocco)
  • The frog who tried too hard (Angola)
  • The old woman (Jindwi, Zimbabwe)
  • The woodcutter (Palestine)
  • The girl with seven brothers (Kurdish, Western Asia)
  • Three magic gifts (Turkey)
  • The gobbler (Jewish diaspora)
  • The gold fish (Russia)
  • The girl and the moon spirit (Chukchi, Russian Arctic)
  • The gentleman and the tiger (Korea)
  • Bunbuku the teakettle (Japan)
  • The island of the ogres (China)
  • The four fairies (India)
  • The frog in the rice paddy (Sri Lanka)
  • Princess Golden Flower (Thailand)
  • The buffalo boy and the banyan tree (Vietnam)
  • The orphan boy who became king (Indonesia)
  • The bunyip (Australia)
  • Kumaku and the giants (Fiji)
  • The Mundopuma (Ecuador)
  • The golden jars (Brazil)
  • Delgadina and the snake (Chile)
  • Red cascades (Mexico)
  • Afraid of nothing (Brule Sioux, North America)
  • Eyeball tricks (Cheyenne, North America)
  • The woman and her bear child (Inuit, Arctic).
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This enjoyably eclectic compilation of 29 lesser-known tales spins readers around the storytelling globe. (A "Story Map" in the back matter makes their geographical range clear.) Napoli's choices are notable for their breadth and inclusivity, spanning multiple cultures spread across six continents, from Australia's ecologically cautionary "The Bunyip" to "The Old Woman" of the Jindwi in Zimbabwe, who is remarkable for her magical knee. All arise from oral traditions, a form that Napoli notes "can lose some... charm and power" when written down. Her renditions, notable for their plain yet effective language, have a ring of their own--"Dick Whittington was not a lucky child. He had no parents nor even a memory of them"--amplified by Balit's gold-tinged illustrations, which shimmer with stylized, Byzantine detail, depicting people of various skin tones and magical worlds where an ogre can fall in love with a human and flowers tumble from the mouth of an enchanted princess. Ages 8--12. (Oct.)

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