Book For Kids

"Hoppy days" are here once again: If you are a Hoppy by April Pulley Sayre

2011-06-12T23:05:00.000+07:00

IF YOU ARE A HOPPY AND YOU KNOW....
YOU ARE A FROG!

It of finally spring, and everyone - frogs, rabbits, crickets and same grumpy people tired of woolly hats and sky obscure, feel a little hoppy with joy.

Based on the idea and the economy of the song rhymes popular nursery "If you're happy and You Know It", here comes April pulley Sayre happily new if you Hoppy (narrative, 2011), giving everyone the opportunity to stretch the legs and wings under the sky of spring-part. Even if there is still a little hanging Winter Blues, Sayre has a rhythmic rhyme to get out you of your winter funk. If you still feel you 'growly', you may a dog... or worse, a bear, or perhaps....

... A BELLY THERE! »

What child could resist singing and acting lines as

If you are SLOPPY and YOU KNOW IT...
YOU ARE A PIG!

Text of the Sayre is supported by illustrations of style cartoon charming, exuberant Jackie Urbanovic, author-illustrator of the duck bestseller series, which seem to bounce off moving on the page. This is a book of great storytime with many possibilities of movement and song, for the spring and Eastertide, which, as the School Library Journal said, is "sure to be a staple storytime!

A thing with feathers: OK for the moment by Gary d. Schmidt

2011-06-07T23:05:00.000+07:00

For my father came home with his bucket lunch in his hand and a bandage on his face and last audit he would never see wood Culross and he looked at my mother and said, "Don't tell you one thing.". Mum has jumped from the table and longer of the plate, she was now warm in the oven.
"This is not all desiccated, is it?" he said.

"I do not,' Mama say.".

"You don't think," he said, and reached for ketchup. It's everywhere stained her meatloaf. A taken a red bite. "We will go," he said. "To Maysville." Upstate. "A red another bite. Ballard Paper Mill has a job and Ernie Eco indicates that it can give me. »

"Ernie eco," said my mother quietly.

"If it begins all over again." "Bars, gone home all night, come when you're —"

"Which one of your sons will be this time?" said my mother.

My father looked at me.

In the words of Doug Swietock, his father is a jerk, his elder brother, somewhere in the Viet Nam, is a bothersome issue, his older brother Chris, who steals his only joy, his Joe Pepitone autographed CAP, is a fool, andas he admits ruefully to itself, it is well on its way to become one himself. Stuck in a tiny bedroom with her abusive brother in a house he called "the Dump," "Stupid Maysville" has no promise of Doug and his defensive attitude gets him in hot water to the school immediately. "."

But Maysville has its own promise, in the form of a Librarian of understanding which shows him claim head of the city of fame, a first edition of Audubon Birds of America. Doug is arrested by the plate to the poster, the Arctic tern, and he felt a sudden connection of the bird and unexpected urge to make itself, which encourages Mr. Powell. A chance meeting with a young girl, Lil Spicer, brings a deep friendship and a job as a deliveryman Saturday for the deli of Spicer.

Doug experiences in development of relations with clients, he sees every Saturday, his confidence grows, helping them to accept the encouragement of teachers to Maysville Junior High, where he overcomes his problem of reading and discovers his abilities in mathematics and science. Despite the cruelty opened his father, who has his chest tattooed with "Mama Baby" for the safeguarding of abused mother, Doug begins to see that there are better things follow him that follow the path of his father.

There is a rush of personalities and experiences - the study of the class of Jane Eyre, Ms. Windemere, crusty old playwright which turns the novel into a play and shares his weekly carton of cream with himMr. Ballard in Maysville, main employer of the city and bienfaisant dictator, whose summer picnic baseball trivia quiz Doug victories and that made him a sort of protege, Mr. Powell, which introduces the meaning as well as the composition of arteven the Moon Apollo coming landing which him, with birds from Audubon, became the central symbol of the novel.

Newbery author Gary Schmidt (for his book companion Wednesday Wars) almost overload this novel with events and characters that move all Doug Swietock of proto-perdant to the winner, some of them bordering the unlikely, but that Schmidt binds together compelling they seem incredibly inevitable. Character and setting are so closely related that the strands overlapping conspiracy build to a conclusion that leaves Doug Swietock based on a difficult reality but a still room for hope, okay for now.

A moving story that is difficult to put down and more difficult to forget. Gary Schmidt Okay for now (Clarion, 2011) is April 5.

A Word with you: 13 words by Lemony Snicket

2011-06-05T23:05:00.000+07:00

THE BIRD HAS BEEN DISCOURAGED.
IN FACT, SO SAD THAT IT HOPS OFF THE TABLE TO SEEK SOMETHING TO ENCOURAGE HER UP.

13 Words (Harper, 2010) reads as a Freudian in associations of word, delivered in a text current awareness as filtered through the brain of Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket, author of the best-selling A Series of Unfortunate Events, illustrated as if, in a State of impressionistic dream by the vivid paintings of Maira Kalman.

The product is a strange intensely and creative output which has skilfully demonstrates not only the literal meaning, but the feelings raised by thirteen words of the Snicket: birds, discouraged, cake, dog, occupied, convertible, goat, hat, haberdashery, scarlet, baby, panache, and mezzo-soprano. The plot, if this unusual book of images can be said to have one, implies a royal blue bird with a royal case of the blues, gradually reduced by the presence of mood strengthening cakes and a dog well intentioned and full of spirit, which diverts the moody Blue Bird with sweet snack:

"THAT HIT THE SPOT!" SAID THE DOG, BUT NOW I THINK YOU WOULD BE BETTER GET BUSY. »

And the bird is disabled for a ride in a convertible to select a hat with a haberdashery with a scarlet door managed by a baby (of course!). The hats are varied - a deerstalker was Sherlock, Scarlet fez, fur tall of a Beefeater and a hat high black spiffy - with great panache. Dog and birds are satisfied with their hats, but everything is forgotten when a mezzo-soprano (why not?) walks in with something tied up in a box - more cake! "How was your day?" it investigation as if they were old friends. Of course, it is time for cake more.

Although the bird, to tell the truth, is still a little discouraged.

It is a combination of words sly and games pure Snicketry of the kind that defines adults ask and that most children love. Illustrations of Kalman here are choices and completely fun, combining unlikely colours such as yellow butter and Rose and keep history quirky moving through this list of unusual words. Although an example of this kind of picture book, it lends itself to the sort of writing exercise teachers love in which students make up a story of a series of disparate words to its own needs. For another sample of engineering of Kalman, see his love tribute to American democracy and the pursuit of happiness.

Can't Shush Suki: Suki, the rabbit of very strong by Carmela and Steven D'Amico

2011-06-03T23:05:00.000+07:00

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT BUNNIES ARE CREATURES LITTLE SOFT, FUZZY, TIMID, WHO SPEND THEIR LIVES HOPPING THROUGH FIELDS, EFFRONTÉS VEGETABLES AND BARELY MAKE A SOUND.

Well, meet Suki. This small ring around his left eye told you that it is a bunny girl, who likes to stand out in the crowd and who likes to make itself heard. Suki likes right jumping in mud puddles and make big waves. She likes to give his brothers and sisters a loud wake-up call in the morning and butterflies following, in the hope of learning the secret of fluttering above the ground. Even the stern of Momma warning that it has had roughly enough Suki exuberant noise for a day is not cancel his free spirit, despite her apology and temporary to be a good and peaceful intentions bunny shortly.

But call of adventure, and when brother Mickey is too timid to take off through the field on a shipment of carrot, Suki sets on its own. This small runaway bunny has just before a wonderful time out in the open until it has something spots long and sharp, orange, and delicious. BOYCOTTONS! In his enthusiasm, Suki fails to notice that this tempting carrot is the bait in a trap of box-stick open and powerful hops to only Suki unbox it and save the capture. Suddenly, Suki wishes she were curved upward safe and calm in the burrow of Momma as Mickey. And Suki was always as good assets ground.

"MOM!"

Carmela and Amico later, Steven Suki, the very strong rabbit (Dutton, 2011) is the evidence that a beloved premise can still thrive in the hands of a skilled practitioners. Carmela D'Amico, creator of the popular Ella the elephant books, creates just the right amount of danger and suspense in this history of the adventurer in the tradition of timeless Peter and Steven D'Amico soft forms and skilful use of colour make this story a delightful reading. It pair with fairy bunny latest of Kevin Henkes's Caldecott-winning, in this same type small white rabbit, (narrative, 2011) (see my recent review here) for a pair of stories bunny that make all home, right where all the little bunnies should be at sunset.

Don't look it! No sleep for the sheep by Karen Beaumont

2011-06-02T23:05:00.000+07:00

The big red barn on the farm, on the farm, in the big red barn on the farm... A sheep is sleeping in the barn red big, the big red barn on the farm.

Sheep is ready to sleep, bear stuffed under the arm, and he is without relying on someone to help other to fall asleep tonight. Settle in fresh Hay, in a comfortable stall with only by a small yellow chicks for a roommate, sheep is already snoring away properly when it is disturbed by dissonant noise which he blasts out of his sleepy state:

He then came a loud at the door, the door, CHARLATAN and sheep could not sleep more.

Angry sheep staggering dozing at the door and escort duck stall with chuchotées instructions:

"Go to sleep", said the sheep for the duck at the door. "And please do QUACK more!"

Even the eyes of Teddy bears grouchy as some sheep, duck and the chick reinstalling in stall for what sheep hope obviously will finally be undisturbed sleep. But in the best tradition of the venerable cumulative tale, this dream is not to be step. Sheep is constantly raised by his snores by a succession of so-called animal sleepless - a goat, pig, cow and horse - that Baa!, Oink!, Moo! and districts! How to get a snooze with sheep in the stall of more snugger with Chick constantly forced to climb to the top of the stack to avoid being crushed. With the huge horse monopolizing half sleeping space, there is certainly no place in the stable!

"Shhhh!" Not a peep! Go to sleep! ", said the sheep.

But there is a farm animal more that has not yet understood the message, whose identity is evoked by light of dawn, a preview of the window as the heap of animals finally derives off the coast of sleeping together :

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!

In forthcoming No. Sleep of Karen Beaumont for sheep! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), sheep tries to sleep but chick Gets the last word, (a PEEP!), in an inventive reworking of the traditional still-room-to-a-plus premise. As always, verses in Beaumont are so rhythmic that young listeners will begin to join the irresistible repetition that sheep in turn issues his orders to each animal.

But the text of Beaumont virtually takes off with Jackie Urbanovic comic Brown pencil and watercolor illustrations, that add immeasurably to the effect. Even the teddy, eyes still close, has a role to play. and facial expressions of sheep are invaluable as he is chased out of his slumbers by the pig and enormously hugged by the horse. Children will be happily pick up on the clever Visual device which Urbanovic telegraphs the identity of each visitor to approaching midnight of the barn, while each Ewe time moved to what he believes will be finally a good night's sleep. The two Beaumont (I love me!, and I ain't Ain't Gonna paint no more!) (Ala notable children's books.) ((Young readers (Awards))) and Jackie Urbanovic (duck at the door of and suites) are no strangers to best-sellerdom and their No. Sleep for sheep! looks like, it's got all the right stuff keep readers wide awake and ask more from this delicious duo!

Eggs-tra! Read all about it! Easter surprise: a book of egg-extraordinary slide & Find

2011-06-01T23:05:00.000+07:00

READY, STEADY,
BREAK GENTLY!

Since ancient times people have asked the egg - hard, such as rocks, but opening to reveal something alive in all its wonders.

Artist-designer Roger Priddy makes good use of this phenomenon of nature in his new toy-and-mobile-book, Easter Surprise. (Press of St. Martin, 2011). Original decision-making on Council zipper and flap book for the young book lovers, illustrations of Priddy actually slide open and closed because it takes a happy day watch which can reveal the Easter egg. Inside its color bright Easter egg is its secret, a duckling darling looking right at the Viewer as to say: "Well, that expect you?"

Pull similar slide-and-find pages apart to reveal an Easter Bunny in a basket, a Lamb of spring behind one door Garden, fluffy chicks in their coop and a deer wood fawn in the thicket. But the best image for the small "reader" discover is seen as the last pages open to reveal a mirror with the image of the baby, with hindsight.

EASTER SURPRISE!
YOU ARE HERE, TOO!

Easter Surprise of Priddy. uses the element of surprise to the attention of young people by introducing baby animals and the idea of being soon familiar rabbit for Easter and the basket.An engaging and intelligent man the first book of Easter for the very young.

Exit placemats: envy Marvelous Brunch of the feast of the mothers of Nancy by Jane O'Connor

2011-05-30T23:05:00.000+07:00

SHHHH! My mom later sleeps because today is a special occasion, that the opportunity is a way of fantasy to say that it is an important day!

And Mrs. Clancy is a lucky mom. Nancy and her father have a great morning in the works - a brunch (it is a fantasy meal which is half-breakfast and lunch half) with waffles with whipped cream and blueberries. But of course, Nancy Fancy production also comes with maps by hand with glitter, flowers picked fresh backyard, a tiara created by Nancy spelling M-O-M, a server at several levels for finger foods and a lunch tray covered with all silver trimmings deluxe :

my mother never has any place mats, it is a chance (which is fancy for lucky) that I still have some side. And I will bind the towel with Ribbon velvet.

Nancy has everything planned to the minute when the unexpected occurs. Mum wakes up and roams his rumpled Yip yawns at the ground floor to see what is suspicious in the kitchen. Papa can escort exit before the surprise deteriorated?

In the already New York Times, Fancy Nancy day best-selling Brunch the wonderful mother,(Harper, 2011 Festival) Jane peerless team of O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser an another winner in their most recent book of holiday lift-the-flap. Elements important to the plot are hidden by the flaps well integrated in illustrations and intrigue, with stash of Nancy fancy stuff behind the door next to the table, its ribbons and sequins in his chest to the Treasury, its sleepy MOM just outside the door of the cuisineet even some disgusting critters under the rock in the backyard where his little sister looks like Nancy and Dad choose a bouquet of the garden.

This is another opportunity of fancied-up fine with attaching, Clancy family which pairs and a gift from the spring to delicious last year and the new bestseller Fancy Nancy elegant Easter for fans of the series Nancy Fancy.

Group goulash: Fandango Stew by David Davis

2011-05-26T23:05:00.000+07:00

Slim rubbed his belly grumpy as he was getting into the city of skinflints. "I'm so hungry I could eat a porridge boot", he told his grandson Luis.
"We did a peso, Abuelo," said Luis. "" "". Looks like fandango stew for dinner again. »

Slim mouse.

"GOOD OF CHILE, IS THEREFORE BARBECUE."
BUT NOTHING IS BETTER THAN FANDANGO STEW. »

A city hard scrabble skinflints name prairie look not to be a profitable place for begging for a pair of peso-less vaqueros, and Sheriff flinty-eyed collars the two once they monopolize their pintos. But these tired two saddle drifter scammers know how to cook until an agreement everywhere where they land.

"We will not to lasso of charity," said Slim. "My grandson and I rode in to treat the skinflints a pot of stew bean fandango.".
The Sheriff is reduced to his eyes. "I've never heard of beans fandango".

Slim shot a small bean from his jacket pocket and blocked in the air. He sings,

"CHILE IS GOOD;" THEREFORE THE BARBECUE.
BUT NOTHING IS BETTER THAN FANDANGO STEW.

And we are in the recovery tootine the familiar folktale Stone Soup rootine. Thin and Luis whip out their well-worn kettle, falling in the fandango bean and ask to disturb lover Keshen citizens for a little water to start the boiling soup. Same skinflints can save a gallon of water or more, and in addition, each soul nosey in the city is already gathering to see how these locomotives hombres plan to make a pot of soup of beans that one.

Eloquent Slim sweet-talks storekeepers and good ladies of skinflints pitch in all that they have dragged, and before you can say "conte traditional trickster", the beautiful teacher, the Club of French Culture and even the Sheriff are vying for the opportunity to add their heirloom tomatoes and vegetables cost garden to the stew. Soon, there is a simmering savory soup on main street, enough for everyone have the taste and the blocking of good wives of paper lanterns, out of their best linen House and dishes and set up tables for everyone.

The Mayor of burped. "Is not it the best stew shindig you never seen buckaroo?".
"Before your departure, tell me where I can some of these beans fandango," said the storekeeper.

"Any bean makes a fine cassoulet fandango," MIME Slim. "Just add generosity and kindness."

David Davis has published Fandango Stew (Sterling, 2011) gives a Southwestern spicy zest of this timeless story of Community cooperation, an evergreen story known in Marcia Brown Caldecott classic Stone Soup (Aladdin Picture Books). For the pleasure of compare and contrast in the classroom, a pair of these two, or add one of the most recent versions by Jon j. Muth, Stone Soup (Scholastic), with its Chinese décor, or lovely soup Heather stone forest (August House).

Hands on: scientific Manatee: save sensitive species by Peter Lourie

2011-05-25T23:05:00.000+07:00

Today, it is without wind, sunny, cold and perfect.
Why surveys Manatee in cold wave? During periods of cold in the South of Florida, manatees gather and refuge in hot water 72 degree of natural sources or in the discharge of hot water of large power plants across both coasts.

Seeing manatees of an aircraft is a remarkable experience, explains John Reynolds. "You're only seven hundred feet above the water, and you can see them increase breathing and interact between them." You see moms and calves beside them, many with the boat scars on the back. »

Can be also exciting that flying low, a wing right down, waterways of Florida to prepare an annual census of manatees beloved of Florida, for the protection of threatened species of the planet. It can also be as sad that find the bones of a manatee to Amazon, raised by a bottle calf to see that it has failed to survive when released in an ogapo, a tributary of the water dark Amazon, as did Brazilian naturalist Fernando Rosas in his work difficult to support the manatees shy River of South America.

Or perhaps the most exciting find biological could occur on land, deep in the forests of the Congo, behind the log-cabin of a more seasoned Manatee of the Hunter River. In the hope of buying Harpoon well-worn Hunter recently died to discourage his son to take his trade, marine field scientist Lucy Keith stumbling on a treasure trove of biological information in the heap of large bones Manatee behind the hunter Houseinvaluable sources of cycle of life and genetic information on the African Manatee little known and rarely seen.

Everything is in working a day of a scientific practice of field, such as that documented in the richly illustrated scientific Manatee (SITF): save vulnerable species (scientists in the field series) (Houghton Mifflin, 2011), later in vast and mentioned scientists in the field series. Author Peter Lourie does not hesitate to take the reader "in the weeds", as he follows scientists of his work on their work daily, glamour and not so glamorous - work that involves not only heal and releasing calves injured or abandoned, but also capture specimens healthy to collect blood samples, collection of the faeces of cloudy water deep in the rainforest, or collection found remains of animals deceased to learn as much as possible on this mammal reclus herbivorous water. Knowledge about the life cycle of normal physiology, reproduction, and threats of existence these animals face is essential to their preservation. As a large (up to 3600 pounds) marine mammals with no means of self defense and a need to eat enormous amounts of plant matter every day, the distant cousin of the elephant and aardvark are only one of the mammals of roughly of water nature scientists from around the world have continued to strengthen the work of defenders of the environment.

Author Lourie describes each of these scientists in their regions of the three main varieties Atlantic of the Manatee and safeguard its text with photos in the sumptuous colours of each step of their work, followed by an appendix with notes of the authoran extensive glossary and index complete to help middle school and the high school of reports.

Some of the intriguing titles in this fascinating series are the extreme scientists: mysteries Nature explore the perilous places (scientists in the field series) (see my review here), mysterious universe: Supernovae, dark energy and black holes (scientists in the field series), Diving of a volcano in deep water (scientists in the field series), and warriors of Science: the battle against invasive species (scientists in the field series).

Jane of the Jungle: me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

2011-05-23T23:05:00.000+07:00

JANE AIMÉ OUTSIDE.
ONE DAY CURIOUS JANE APPLICATION WHERE COMES FROM THE EGG.

IF IT HAS SLIPPED IN THE GRANDMA NUTT HENHOUSE.

IT IS STILL VERY.... AND THE MIRACLE.

IT WAS A MAGICAL WORLD FULL OF JOY AND WONDER AND SHE FELT MUCH PART HAS.

In Patrick McDonnell has published Me... Jane Little, Brown, 2011), this love Jane of nature is, of course, our Jane Goodall, whose studies of landmark of chimpanzees and gorillas have broadened our understanding of the life of primates.

The McDonnell soft, modest little vignettes, we see the young Jane with her dear toy Jubilee chimp (that animates when only one outside with Jane), climbing its preferred tree ("beech") and with pressed cheek of the trunk, dream of all that she wants to seeinspecting nests of birds, watching squirrels and barnyard animals, and read all the books it can get. Reading of Tarzan of the apes, dreaming to be that Jane and life in the jungle, by seeing these animals for itself. His dream is all that it can learn.

Then McDonnell showed little Jane, climbing in bed at home with Jubilee next to her, the stars outside his window...

AND ASLEEP...
TO WAKE UP ONE DAY TO HIS DREAM BECOME REALITY.

With the turn of a page, the rise of a cot in his tent is the adult Jane, ponytail signature in place and his studies behind it, ready to begin the work of his historical life where she still hopes to be.

Books of previous images of McDonnell, as time to hug his arm, are pleasant, popular, works a key sentimental, but with this first business in nonfiction, hit one over the fence. Yes, lovely, as is, with little Jane enjoying a walk in the Woods in hand with the Jubilee to come to life, it is perfect pitch, capturing the essence of Goodall, a person for whom nature and his creatures are infinitely fascinating and worthy of our respectful attentiona way will be absolutely get young children. Patrick McDonnell deserves all reviews starred Kirkus, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and the list of books that he collected, with its wonderful photos of real Jane child (especially Jane with the Jubilee) which indicate thatto paraphrase the poet, the child is the mother of the scientist!

With "A Message of Jane" in his brief schedule, Me... Jane is a biography of rare early childhood, a staple for Earth Day activities and for all non-fiction shelf.

Moving Pictures: Good night, Bunny little by Emily Hawkins

2011-05-22T23:05:00.000+07:00

Little Bunny and dusty squirrel played together if long shadows are deepening through the clearing in the forest. Bunny is a little afraid of the dark and decides to head home as quickly it can blow up. But what is this just before shade? Oh, it's just Freddie Fox Cub.

"IT IS DARKER AND YOU ME AFRAID!"
HE DID Y NOTHING TO BE FRIGHTENED OF, FREDDY REPLIED. "I LOVE THE NIGHT". IT IS THE BEST TIME FOR DIGGING! »

Easy for Freddie to say. It has no predators to worry about time-dark. Again, Freddy begins to dig, and little Bunny, who loves burrowing, can not too, resist to the fun. Soon the dirt flies and the Moon is rising and little Bunny forgets his fear of the dark. One by one, little Bunny meets with nocturnal animals of the forest: a troop of marmots travel, dance, and Daisy deer stops to see what is down with the two diggers. Suddenly, there was a frightening sound.

Silhouette by the starry sky, Olive Owl has some tips not sunny for Bunny...

"LITTLE RABBITS SHOULD NOT BE IN IT ONE NIGHT." WHY CAN'T I SHOW YOU THE WAY HOME? »

And, of course, the mother worried and father Bunny are willing to allow their runaway House shortly for a snuggle and finally a welcome end, but sunset.

Emily Hawkins' new good night, little Bunny: A Changing - Picture Book (Changing Picture Books) offers a friendly text with no surprises in the familiar bunny AWOL genus but illustrations lovely by John Butler, done in pastels mild chronic spring of this adventure just nicely, and the "change-picture book" format works especially well for this tale shortly.

Cover cut shows a bunny appropriately adorable rabbit, but when the book is open to the title page of the movement of mobile pages to show little Bunny nicely nestled with his parents. The logon page showing Dusty and Bunny moves when the flap formed by the tree of the lifting of panes in the foreground on the right opens to move the scene to show Freddie Fox Cub emerging from the darkness and ready to play. Another engaging design shifts the view of Little Bunny and Daisy deer on one of the Olive Owl perched on his flank with night sky behind it.

As a book of Council for the very young, just old enough to attend the photos, this moving image format is sure to Wow, although slightly older will particularly appreciate practical technology of the book, which puts them in charge of the definition of the story in motion.

Nonfiction that makes the Grade: last of the dinosaurs: the Cretaceous period by Thom Holmes

2011-05-18T23:05:00.000+07:00

Prehistory is as much a product of the human mind as history. Scientists who specialize in prehistoric life unraveling clues are called palaeontologists. ... While Paleontology is steeped in a study of prehistoric life, he draws on many other sciences to complete his exact image of the past... information in the fields of biology, zoology, geology, chemistry, meteorology and even Astrophysics.

In its sixth series Auguste, prehistoric Earth, the last of the dinosaurs: the period of the Cretaceous (prehistoric Earth) (Chelsea House), author Thom Holmes invites his extensive knowledge to tell the dramatic story of closing chapters in time dinosaurs. Objectives: the high school reader and researcher, Holmes wrote not down to his public, making use of various scientific fields that inform the study of the final eons of these fascinating reptiles.

Although no expose extraordinary ' giant killer reptiles, Holmes is a fascinating, especially in its last chapters, describing how modern reptiles and modern birds evolved from some clades of feathered dinosaurs. Complex terms and concepts are introduced clearly and appealingly, and these words appear in boldface, referencing the drive to the hearty glossary. Especial value for the reader and research paper writer are convincing abstracts which conclude each chapter, a very valuable assistance that makes the world of retail complex in each easily assimilated by the young researcher.

A generous set of appendices will be valuable to the student of search - a geologic time scale, the aforementioned glossary, which defines the integral such terms clade and taxa, a very extensive bibliography chapter by chapter of sources and a large section of the "Bibliography" and "Internet Sites" of the value for the readerall supported by a comprehensive index.

Ten volumes of the fine series prehistoric Earth cover the prehistory of the beginning of life: the Cambrian (prehistoric Earth) for the final title, the first humans: the Pleistocene & Holocene epochs (prehistoric Earth).

Precious resource: water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt

2011-05-13T23:05:00.000+07:00

"When I was a child, my pa hosed to earn money estra when we had a lean year." And when he put the industry in my hands for the first time, I felt a burning inside me because I had the gift, too.
Just be grateful that I did not hand the gift for you. »

Amos thought that it was probably better not to speak to his father that he was too late.

It is 1833 when Jake left his new wife winter trapping Delilah, and when he returns, he finds her dead and her motherless baby supported by his brother Gil and his wife, Rebecca. Without child, Rebecca love Amos from the first moment that it is queued arm and Jake, restless, born with foot wander, willingly give Amos and leads out of the mountains in the fall.

But life on the border is difficult, especially on his wife, and when Rebecca died of fever, Amos is sent to the care of neighbour Henrietta Block, to be raised and by his four boys aged. Amos is an autonomous and although child that saddened deeply by the death of the dearly close Rebecca, develops in care no-nonsense of Henrietta.

But when Jake returns in 1841 with Shoshone, blue Owl woman, it is for Amos that he had come, and Amos begins a new life, which will be led to a long journey on the Oregon Trail. Amos is a chance in his estate of mothers, for the first act of the OWL blue is to make him moccasins to soothe the blisters caused by his boots when they begin their long March to St. Louis. There is Jake makes group that his route to the West, Amos grows from a child to a young man and rents a scout and hunter in a caravan.

Life, death and the depth of human bonds is in the novel radical center of Kimberly Willis Holt of the movement to the West, spanning decades of the story of an extended family as Amos survives the trek and built a life in Oregon. Disappointed with his first love, Amos finds a love more deep with a young woman unlikely and the latter returns to his gift to find water for her newfound community.

Later Holt, the researcher of water (Henry Holt, 2010), combines gritty realism with a touch of magic realism in the form of fierce Delilah but protective spirit, appearing not to Amos (except in his avatar as a bird form), but the estate of nurturing women who anchored his life. As says Kirkus Reviews of this book "based on themes varied such as manifest destiny, personal identity and intercultural relations, the author has created a story satisfying richly made secondary characters of all ages that hosts a dazzling (of including electrifying Jake second wife)"(, Blue Owl) and flows as effortlessly as the Platte River. »

Jennifer s Willis Holt is the author of the award-winning My Louisiana sky and the Newbery when Zachary Beaver Came to Town (Saddleback Focus on reading of the Study Guides), and his popular early Piper Reed chapter series. Tags: Frontier and Pioneer Life - Fiction, historical novel (Grades 6-12), track of Oregon - Fiction

Shirley u. Jest! Till Death Us bark by Kate Klise

2011-05-09T23:05:00.000+07:00

It was once a rich man who said:
While lying on his bed of death:
"I am really too sick."
"To write a new will.
Thus, he wrote instead a few verses.

In his last breathe the multi-millionaire Noah Breth, it leaves behind a certain mystery — a mystery which soon involves the entire city of Ghastly, including residents of 43 old cemetery Road.

Seymour hope, the son adopted hope of writer Ignatius b. Grumply and his co-author spectral and everyone favorite ghost writer, Olive c. Spence, always wanted a dog. When a large wolfhound, shaggy, named Secret adopts him, Seymour takes him home, neglecting to mention Olive and Ignatius that the dog has recently been the beloved companion of the recently deceased city, Noah Breth millionaire. Descendants of Noah, the gourmet Kitty Breth and brother Kanin Breth, wants to hand over money from their father, and Seymour hoped that neither would give a penny of it for the dog now without master, since they come to town purely to harry lawyer Rita O'Bitt in each of them by giving all of the estate.

And then strange things begin to occur around Ghastly. Mr. Baume, Librarian of the city, finds a wheat rare penny worth thousands to the back of a shelf; Then the Restorer city that Shirley u. Jest discovers a piece of two - hundred 1872 even more valuable in the tip jar meter, and the owner of frightening grocers, Kay Daver, concludes an even rarer still half-dime worth $ 25,000 in green beans. Now, that's a lot of long green!

Meanwhile, back at Spence Mansion, things go well. The secret night barking keeps everyone in town awake. Ignace, assailed by the loss of sleep and a sudden onset of cat allergies is not a fan of hound of Seymour and Olive, fearing that the dog pushed her cat missing Shadow away, is not fan of secrecy not. Seymour is tormented by guilt for having lied on the former owner of the dog and decides that it is a bad son and that he must flee.

During this time, Kitty and Kanin Breth are spread nasty rumours about another everywhere in the city. Everyone is looking for valuable parts, and when they are not, they remember to help Sheriff Mike Ondolences search for Seymour, too. Olive is feelings if evil on the flight of Seymour writes Ignatius a letter of farewell and it performs a ghostly vanishing act. But in his postscript she mentions that she leaves a funny gold coin dated from 1796 found opposite the House on the room dining table for Ignatius, in the hope that they will be happily ever after without it.

Things are still more strange than usual in Ghastly, and only Rita O'Bitt has the information that all these departures frightening will explain on the will of the late Breth of Noah. And when the ghost of Noah convenes Seymour and secrecy, still barking, to attend the reading of the will, the dear deceased shares the wisdom of its 95-year life and its first week of its ghostdom:

You make a small change. This is a great arrangement you have it when you live.
Now everywhere begin when you need to. Do a second project. Or even a third. Embrace the chance you have to do things even while you're still alive.

Everyone finally gets what Noah Breth was until when he sold all his property and he converted while "small change," these carefully selected rare pieces, which is presented in selected locations in Ghastly. Now, there is just the fifth and final room to find and these small changes in the life of Ignatius, Seymour and the fight against Breth plugins to make their lives, or even of their bank accountsmuch richer.

In his Kate Klise series, entitled Till Death Do Us bark aptly: 43 old cemetery Road: Book 3, (Harcourt, 2011, to be published in May) author Kate Klise and Illustrator M.Sarah Klise share top honors in another delicious epistolary novelleaving no pun unexplored graveyard on the way.

With many mysteries interwoven, same as allergies to cat sudden the Grumply even though the Shadow Cat is not found, there is a crowd keep the reader turning pages. The text, said entirely in letters between directors and the latest news on the piece of currency-implications on the city, written by Cliff Hanger, the frightening Times editor, make good use of design and fonts to move the long mystery, but much of the fun is in black and white drawings and the word burial along the funny games. Previous titles in this series are on my dead body: 43 old cemetery Road: Book 2 and Dying to meet you: 43 old cemetery Road: book, this is a series of elementary readers will definitely, er, dig. Tags: (Grades 3-6), dog stories Fantasy, mystery Fiction

Songs from the book: I'm the book, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

2011-05-08T23:05:00.000+07:00

Who is rich?
The boy who has a book, he did not read yet.
The girl with a tour by his bed...
His life starts across.

April is poetry month, and editor of notable Lee Bennett Hopkins, the Dean of poetry for children of publishing, has selected thirteen modern poems that celebrate the adventure and pleasure of reading. The artist Diego Herrera gets on with acrylic pleasure brilliant illustrations exemplify the familiar form of the book as a pirate ship, tail of a whale, a chest with the Treasury of wealth, as the poets explore reading experience from the point of view of the child.

This book is the best! I woke this morning to read until I am dressed me. This book is so cool! It is the first thing that I took after school

The just-released I book (House of holidays, 2011) includes authors such as Jane Yolen, that of imagination vivifies the reading experience familiar as "words/nudge each other like bumper cars / fair"... as Kristine O'Donnell celebrates the quiet side when she said "If you have a book... this new great book to read / who has" need a window seat? "Annex to Bennett offers miniature biographies of each of its poets and its selections offer many instructive examples of poetic language - alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile and metaphor, and each of them offer imaged at wresting vives the spirit of the way that only a book.

, This book is just. I am reading by flashlight deeply in the night.

Squirrels 1, cat 0: these squirrels Darn and cat neighbouring country by Adam Rubin

2011-05-06T23:05:00.000+07:00

NOW, FEW PEOPLE KNOW, BUT THE SQUIRRELS ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE FOREST.
THEY ARE CRAFTIER THAN BEAVERS, SMARTER, FASTER THAN RABBITS AND FOXES.

THEY ARE ALSO FULL OF MISCHIEF.

Of course, grump professional district, Old Man Forkwire, "so old that when he sneezes, dust is released," learned its lesson, having already been forced to make reluctant peace with those Darn squirrels! (Clarion, 2009), but now it looks like those ruined rodents have met their match.

A new neighbor moves in Little Old Lady Hu, the Baker of the city, with its supernatural cat rondelet, malicious research, Muffins. Beloved "Powder Ms. Hu," Muffins is sacred to a feline terror, and he soon established his reign on those pesky squirrels with some wet willies well placed, noogies and wedgies. Then Muffins terrorizes birds beloved of Mr. Forkwire, winning the squirrels a rare bit of sympathy from their Forkwire frenemy.

Mr. Forkwire contacted the Mayor on the threat, but the squirrels him a go better for revenge. They hold another departure from the famous strategy, driven by bursts of cheese and emerge with a plan involving cats that one thing fear above all others - a good watering.

A Rube Goldberg typical squirrel device exports a bucket around icy water Muffins, as he is about to feast of friends of Mr. Forkwire bird. The result is, shall we say, adjusting their egos of the Muffin and their reputation.

"GREAT GOOGLE DERIVATIVES-MOOGLEY!". FORKWIRE EXCLAIMED: "PATHETIC TAIS TOI IS NO BIGGER THAN A SQUIRREL!"
IT IS TRUE! UNDER ITS BRISTLES AND FUZZ, MUFFIN WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A SKINNYMALINK.

With kitty Muffins now a humiliated house-bound, birds and squirrels are sitting pretty and Little Old Lady Hu shares its free pastry goods with them every Saturday Old Man Forkwire is free paint his beloved birds undisturbedwhich is cranky at the end, the way he likes it.

In their last collaboration, those Darn squirrels and the cat Next Door (Clarion, forthcoming may 2, 2011) Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri have another win under their belts creative, an intelligent mixture and jolly of text and the art of the Illustrator is a certain aviation kid. Publishers Weekly gave it the inches of control plays very coveted, adding "" having already demonstrated that they are ideally matched to their debut, Darn squirrels!, Rubin and Salmieri go for two - and succeed. ""

The great war: the second World War: fighting for freedom by Peter Chrisp

2011-05-04T23:05:00.000+07:00

Second World War was the largest and the most murderous history conflict. Many countries took part and fighting take place around the world.
More than 55 million people were killed, most of the civilians.

If any war never earned the dubious title of "great war", this is the 2nd World War. It was so enormous a human folly and human endeavour which seems an act of hubris to try to encapsulate its history in a book. But young people have to start somewhere and later history remarkable writer Peter Chrisp, Fighting For Freedom (Scholastic, 2010) elementary and middle students offer insight absorbent and wide, reinforced by a multitude of photographs, including a great many iconic images of that period on the front in the war and the home front.

The Chrisp book indeed offers a snapshot of the war from several angles. Its text is crisp, but informal, providing an overview of many aspects of the war without overwhelming the reader with facts, dates and figures, with emphasis on the human aspects of the conflict. From chapters such as "the gathering storm" and "War measures", the author carefully resumes the story in war I Europe with the rise of Hitler and the precipitating events that started the war with the invasions of the Austria and the Poland.

Other chapters, such as "Blitzkrieg," "The battle of Britain", "The Blitz" and "Front inside Britain" reveal the Chrisp British roots. It focuses on the events and the great war epic moments, deserted the campaign in North Africa, l ' Operation Barbarossa, the Enigma machine, J, and the Holocaust especially, leaving many excellently reproduced illustrations of this very photographed war tell the story of the European campaign on the faces of veterans and HomeFront participantschildren hiding in the London tube for women on the line for the production of the aircraft to the soldiers in the sands of the d-day invasion of Normandy.

The book gives unfortunately neglected shorter for the causes and events of the war of the Pacific, although it does not cover the highlights of this campaign chapters, such as "The island of campaign", "assault on Japan." and "bomb". Chrisp adds a substantial contribution to the understanding of the results of the war in its chapters "End of the war" and "nuremberg." The students come away even a quick reading of this book without a certain awareness of the extent of this conflict and the significant changes that he forged, not least were new technologies and international organizations, whose effects continue to play in the events of the world today.

Although only a glossary and index are added, many maps integrated with the text, graphics and of course, those telling photos, ration book food family from the rubble of Nagasaki testify in a manner that will lead further reading early history enthusiasts.

The secret life of school supplies: the red pen little by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

2011-05-03T23:05:00.000+07:00

THERE IS TOO MUCH OF! WHERE ARE MY AID?

IF DOCUMENTS ARE NOT CLASSIFIED, STUDENTS DO LEARN. THE SCHOOL COULD CLOSE.

WALLS POURRAIENT TUMBLE. THE SKY MAY FALL. IT MIGHT BE THE END OF THE WORLD!

THAT WILL HELP ME SAVE THE WORLD?

It is night in the classroom, and teacher's desk is piled high with papers unchecked. Red pen, his conscientious administrative assistant, hears the call of duty. But there is a mutiny among the other tools of the trade in his drawer of the teacher. Do stapler, scissors, gum, no. 2 pencil, Green Highlighter and response of the bug (aka Senorita Chincheta) the appeal? No!

"Not I," they say, a litany of complaints and miseries of listing. Pencil is sharpened to a nub; Scissors becomes dull all its cutting up; The suffering of gum of shrinkage of the brain and all fear them the ultimate end for over-the-hill office supplies, the Point of no return, THE TRASH, where their former comrade in arms, felt black-Tip, has been removed in his match was left.

And the reservoir, the overweight and underexercised class hamster, no help is no longer. He repeated, in the shadow of its now rusty exercise wheel. This red soldiers pen only thanks to the long night, scritch-scratch through endless communications of math and language arts worksheets, until finally it wobbles rehashing, stumbling blearily and roll - out of Office!

"OH NO!" WHISPERED ERASER. "PEN IS IN THE...".THE.... "
"EL NO RETURNO PUZO!". CHINCHETA a CRIÉ (ostensibly) "I hate to BE BLUNT," said scissors, but it is a GONER. PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PIT!

There is nothing for it but to mount an operation to rescue their leader, and supplies are finally out of the drawer and work. What to do? Suffice it to say that daring desk drawer performers take stock of their resources, creating a chain of trombone and come with a device of clever block and tackle involving a formerly unused hamster wheel and a sudden er, motivated Tank, which excited to transform Tankzilla by conspicuously talented Chincheta, takes an unexpected marathon, running on his wheel and their leader lost is thus lifted the school supply limbo.

"NOW!" CRIED ERASER. "WE HAVE A JOB AT THE END!"
"YOU FORGET!" EVERYONE YELLED. "Let's GET to work!

Award-winning Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel The Little Red Pen daughter (Harcourt Houghton Mifflin, 2011) there are many enable readers tickle boxes sophisticated picture book - smart take-off on the ground of venerable Little Red Hen, nifty puns on the properties of léthargiqueset the clever climax supplies that throws in a lesson to simple machines without charge. Drawings humorous Stevens to do much to raise this plot detailed humor high which sharp second and third-graders will easily appreciate. This story is all set to become a, um, staple of literature in the classroom.

Verb Play: Bedtime Bunnies by Wendy Watson

2011-05-02T23:05:00.000+07:00

SUNSET, RABBITS!
JUMP, ROLLERBLADE, SCURRY, HOP!

With the familiar sandbox and slide game, our children have an another playground to explore and master as they grow up - the language English.

Veteran author of Wendy Watson most recently, Bedtime Bunnies (Clarion, 2010) is a simple-seeming little bedtime story, with cute, rounded bunnies grouped offshore in bed with the usual familiar routines - snacks, brushing, pyjamas-ing, the tale out lights and snuggle time, while comforting and predictable pro forma steps in the traditional tale at sunset. Watson, however, measure and weighs his language with moderation and expert, with each activity described by just four words--the onomatopoetic verbs, with a lot of alliteration and rhymes dot to give them a blow.

Rabbits do not eat only their bedtime carrots - they yum, they Digest, they suck, they crunch. They do just brushing the teeth - they sprayed, they scrub, they splutter, they spit. Watson rounded little bunnies exuberant bounce through this nocturnal ritual, four of them consistent, just a bit of a Maverick, until all are finally returned to his bed for the final goodnight hug and kiss.

It is a story of sweet which will have most of the children to nighty-night themselves, but not without a lesson in language bit along the way. Bedtime Bunnies provides opportunities for almost irresistible for parents to encourage improvisation of wordsmith sunset a little of their own and a bit of fun day which sends smaller to dreamland with a smile.

What is your cartridge? Hieroglyphs by Sean Callery

2011-04-30T23:05:00.000+07:00

PREPARE YOURSELF.
YOU WANT TO HELP ME TO SOLVE A MYSTERY WHICH IS THOUSANDS OF YEARS - AND DISCOVER A NEW.

With our mentor Dr. Cameron Stone, dear Egyptologist, we are offshore in a quest to solve the mystery of the cat Golden missing, learn to decipher hieroglyphics carrying the indices in the House of secrecy where highly sought-after award can be found in their code.

In a history of frame Indiana Jones-style, Sean Callery CodeQuest: hieroglyphs: solve the mystery of the ancient Egypt (Kingfisher, 2010) takes us in a dark and mysterious, Egyptian Museum where we gathered by a just as mysterious Eyed Girlhis face covered by a green scarf, which is our guide.

As the race after the elusive Nefret, she takes us through the House after the House where the mystery of hieroglyphics proved. Brilliant illustrations, photographs and digital art show the beauty and secrets of this ancient writing. The many fold-outs, boxes, notes to translate and a succession of indices that use what is taught along the way will keep the reader moving in the book everything decipher messages that she leaves behind and obtain their writing and reading of hieroglyphs as they go. A CD accompanies and gives the reader the possibility of using the hieroglyphic fonts included to build their own names (cartridges) and write their own messages such as the ancient Egyptians did.

For children who are fascinated by the codes and encryption algorithms, there is much here to reward the reader which persists through the quest. Fun another book series CodeQuest understand Inca Gold: solve the mystery of the Golden corn (Codequest).

Where, Oh where? Desmond disappearing by Anna Alter

2011-04-29T23:05:00.000+07:00

DESMOND LIKED TO DISAPPEAR.
AT SCHOOL, DESMOND HIDDEN DURING THE HOURS OF THE LIBRARY, LUNCH AND RECESS.

Desmond CAMO-clad appears on the title page of Desmond disappear from Anna Alter (Alfred a. Knopf, 2010) disappear in foliage behind him and as the story points out his entire family has a way of mixing in the bottom screen.

School Desmond is both here and not there. In the library, he peers through the shelves to everyone on the playground, he climbs rapidly in the sanctuary of the Tower of the tree house. It shows a trip aquarium combination and tuba inside the tank with fish and sea turtles. Similarly, he puts a moustache Elizabethan and hides in plain sight from the poster of Shakespeare, to go undetected at casual glance of the teacher. We need action!

And then sometimes GLORIA. The class gets a new girl who loves to be the focus of attention. It is colourful and loves put itself center stage in each activity. And it is amazing wonders, Gloria appears to have a thing for noting the retirement did anything well concealed Desmond he thinks it is. Then, one day during the time of free reading, she turns the sunshine of his attention on him.

"HI, DESMOND," SHE SAID. "YOU READ MY BOOK FAVORITE." CAN I JOIN YOU? »

And in this magical way that a popular friend can transform the shrinking violet in a star class, Desmond disappears without more. It shows same to school wearing a plain sweater loud and everyone sees for the first time. Desmond wonders why it declined from view and sets out to bring all the other children "disappearance" in the game as ever.

Intriguing structured environments among which our hero and his timid acolytes found refuge, Alter of the beautifully illustrated disappearing Desmond provides a bit of visual pleasure spots the elusive Desmond and his companions shy, any by providing a little accommodating of bibliotherapy for group gifted with unknown wealth of shy classmate. As School Library Journal notes, "a tale reassuring friendship which give the floor to the young wallflowers and their desire to connect with others.".

Workbooks of fun Jumbo for children prepare for school

2011-04-28T23:05:00.001+07:00

5 high-quality, educational Jumbo workbooks for children from 3 to 7 years. Fun, creative and engaging! Get ready for school.

Check it out!

Wombat erre: Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French baby

2011-04-28T23:05:00.000+07:00

Monday morning: slept. LATE morning: slept. Awakened. At the top of Mom. Bounce! MOM decided it was time to play...OUTSIDE!

What is a toddler wombat to do? It is afternoon. It is full of energy, but Mom says take outside, please. Fortunately, the wombat little concludes a playmate, a convoluted human toddler who shares his hose, his sandbox, his bottle and pleasantly designed to help the Wombat shortly to be a larger hole.

Friday morning: is a giant hole. (Gateway of the toddler) Saturday morning: someone has stolen our hole! (The door is closed!) MOM said we will dig the best ever!

And they do so, a hole which is right under the House and right House - his friend a comfortable place for tots tired to catch a NAP!

Of the Jackie French diary of a Wombat baby (Clarion, 2010), the last of his books of Wombat, which began with delicious diary of a Wombat French and has continued with its nonfiction companion volume how to scratch a Wombat: where to find it... What to feed... Why he sleeps all day illustrator Bruce Whatley whips again place just the right wombats for this funny adding this to the daily adventures of a diary devoted marsupials of Down Under, and some to make laugh youth.

"A poem as a gift:"Julie Andrews Collection of lullabies and poems".

2011-04-25T03:36:00.000+07:00

"A poem is like a globed' fruit," a poet said once, and some special books of poetry are the same sense: complete and ripe, rich and beautiful and offer much experience. "" A such book is the book of Julie Andrews of poems and songs.

Being, as it says in his preface, always aware of the natural music in poetry, Andrews and his co-selector, daughter Emma Hamilton, are perfectly blended hymns, ("all things Bright and Beautiful"), venerable parts (most beautiful trees by A.E. Housman)("," There is no frigate like a book "by Emily Dickinson" "when in disgrace with Fortune" by William Shakespeare and "Foot beauty" by Gerard Manley Hopkins) modern authors ("sick"by Shel Silverstein","September"by John Updike," be happy that your nose is on your face "by Jack Prelutsky")(, "Skyscrapers" by Rachel field) and the lyrics of the song ('Oh, what a beautiful morning "and" A Cockeyed optimist "by Rodgers and Hammerstein and"My Ship"Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin.")

Combining Johnny Mercer and John Masefield set, or William Blake, A.A. Milne, Edward Lear and Robert Frost, or Ogden Nash and Robert Louis Stevenson, indeed. Andrews, with a few surprises, as Stephen Sondheim, includes the major part of the famous for children (and adults) poets - Longfellow, Tennyson, Eugene Field, Mary Ann Hoberman, Nikki Grimes, and Langston Hughes and even sneaking in a few of his own poems on the way.

Divided into sections (all things Bright and beautiful, speaking of animals, the fever of the sea, et al), it is a balanced collection, poems lyric with limericks and lullabies, humour and joie de vivre in the wonderful world all sourcesthe common denominator of good taste and the premise that, with or without music, well-chosen words can sing.

Lovely paintings of artist James McMullan trigger the selections in a way which increases instead of the distracts his poems themselves, and a CD of Andrews accompanying reading of some of its selections is appended. If you add an anthology of poetry to the library virtual April and have not already obtained a, Julie Andrews Collection of poems, songs and lullabies (see all the children of fairy tales, Folk Tales & myths Anthologies) (Little)(, Brown and company) is the one. Tags: Poetry for children (Grades preschool-10)

Why? Questions, and Questions of Marcus Pfister

2011-04-24T23:11:00.001+07:00

WHAT TURNS THE LEAVES FROM GREEN TO BROWN
AND SENDS FLOAT THEM GENTLY DOWNWARDS?
APPLE DREAM HAPPILY GROW LIKE A TREE?

Marcus Pfister published just Questions, Questions (North-South, 2011) application to the eternal questions, those with responses of the sublime in many practice - in "to the glory of God" to "I don't know." I'll Google for you! "Pfister, author of Rainbow fish books, offers some answers to eternal questions that humans begin to ask at a very young age. Who painted butterflies with the same colors? Why? Who teaches the birds sing all the songs they know? How do they know where to go in winter? How many shells make up the shore?

Pfister offers that no response to this kind of small children questions don't ask. What it offers are sublime color pages, page after page of prints bright beautiful color on a white background bright who, if they offer no science or philosophy, reflected the wonder in this magnificent universe that these young questions imply. With the help of his own technique of cardboard shapes and strong acrylic, Pfister creates textured prints inviting touch and are a joy to the eye, only randomly illuminated by trade mark metallic color that characterizes his Rainbow fish beloved and best-selling books.

Questions, Questions is a book to look at in awe, inspire wonder and begin the discussion with young readers. Tags: Nature Science - poetry (2-6 years)

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Diary of a wimpy kid review

2011-04-24T03:33:00.000+07:00

It is refreshing to finally see a comic character grow because we must face, puberty is not pretty, but it's funny. Our Wimpy Kid Greg finally realizes he is no longer a cute kid. Now it is up to discover the secrets of puberty (which Rowley hopes not to "catch") in the class the health of boys only. Going to the dentist takes up instead of a plush version of the children, Greg is left with not only the fear of gingivitis instilled in him, but even worse, headgear. My favorite scene was the school "lock-in that went wrong in many ways. I will not spoil the main stupidity, but the only way teachers can think of to get the boys to settle is to heat and air conditioning on so they should stay in their sleeping bags. Meanwhile, the girls are living the good life in the media room heated.

Rowley and Greg have been sidelined for much of the work, but their friendship and extinction, and attempts by parents to find a more Rowley mentoring "pal" to replace Greg, are understandable and funny.

Factors of the extended family in Heffley's book, with Greg, Uncle Gary as well married, maybe future version of Greg. Gary is half warning, half of inspiration - in the spirit of Greg, compared to parents of Greg, Gary seems to have much more fun.

I was disappointed that the boys Heffley could not get it together enough for their mother to follow her schooling renewed ... it was really a disappointment. Kinney has a few attacks on helicopter parents throughout the book. Hopefully in the next following their mother will stay in school.

Children will find this book hilarious, and as an adult reader, I have to applaud the little things that Kinney arrived and as the reaction insensitive to the health teacher for girls who have lovingly cared for their eggs to protected as if they were babies, and many small touches like Greg Hope who inherits a manual from a cool guy magically make him so cool.

Feel exciting what the story is just get the book soon....

But wait.. i have another good stories for you to have.

Zen Ties

2009-05-14T06:07:00.001+07:00

The story is pretty simple. Huge panda Stillwater picks up his visiting nephew Koo -- who only speaks in haiku -- at the train station. They are joined by Stillwater's friends Addy, Michael and Karl. The pandas play with the kids, and Michael tells Stillwater his concerns about an upcoming Spelling Bee. Stillwater then takes them to Miss Whitaker's house, an elderly woman who lives on the kids' street. None of the three children can believe Stillwater would be friends with such a cranky, unpleasant person. Stillwater helps the siblings get to know Miss Whitaker, and they realize she is sad and bitter because she is alone, scared and not well. In the end the kids and the old lady learn to appreciate and help each other.

There is such depth here. Consider the wordplay. When Stillwater picks up his nephew, he says "Hi, Koo!" And then, of course, Koo only speaks in the 17-syllable haiku poetry form. The lovely and realistic watercolor renditions of people and pandas make the whole story seem dreamlike. Stillwater sometimes seems normal panda sized, sometimes as big as a house. The wordless -- and haunting -- image of Miss Whitaker, late at night, looking at a painting Karl and Koo made for her is worth the price of the book in itself.

The Tiger King's Skin Cloak

2009-05-14T05:55:00.000+07:00

Long, long ago there lived in the Land of the Khans a poor Alad [a serf or a herdsman in the days of feudalism]. His wife bore three children, but unfortunately they all died. No further children were born to the couple and they lived a solitary and wretched life.

Then unexpectedly one winter's day the Alad's wife gave birth to a boy. The couple were overjoyed, but, they began to wonder how they were going to raise their child. Except for a cow and two mountain goats they had nothing of any value. What were they to do?
Though distressed they nevertheless went outside their tent to milk the cow for the baby.
The child grew not by the day but by the hour. Before evening he had grown taller and sturdier than a man. Husband and wife were both astonished and delighted. They named their boy Ku-nan, which means Ancient South.
On the very first day Ku-nan ate up a whole goat. On the next day he ate up the other one. The old couple were filled with dismay. One more day, they thought, and even the cow will be done for! And then what will we have to live on?
On the third day Ku-nan said to his mother, "Ah-Ma, we are so poor and we have only a cow left. Let me go and find some work to do. I'm afraid I'll fall ill if I stay at home any longer."
She looked at her son's tall and robust figure and, taking his big hand in her, said in a tearful voice, "My son, what work can you do? Hai! You may perhaps go to the Khan. He may have some work for you." Ku-nan pondered for a while, then agreed.
After taking leave of his parents, he fared forth on an empty stomach. Half way he met with a hungry wolf. As soon as it saw him it jumped on him, but Ku-nan immediately tackled it and killed it. He then skinned it and, making himself a bonfire, roasted the meat and ate it. Having done so, he continued on his way and at dusk reached the Khan's yurt.
The sly old Khan thought of testing Ku-nan's strength. He had a whole cow roasted and invited the lad to eat it. Ku-nan not only ate up all the meat, but gnawed the bones clean, too. The Khan then kept him in his yurt as his personal attendant and bodyguard.
Ku-nan often went with the Khan deep into the forest to hunt, and every time they came home with a full bag. One day, when the two of them, together with some of the Khan's servants, went hunting in the deep reaches of the forest, a huge tiger suddenly leaped out upon them. The Khan was so frightened he broke into a cold sweat. Without a thought for Ku-nan's safety he whipped his horse into a gallop and tore off down the mountain. The Khan's servants fled helter-skelter, covering their heads with their hands. But Ku-nan did not stir. As the tiger sprang upon him he calmly dodged to one side, grabbed one of its hind legs, and swung the beast against a big tree. There was a crash, and the tree leaves fluttered to the ground. The tiger lay motionless on the ground with its stomach ripped open. Ku-nan put the carcass on his back and strode off after the Khan.
When the Khan reached his yurt, he was still in such a state of fright he could not dismount from his horse. Luckily his servants, who had taken to their heels when the tiger appeared, came to his aid and lifted him off his horse. At this moment Ku-nan arrived. When the Khan saw the tiger on Ku-nan's back he panicked. He rushed into his yurt and barred the door. "Hurry! All of you," he bawled. "Defend the door! Don't let the tiger in!" Later when he heard it was a dead tiger Ku-nan had brought, he mustered his courage and came out of his hiding place. Foaming with rage he cursed Ku-nan, using all the foul words he knew, and took the tiger's skin into his yurt.
Once the Khan had the tiger's skin as a mattress, he decided he wanted a cloak made of the Tiger King's skin. Thus he commanded Ku-nan to catch the Tiger King within three days. If he were to fail in his mission the Khan would have him executed. Ku-nan felt very dejected. Where was he to find the Tiger King? It was said that the Tiger King lived in a remote cave in the Northern Mountains, and that there were lots of tigers there in the vicinity. But no one had even been known to reach the place.
The skies grew dark, and Ku-nan returned home feeling very unhappy. He told his parents of what had happened. The old couple were in a quandary. If they were to prevent him from going, they were afraid the Khan would really put their son to death. But if they were to let him go, who could guarantee his safety?
Husband and wife sat facing each other and wept. They made such a to-do that Ku-nan found it hard to come to any decision. Suddenly an old Alad came into their shabby little cottage.
"My lad," he addressed Ku-nan, "don't be downcast. The Tiger King is afraid of a brave man. As long as you keep your native land and your dear ones in mind, you'll be able to overcome any hardship. Go, my lad. I'll give you a dappled pony to ride on. Good luck to you!" The old Alad lightly kissed Ku-nan on his forehead and disappeared. When Ku-nan went outside he saw a dappled pony neighing in his direction.
The skies gradually grew light, and Ku-nan bade his parents goodbye. Taking his bow, arrow-bag and dagger, he mounted his charge and set off on his mission. At first the pony trotted along at a normal pace, but later it broke into a canter, and then a gallop. Faster and faster it went, so fast that Ku-nan could only see the yurts along the road in a blur. After a while the beast slackened its speed. Just then Ku-nan saw near a yurt a wolf just about to attack a little girl. In the nick of time he slipped an arrow into his bow, and let fly. The wolf instantly fell dead on the ground with the arrow in its head.
An old woman ran out from the yurt. When she realized that Ku-nan had saved her grand-daughter's life, she invited him in for a bowl of milk-tea. Before his departure she gave him a sheep-bone and said, "Take it, lad, it'll be of some use to you in the future."
With her gift in hand, Ku-nan vaulted upon his pony and continued his way northwards. As he trotted along the road he found his way blocked by a broad river. Suddenly the water rose and formed great billows. A huge turtle emerged and swam to the river bank. "My lad," it croaked, "you had better turn back. You'll never get across this river."
"Oh, surely," replied Ku-nan. "All difficulties can be overcome."
"Oh, well then, brave lad," the turtle said, "please help me. My left eye aches so badly, I want to have it taken out and replaced with a new one. Please, help me, take it out for me."
"All right, I'll help you."
As soon as Ku-nan looked in his hands. The eye had turned into a pearl! A glowing, flawless precious pearl. After looking at it Ku-nan's eye-sight became very sharp, he could even see a group of yurts in the far distance. Ku-nan then remounted his pony. As though understanding its master's intention, the beast plunged into the water. What a miracle! No sooner had the water touched the precious pearl than it divided to form a transparent wall on either side, leaving a dry path through the center. Ku-nan rode across to the opposite bank of the river without further difficulty. The water then flowed its usual course as if nothing had ever happened.
Ku-nan soon reached the yurts he had seen in the distance. An old shepherd was softly weeping there. He was a pitiful sight. Having dismounted from his pony, Ku-nan addressed him. "Grandpa, what makes you so sad?" he asked. "Please tell me, perhaps I can be of some help to you."
The old shepherd wiped his eyes and sighed. "Young man, even if I tell you, I'm afraid you won't be able to help me. Yesterday my only daughter was carried off by the Tiger King. I don't know whether she's alive or dead now...." The old man again broke into heart-rending sobs.
"Grandpa, don't lose heart," Ku-nan consoled him. "I'm sure your daughter isn't dead. I'm looking for that Tiger King. I'll go there and rescue her."
The old shepherd cheered up. He invited Ku-nan into his tent to have some tea. After his tea, Ku-nan thanked the old man and left.
Before dark Ku-nan arrived at the place where the Tiger King lived. From afar he could see a stone cave up on the mountain. At the entrance were more than ten tigers on guard. As Ku-nan neared the cave, he fished the sheep-bone out of his pocket and threw it to the tigers. He then entered and found the shepherd's daughter. She told him that the tiger King had been out since early morning, and that he had not yet returned, but probably would soon. She thought of hiding Ku-nan, but he refused, suggesting that he first rescue her and take her home. She agreed, and the two of them rode the dappled pony out of the cave. The tigers outside were still fighting over the bone. Ku-nan flourished his whip, and the pony dashed down the mountain like a whirlwind.
Suddenly a gust of wild wind blew from the north. Riding on a yellow cloud, an ogre with the head of a tiger and the body of a man, all covered with golden hair, came chasing down. Ku-nan turned round and let fly an arrow, which pierced the ogre's left eye. The Tiger King roared furiously. He reached out a huge paw and yanked Ku-nan off his charge. Then with a single blow he drove him waist-deep into the ground. Ku-nan instantly wriggled out. With one stroke he smote the ogre neck-deep into the ground, and, without waiting for him to free himself, he swiftly unsheathed his dagger and thrust the blade deep into the ogre's pate. Ku-nan thus ended the Tiger King's life.
He pulled the carcass out of the ground and, dragging it by one leg, caught up with his pony. He and the girl then returned to her home. When the old shepherd saw that Ku-nan had rescued his daughter, he was very happy, and gave him her hand in marriage.
Ku-nan stayed the night in their yurt and, when day grew light, again set off with his wife on their pony. But just as they were preparing to leave they heard a howling wind approaching from the north. Ku-nan turned to look and saw ten or so tigers coming in hot pursuit. They were those he had left fighting over the sheep-bone the day before. Ku-nan hurriedly sent his wife into the yurt. He shot an arrow and killed the tiger in the lead. Then he unsheathed his dagger and strode forward to meet them.
A furious combat ensued. In one breath he slayed seven or eight of them, but the remaining three attacked him with even redoubled fierceness. Ku-nan felt himself utterly exhausted. Just as he was on the point of collapse, the old shepherd, at the head of about ten young lads, rushed to the rescue. They brought with them poles for breaking in horses. They helped Ku-nan catch the three tigers and thus relieved him from danger. He thanked them for their help and gave them all the tigers he had slain. Taking his wife he remounted his pony and proceeded home.
When the Khan saw that Ku-nan had slain the Tiger King and had brought home a beautiful wife besides, he felt very happy and at the same time envious. He ordered Ku-nan's wife to make him a cloak out of the Tiger King's skin, and not to miss a single hair of the pelt. Ku-nan's wife did as the Khan bade her and let her husband take the cloak to him.
When the Khan saw the cloak he was extremely pleased. He thought of showing himself off in his domain in all his majesty. He wanted everybody to know that he, the Khan, possessed a precious cloak made of the Tiger King's skin.
A platform was erected in front of the Khan's yurt. He invited the officials from all over the land of the Khans to eat and drink and carouse. A little way across stood a great multitude of people who had come from every corner of the land to see the Khan's Tiger King cloak.
After a while amidst the blare of music the Khan ambled across the platform with a self-satisfied air. He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and a well-dressed servant climbed up, bearing a yellow bundle. He opened it up and took out the glistening golden colored cloak made of the Tiger King's skin. He paraded it for everyone to see, then helped the Khan to put it on. No sooner had the Khan put on the cloak than he turned into a fierce motley-colored tiger. It made a deafening roar and bounded off the platform and attacked the throng, biting and wounding many people. The officials were so scared they leaped onto their horses and made off for all they were worth.
At that moment Ku-nan fortunately arrived on the scene. When he saw a tiger chasing people and mauling them, he was horrified. He thought of shooting the beast with his arrow, but unluckily he had left his arrow-bag at home; even the dagger was not at his girdle. As he was fumbling helplessly, the tiger suddenly charged in his direction. He stood his ground and waited till the beast had come within reach. Then with the swiftness of an eagle he grabbed its tail, jerked it into the air and in a single breath smote it ten times upon the ground. The tiger lay bruised, maimed and bleeding and soon died. Because the beast was formerly the Khan, people went to bury it.
From then on Ku-nan went out hunting every day, riding his dapple pony, and on his return he would share his kill with poor Alads around the neighborhood. Besides, he often cured the poor of their eye diseases with his precious pearl: as soon as old people looked at it, their dim sight would become clear; as soon as the blind rolled it round the orbit of their eyes, they would be able to see. Thanks to his help the poor Alads began to sing their joyful songs again and their lives became very pleasant.

Source: Folk Tales from China, fifth series (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1960), pp. 46-57. Recorded by Sai Yeh. No copyright notice.

The Magic Moneybag

2009-05-14T05:52:00.001+07:00

Long, long ago there was a young couple who lived in a small thatched hut in a gully. They were so poor that every day they had to cut two bundles of firewood and carry them to market on their backs.
One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. The other bundle they kept in the kitchen for their own use. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle which they had kept for themselves.
That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on.
On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. From the outside it looked just the same as before. At midnight an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it.
On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, "Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. Why do you cut two?"
The woodcutter made a bow and replied, "We are penniless. That's why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. With it we can buy rice to make porridge."
The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, "I've known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. I shall give you a piece of treasure. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood."
As soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before. Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. The fairies asked him, "Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home."
The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, "I'd like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. Give me that round, bulging one." He chose the biggest one and took it down.
Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the young man, "You cannot take that one. I'll give you an empty one. Every day you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more." The woodcutter reluctantly agreed. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground.
Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. She was most excited. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. Instantly, a lump of silver would roll jingling out. When they weighed it on the palm of their hand, they found it to be exactly one tael. Every day one tael of silver and no more came rolling out of the bag. The wife saved them up one by one.
Time went slowly by. One day the husband suggested, "Let's buy an ox."
The wife didn't agree. A few days later, the husband suggested again, "How about buying a few acres of land?"
His wife didn't agree with that either. A few more days elapsed, and the wife herself proposed, "Let's build a little thatched cottage."
The husband was itching to spend all the money they had saved and said, "Since we have so much money in hand, why don't we build a big brick house?"
The wife could not dissuade her husband and reluctantly went along with his idea.
The husband spent the money on bricks, tiles and timber and on hiring carpenters and masons. From that time on, neither of them went into the mountain to cut firewood any more. The day came when their pile of silver was almost exhausted, but the new house was still unfinished. It had long been in the back of the husband's mind to ask the moneybag to produce more silver. So without his wife's knowledge, he opened the bag for a second time that day. Instantly, another lump of snow-white silver rolled jingling out of the bag onto the ground. He opened it a third time and received a third lump.
He thought to himself, "If I go on like this, I can get the house finished in no time!" He quite forgot the old man's warning. But when he opened the bag for the fourth time, it was absolutely empty. This time not a scrap of silver came out of it. It was just an old cloth bag. When he turned to look at his unfinished brick house, that was gone as well. There before him was his old thatched hut.
The woodcutter felt very sad. His wife came over and consoled him, "We can't depend on the magic moneybag from heaven. Let's go back to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. That's a more dependable way of earning a living."
From that day on, the young couple once again went up to the mountain to cut firewood and led their old, hardworking life.

Source: Favourite Folktales of China, translated by John Minford (Beijing: New World Press, 1983), pp. 143-147. No copyright notice.

The Golden Horse

2009-05-14T05:50:00.002+07:00

A carpenter and a blacksmith had an argument. Each of them insisted that he was more skilful than the other. Who was actually the more skilful of the two? They disputed this question for a long time without reaching any conclusion. Finally they agreed, "Let's go to the king and ask him to be the judge."
So they came to the king who asked them, "What have you come for?"
"I am a carpenter," said the one. "And my handiwork is more ingenious than the handiwork of any other carpenter in the world. But he said that I cannot match him in skill."
The blacksmith said, "Whoever sees my work praises it. But he insists that my skill is inferior to his."
"We want Your Majesty to be our judge and tell us whose skill is truly superior," the two pleaded. This put the king in a difficult position. "How can I form a judgement without seeing a single thing you have made?" said he. "I'll give you ten days. In that time you must each make a sample of your work and bring it here."
The two went home and each set his hand to his task. Ten days later, they came to the king again. The blacksmith brought with him a huge iron fish. "What can this do?" asked the king.
The blacksmith told him, "This iron fish of mine can float in the sea loaded with a hundred thousand sacks of grain."
These words made the king laugh inwardly. "This fellow is bound to come out the loser," he said to himself. "Such heavy iron will definitely sink when put in the water. How can it possibly float? But anyway, they may as well put a hundred thousand sacks of grain into the thing and see what happens." On his orders, the iron fish was launched. Strangely enough, it moved through the water with speed and without the least trace of clumsiness. It caused quite a sensation among the spectators. The king was most impressed and even promised the blacksmith an official post. Later he actually made him beadle of one of his districts.
The carpenter came with a wooden horse slung over his shoulder. When he saw it, the king pulled a long face, "Surely this is a child's toy? How can it compare with the iron fish?"
"Oh, it's even better than the iron fish," said the carpenter. "It has twenty-six screws on it. When you loosen the first screw, the wooden horse will fly into the sky; when you loosen the second screw, it will accelerate. If you loosen all the twenty-six screws, it will fly more quickly than any bird and take you around the world."
The young prince happened to be present while they were talking about this. His curiosity was greatly aroused when he heard that the wooden horse could fly. How he wished he could fly up into the sky and have a look at the world! He turned to the king and asked him to let him have a ride. The king said, "No, it's out of the question. Are you even sure that it can really fly? What if it rises into the sky and then falls to the ground?"
"Don't worry," said the carpenter. "There is no chance of that ever happening."
The little prince kept pestering his father. Since the king doted on him and had never refused him anything, he got his way in the end. "But you can only try it out," said the king. "You must fly slowly and only loosen the first screw." Agreeing to this, the little prince mounted the horse. He loosened the first screw, and sure enough, the wooden horse rose into the air. He looked down and saw everything beneath him moving further away: the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the towns, the crowds of people. He was so delighted that he loosened one screw after another. The wooden horse flew faster and faster and soon crowds, trees, towns were all out of sight. As he flew, the little prince became hungry. He looked down and saw another city beneath him. He tightened the screws one by one. The wooden horse slowed down and gradually landed. The little prince had a meal and put up for the night at an inn. What fun! To arrive like this, in the twinkling of an eye, in a new town, a town he had never seen before!
The next day the little prince went sight-seeing. Having strolled along several streets, he found himself in a square filled with people gazing up into the sky. "There must be something fascinating up there in the sky," he thought. He elbowed his way into the crowd and looked up, but there was nothing to be seen.
"What are you looking at?" he asked a man beside him. The man gave him a scrutinizing glance and replied, "Our king has a princess. No one in the world can match her in beauty. The king loves her so much that he will not let anybody look at her. The princess used to live in the palace, but the king thought that she was not safe enough there, so he has had a mansion built in the sky and the princess lives there all by herself. Every day, when the court is dismissed, the king goes up to see her. He has been there for quite a long while and is expected to return at any moment. That's why everyone is here, waiting for him."
This sounded quite strange to the little prince.
"Surely it's impossible to build a palace in the sky?"
"The palace was built by an immortal, and only the king can go there," said the man.
The little prince bore these words in mind. That night he mounted his wooden horse and flew up into the sky, where sure enough, a magnificent palace greeted his eyes. He flew directly to the door, dismounted from his horse and walked in. Seeing a man come in, the princess at first took him for her father. When she discovered her mistake, she thought he must be a god come down from heaven and hurriedly stood up to greet him. "What a lovely young lady!" thought the prince. "What a handsome young man!" thought the princess. They fell in love at first sight and without knowing what they were doing, they walked up to each other and embraced.
The following morning the little prince returned to the inn on his horse, and later that day, the king came to the palace in the sky as usual. The first thing he did was to weigh the princess. He used to do this every day, for he knew that a woman would put on weight if she had touched a man. As he weighed her that day, he found the princess two pounds heavier than usual. He flew into a rage, he scowled and his beard stood on end. People were very puzzled that day because the king returned to his palace rather early. Seeing that he was in a bad mood, his courtiers came forward to ask what was troubling him. The king told them what had happened. "Who else can go up there but me?" he asked, and then added, "You must find me a way to arrest this man."
One of his courtiers made a suggestion, "We have four mighty warriors in our kingdom. Your Majesty can send them up to stand at the foot of the four walls of the palace. When the man turns up, they wil1 he sure to catch him." The king thought this an excellent idea. That evening he personally took the warriors up and showed them where to hide and keep watch. When everything was set, the king went down to his palace. But, unfortunately for his plans, the warriors were inveterate sleepy heads and soon fell asleep at their posts. The little prince came again and stayed with impunity until dawn.
When the king arrived and weighed the princess, he discovered that she had put on weight again. He was speechless with rage.
He called in another courtier for consultation. The courtier said, "Why not apply a coat of paint to the bed and chairs of the princess? Then tomorrow we can search the city and whoever has paint on his clothes is our man." The king followed his advice and had the princess' bed, chairs and all her other furniture painted. In the evening the little prince came again. On his way back, he noticed that his clothes were badly stained with paint, so he took them off and threw them away.
It so happened that in the town there lived a poor old man who got up before dawn every day and went from door to door waking people to go to mosque. While he was on his rounds that day, something dropped from the sky. He picked it up and found it to be a set of very fine clothes. "I have been serving Allah all my life and this must be my reward!" the old man thought to himself and took the clothes home.
That evening, when the whole town came to the mosque to pray, the king secretly sent his men to search for the suspect. The old man who was happily wearing his "reward from Allah" soon got into trouble. In the middle of the service, he was arrested and brought to the king. "Why are your clothes stained with paint?" the king questioned him. The old man answered, "I picked these clothes up off the ground and they were like this when I found them." The king didn't believe his story and sent him to prison to be interrogated under torture. Without much trouble, they managed to extract some sort of confession from him, and he was sentenced to death by hanging.
The whole town was abuzz with this affair, and everyone was curious to know what this man was like who had succeeded in getting into the palace in the sky. When they saw this old man being led to the scaffold, no one thought he could possibly have done it. They began to talk about the case, and all felt that he must have been falsely accused. When the news reached the ears of the little prince, his conscience drove him to intervene. Carrying the wooden horse under his arm, he dashed to the execution ground where the noose had already been tied around the man's neck.
"Don't hang him! He is innocent!" shouted the prince. "It is I who went to the palace in the sky. The paint-stained clothes are mine. If you want to hang someone, hang me and let him go!"
The king, who was watching from a distance, saw the execution come to a halt and sent someone to ask what had happened. The hangman told him, "A young man has just come forward and confessed the crime. Which of them should be hanged?"
"Hang the one who has pleaded guilty," ordered the king. So the old man was released and went home, thanking his lucky stars for this narrow escape. The little prince, meanwhile, just as the hangman came over to bind him for the hanging, mounted his wooden horse, loosened the screws and rose into the air before everyone's eyes. Seeing that all his men could not even deal with this one youth, the king fainted with rage.
The little prince arrived at the palace in the sky and said to the princess, "Our love is so deep that we can never part. Now that we have been detected by your father, I am sure he won't allow me to stay here any longer. There is only one way out. Come home with me. I know my father will like you."
The princess agreed and said, "Wherever you go, I will go too." The two hurried out of the palace in the sky and flew away on the wooden horse. They had been flying for a long time when the princess suddenly cried out, "I forgot to bring the two precious stones my mother gave me when I was a little girl. Let me go back and get them. I should like to give them to your parents at our wedding."
"We are already a long way from the palace," said the little prince. "Let's not bother with them now." But the princess insisted on going back, and in the end, the little prince had to give in. He tightened the screws and the wooden horse landed.
The prince said, "I'll wait for you here. Go to the palace on the wooden horse and come back as soon as you have collected the precious stones." The princess mounted the wooden horse and flew away.
Meanwhile, the king, who had been brought round by his courtiers, feared the worst for his daughter. He hurried up to the palace in the sky and, just as expected, found the place empty. He was at his wits' end when suddenly the princess arrived on the wooden horse. His men captured her and took her down to his palace, where they locked her up in an empty room. The wooden horse also fell into the hands of the king, but he had no idea how to use it and just stored it in another empty room.
Long before all this, there had been another king who, hearing of the beauty of the princess, had asked for her hand for his own son, only to be rejected by the princess' father. After this affair, however, it suited him to marry her to someone who lived a long way away, and he sent a message to this king, saying, "My daughter has reached the age of marriage, and I am therefore willing to marry her to your son. This will make our two families closely related and will bring an enduring peace to our two kingdoms. Please let your son come and take his bride."
But let us leave aside the king and his daughter and turn once more to the little prince.
He waited for a long time, but there was no sign of the princess. Looking around, he found himself in a boundless stretch of desert with towering sand dunes in every direction. The sand was blowing in the wind, the scorching sun was directly over head and there was not so much as a single blade of grass to be seen. Time passed, and he became hungry and thirsty. But when he rose to his feet and went in search of water, there was not a drop to be found. "I may be able to see something from the top of those dunes," he thought, but as he climbed, the shifting sand buried his feet, making every step a struggle. With great difficulty he finally reached the top. As he raised his head to look around, the sand underneath gave way like melting ice in spring. He slipped over and downward and when he came to a stop, he saw before him a lush orchard filled with all kinds of fruit trees. The ripe fruits, red and green, hung heavy on the trees. His mouth watered. He ran in, picked several peaches and began gobbling them up. He ate his fill of the sweet, juicy fruits and then fell asleep against a tree.
When he woke up, he felt his chin and found his whole face covered with a growth of beard. As he was wondering what had happened, he felt hungry again but did not dare to eat any more peaches. He suspected them of being the cause of his beard. Then he saw a pear tree. Pulling down a branch, he picked a few large succulent pears. The more he ate, the more delicious they tasted. When he was sated with the pears, he fell asleep again and did not wake till dusk. Stretching himself, he bumped his head against a tree. His head seemed heavier than usual and when he felt it, he discovered that he had grown a pair of thick horns and his chin was covered with a snowy white beard more than a foot long. "How terrible I look!" thought the little prince. "Even if the princess returns, she will never recognize me and will never love me again. What can I do?" The more he thought the more wretched he felt, and he burst into tears. After a while, exhausted with weeping, he fell into a deep sleep.
He dreamed that an old man came to see him. "My child, why are you so sad?" he asked, stroking the little prince's head. When the little prince told him what had happened, the old man said, "Don't worry. Go and pick up some of the dried peaches and pears that have fallen under the trees and eat them, then your beard and your horns will disappear. Leave quickly! This place is inhabited by demons. They are now asleep. When they awake, they will devour you."
The words startled the little prince from sleep. He rubbed his eyes. A cool breeze was blowing, carrying away with it the heat of the desert. Following the advice of the old man in his dream, he gathered a handful of dry peaches and a handful of dry pears and chewed them slowly. Sure enough, when he finished eating and felt his chin and head again, the beard and the horns had vanished. He pondered for a while. Then, breaking some willow twigs, he wove a basket and filled half of it with dry peaches and pears and half with fresh. He hurried from the demon's orchard.
He wanted to go home, but had no idea in which direction home lay. "The important thing is just to keep going!" he thought to himself. Everywhere he went, it was desert with no sign of human habitation. He had only the dry peaches and pears to allay his hunger and the vast desert to sleep on. He walked like this for seven days and nights and saw not even a bird, let alone a human being.
Finally he reached a highway. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat down by the roadside to rest.
Presently he saw a man driving a donkey along the road. From him the little prince learnt that his home lay to the east, while the kingdom of the princess lay to the west. "How can I go home now, having lost both the princess and the wooden horse?" he thought to himself. So he chose to go west along the road. As he was walking, he heard the sound of men shouting orders. A great cortege caught up with him. The men were in full armor, the horses likewise; it was a most impressive sight.
In the middle was a carriage intricately inlaid with gold, with glass windows on all four sides. Four elaborately caparisoned horses led the way. The little prince had stepped aside to watch, but to his surprise the carriage came to a halt in front of him and a man came up and asked him, "What are you selling?"
"Nothing," replied the little prince.
But the man pointed to his basket and said, "Aren't these peaches and pears? After a hard day's journey, our prince is thirsty and hungry. Please be so good as to sell us some of your fruit."
"This fruit is not for sale," said the little prince. "It is food for my journey. Can't you see that there is not even a blade of grass to be found on this road? Where can I find food to eat if I sell this to you?"
Meanwhile the prince inside the carriage was shouting to his men to hurry up. "Pay whatever he asks!" he cried, handing them out an ingot of gold.
"Where are you going?" inquired the little prince.
"Our master is on his way to his wedding," answered the men. "His bride is the princess in the town ahead." So saying, he pointed to the west. The little prince was shaken by the news, but he managed to maintain an unruffled appearance. After he had asked some more detailed questions and was sure that the bride was none other than the princess he loved, he accepted the gold, chose two especially red peaches and two especially big pears from his basket and handed them to the men.
The prince inside the carriage was delighted to have the fruit and devoured it ravenously. The cortege then continued on its way, and with the rocking of the carriage, the prince gradually fell asleep. When he awoke, he gave a great start and began crying out loud. His escort gathered around him to inquire what the matter was. When they looked inside the carriage, they saw no prince but a monster with a white beard on its chin and two horns on its head. They were panic stricken. The whole cortege came to a halt to wait for the fruit seller.
After a short while, when the little prince caught up with them, they stopped him and asked, "What kind of fruit did you sell our master?"
"Fruit that grows on trees."
"But why does he have a beard on his face and horns on his head after eating your fruit?"
The little prince saw the strange-looking creature in the carriage and felt inwardly delighted, but he concealed his feeling and calmly said in reply, "I've been eating them every day. Why has nothing happened to me?" There was nothing the courtiers could say to this.
How could the prince marry the princess now that he looked like a monster? They put their heads together to find a way out. "We'd better turn back," one of them suggested. "They'll definitely drive us out if we go." But the prince would rather die than go back.
Finally, his father's favorite courtier came up with an idea. "We must find a handsome young man and disguise him as the prince. If the princess falls for it and we manage to get her back to our kingdom, she'll be at our mercy." This plan was generally acclaimed and they began to look around for a likely candidate. In the end they agreed that the fruit-seller was the most handsome young man present, and they asked him to do the job.
Pretending to be coy, he said, "This is your affair. See to it yourself. I have my own business to attend to." The courtiers begged him again and again, offering him five golden ingots as reward.
"That's not enough," said the little prince.
"Seven then," said the courtiers. They told him to sit upright in the carriage, like a real prince. Their own master, the prince with the horns, was told to ride on a horse. They bound his head in a piece of cloth, put a veil over his face and advised him that once they were in the capital, he should hide indoors and not on any account let anyone see him. When everything was satisfactorily arranged, the cortege continued on its way. They arrived to find the king waiting for them outside the town gates. Seeing so handsome a son-in-law and so many betrothal gifts, the king was overjoyed. At the same time, he was very concerned that the marriage might be ruined if his daughter's story became known, so preparations for a four-day wedding banquet got under way immediately. The old were entertained outside while the young were asked to stay inside to wait on the prince and princess. The king's whole purpose was to keep the guests so busy that they would have no time to learn his shameful secret.
Throughout the first three days of the wedding, the princess did nothing but weep and kept her face veiled. She wouldn't even raise her head to look at the bridegroom for her heart was set on another -- the little prince, the only man she truly loved. When the fourth day came, the king was still worried and sent a trusted old woman to spy on the bridegroom and see whether he really loved the princess. That evening, at the banquet in the palace, the little prince sat beside the princess.
When no one was looking, he told her in a whisper, "It's me! I've come back!"
The princess immediately put aside her veil and glanced at him. "Heavens!" she thought to herself. "Is this a dream? What could be in father's mind to bring him back to me like this?"
Afraid that the princess might reveal his secret, the little prince whispered the whole story to her, telling her to act as if she knew nothing. While they were dancing together, they discussed how to escape. The little prince's idea was that after the wedding, when she was supposed to leave with him, she should ask her father for the wooden horse. She must tell him that she would never leave without it. "No matter how he threatens you, don't be afraid."
The old woman came to the king and reported, "The young couple are very fond of one another, Your Majesty. They have been dancing and singing together the whole evening." This pleased the king greatly.
The next day many distinguished guests gathered in front of the palace, waiting to see the princess off. The prince's men were also ready with their horses. But inside the palace the princess was still clinging onto her father and pestering him with her request for the wooden horse In a rage the king called in the hangman to threaten her with death, but the princess was not in the least afraid, saying that if she couldn't have the wooden horse, she would die.
The king was at his wits' end. When the distinguished guests, tired of waiting, came in to ask the reason for the delay, the king said to them, "The naughty thing! She is behaving just like a child. She has a wooden horse which she desperately wants to take with her."
Hearing this, the guests burst out laughing. "A toy! Why not let her take it with her?" The king felt too embarrassed to say anything. He took out the wooden horse and gave it to her and amid much pomp and ceremony the cortege left the capital.
The journey took them several days. During this time their escort attended to them with great devotion, never giving them one minute to themselves, which made it impossible for them to escape. As they were approaching their destination, the young couple became desperate. At the last moment, the little prince thought of a new ruse. He told the princess, "When we arrive at the palace gates, you must say that you will get out of the carriage on one condition only: they are to bring you seven plates piled high with gold. You must then scatter the gold on the ground for the people to pick up."
The princess followed his instructions carefully. As soon as she scattered the gold about, people stampeded to get it. Seizing this opportunity, the little prince helped the princess onto the wooden horse, loosened one screw, and in the twinkling of an eye they were up in the air. There was no mishap on their journey, and they landed safe and sound in the prince's home.
The king, the little prince's father, had been missing his lost son day and night. He blamed his disappearance on the carpenter and was about to put this unfortunate man to death. The carpenter had been nailed to the end of a bridge for three days and nights. The little prince, when he returned, saw the king and said to him, "Father, the carpenter's wooden horse has been of great service. Without it I would not have been able to see so many countries, find such a beautiful bride and come back to you again safe and sound. You should give the carpenter a handsome reward." The king listened with great shame and felt compelled to tell his son what he had done to the carpenter. He sent his men to the bridge at once. They found the carpenter still alive, untied him and brought him back to the palace.
The little prince personally took good care of the carpenter until his wounds were healed. Then he gave him a large sum of money to enable him to perfect his craft. The little prince and the princess held a second wedding, and in the course of time the prince succeeded to the throne.

Source: Favourite Folktales of China, translated by John Minford (Beijing: New World Press, 1983), pp. 101-121. No copyright notice.

Lake toba, north sumatera folk tales

2009-05-01T03:53:00.001+07:00

a long time ago, live an orphan farmer, he lived in the north side of Sumatra island in Indonesia. in that area was dry. the farmer lived by planting rice and fishing. one day, he caught a beautiful golden fish while he was fishing. when he held the fish, it turns into a beautiful lady. the lady was cursed caused she broke a rule. she'll turn out into human being, while he touched by someone.

Dazzled by her beauty, that farmer asked her to marry him, and the beautiful lady accepted with one condition, he must not tell to anyone that the beautiful lady was a fish. after a year, the farmer and the beautiful lady had a son, their son had a bad habit. he always eat. he ate everything.

one day, their son ate all his parent's food. the farmer was angry, and accidentally, he said that he was a son of a fish. therefore, he had broke his promise to his wife, not to tell anyone that beautiful lady was a fish.

the beautiful lady and her son suddenly astonished. the ground where they stand, sparge water. the water keep flooding, and come into a big lake. that lake named Lake Toba

Sangkuriang, Story of tangkuban prahu

2009-04-21T00:54:00.002+07:00

In the time when West Java was still thickly covered with woods and undergrowth and wonders existed, there reigned a king, named Raden Sungging Pebangkara. He was a good ruler and to convince himself of the welfare of his subjects, he used to visit them. But the thing he liked most was hunting in the forest.

It happened that in one of the forests the king often visited there lived a she-pig, actually a cursed goddess. One day, as it was very warm, she came out of her hiding place looking for water. There she saw a coconut-shell, filled with water. Glad to have found something and expecting it to be coconut-milk, she drank it at a draught, having no suspicions whatsoever that it was the King’s urine left there the day before when hunting. The consequence was very strange. She became pregnant. In a few months she gave birth to a very pretty girl. When the king was once again hunting in the forest, he saw the girl and, attracted by her beauty, he took her to his palace, called her Dayang Sumbi and treated her as his own daughter.

Time passed and Dayang Sumbi grew up into a fine young girl. She was fond of weaving and thus passed her time. One bright morning, as she was absorbed in weaving, her weaving-spool suddenly got loose. Before she could prevent it, it flew out of the window to the field below. It was out of her reach, as her room was about three stories high. Furthermore she was very tired and had no wish to descend the stairs to fetch the spool. Quite at ease, she mumbled: “Whoever is willing to help me pick up the spool, I’ll treat as my sister, if she is a girl. If he is a man, I’ll take him as my husband.” These words were overheard by a dog, called Tumang, who happened to come along. He immediately picked up the spool and brought it to Dayang Sumbi. Tumang was in fact a cursed god too, like the she-pig. Seeing the dog with the spool in his mouth, Dayang Sumbi fainted. The gods had decided her for her to undergo the same fate as her mother, the she-pig. She too become pregnant and a short time afterwards she gave birth to a strong healthy son, whom she called Sangkuriang.

Sangkuriang became a handsome young man, as time went by. Like his grandfather, he was fond of hunting in the forest and Tumang was his faithful friend when roaming the woods. He loved this creature very much; having no idea at all that it was his own father. One day while hunting, they came across a fat pig. Sangkuriang strung his bow and z-z-z-z-z-z-z! the arrow hissed towards the she-pig, and hit but did not kill her. Wounded, she vanished into the undergrowth.

“Come on, Tumang, run after her!” Sangkuriang shouted, eager to taste the pork. Tumang, however, did not move. Whatever Sangkuriang said to urge Tumang to pursue the pig, it left him unmoved. Sangkuriang lost his self control. In his anger he killed Tumang, cut up his flesh and took it home to his mother. She prepared a tasty dish of it and after the meal she asked:

“Sangkuriang, what kind of flesh is this? It is delicious!”

“This is Tumang’s, mother,” Sangkuriang responded. “I killed him, as he did not obey my command to pursue a fat pig.” For one moment Dayang Sumbi was speechless. Then in rage she took a spool and flung it at him. It struck his forehead and blood dropped out of the wound. This left later on a scar on the spot. Then Dayang Sumbi sent him away.

Deeply grieved, Sangkuriang left and wandered through the woods. He walked for years. Finally he returned to his native place, but did not recognize it any longer. There he stood, looking around him, all alone, musing about the past. At the end of a vast rice-field, which stretched in front of him, he noticed a house on stilts. Looking closely, he saw a young girl sitting at her weaving-loom. He approached her and, charmed by her beauty, he immediately proposed to her, unaware that she was his own mother. The girl looked at him and, noticing his good looks, she promised to marry him. For some time they loved each other tenderly, making plans for their wedding day, but one day she discovered the scar on his forehead.

“That wound!” she whispered, and at the moment she realized that he was no other than her own son who had come back to his village. After being left by Sangkuriang, Dayang Sumbi had been given eternal beauty by the gods, which was why she looked so young and Sangkuriang did not recognize her as his mother. She made efforts to make him understand that a marriage between them was impossible and withdrew her promise to marry him. But Sangkuriang refused to accept the truth and was determined to get his own way. Dayang Sumbi was very sad, as she was ashamed to reveal her secret.

“What is to be done?” she pondered. She had an idea and said to him: “All right then, you shall marry me only on condition that you fulfill a wish of mine. Dam up the Citarum River and build a big vessel, which we shall use after being married. But you have only one night to complete the work.” Sangkuriang agreed and started to work. Only at daybreak did he approach the end, in spite of his magic powers and his prayers to the gods for help. Noticing this, Dayang Sumbi got alarmed and hit upon another plan to prevent the marriage. She stretched the red woven veil which covered her head over the eastern side of the plain. Through her magic powers, red light spread over the landscape, giving the impression that the sun was rising, which meant that time was up for Sangkuriang. He was astonished.

“In vain!” he shouted in despair and at the same time, filled with rage; he kicked the vessel, which was almost finished, upside-down. Then he made for the south, for the Indian Ocean. He had not gone very far when the water of the lake rose and overflowed its banks, dragging everything in its way. Sangkuriang himself had no chance of escape and with all his workers he was driven away. Sometime later the lake dried up. The mountain of Tangkuban Prahu on the northern side of Bandung is thought to be the overturned vessel of Sangkuriang. In time it became covered with trees and the lake became the present fertile rice-fields around Bandung area, every year yielding great benefits for all the people.

*taken from "Folk Tales from Indonesia" by Aman, S.D.B.

The Frog Who Became an Emperor

2009-04-21T00:37:00.002+07:00

Once upon a time there lived a very poor couple. A baby was on the way when the husband was forced to leave his home to find a living somewhere far away. Before he left, he embraced his wife fondly and gave her the last few silver pieces he had, saying, "When the child is born, be it a boy or a girl, you must do all you can to bring it up. You and I are so poor that there is no hope for us now. But our child may be able to help us find a living."

Three months after her husband's departure, the wife gave birth. The baby was neither a boy nor a little girl, but a frog!

The poor mother was heart-broken, and wept bitterly. "Ah, an animal, not a child!" she cried. "Our hopes for someone to care for us in our old age are gone! How can I ever face people again!" She thought at first she would do away with him, but she did not have the heart to do so. She wanted to bring him up, but was afraid of what the neighbors would say.

As she brooded over the matter, she remembered her husband's words before he went away, and she decided not to kill the child but always keep him hidden under the bed. In this way, no one knew she had given birth to a frog-child. But within two months, the frog-child had grown so big that he could no longer be kept under the bed. And one day, he suddenly spoke in a human voice.

"Mother," he said, "my father is coming back tonight. I am going to wait for him beside the road." And sure enough, the husband did come home that very night.

"Have you seen your son?" the wife asked anxiously.

"Where? Where is my son?"

"He was waiting for you by the side of the road. Didn't you see him?"

"No! I saw no sign of anyone," her husband answered, surprised. "All I saw was an awful frog which gave me such a fright."

"That frog was your son," said the wife unhappily.

When the husband heard that his wife had given birth to a frog, he was grieved. "Why did you tell him to meet me?" he said.

"What do you mean, tell him to meet you? He went without any telling from me. He suddenly said you were coming tonight and went out to meet you."

"This is really extraordinary," thought the husband, brightening up. "No one knew I was coming. How could he have known?"

"Call him home, quickly," he said aloud. "He might catch cold outside."

Just as the mother opened the door to do so, the frog came in. He hopped over to his father, who asked him, "Was it you I met on the road?"

"Yes," said the frog. "I was waiting for you, Father."

"How did you know I was coming back tonight?"

"I know everything under heaven."

The father and mother were amazed by his words and more amazed when he went on.

"Our country is in great peril," he said solemnly. "We are unable to resist the invaders. I want Father to take me to the emperor, for I must save our country."

"How can that be?" said the father. "Firstly, you have no horse. Secondly, you have no weapons, and thirdly, you have never been on a battlefield. How, then, do you propose to fight?"

The frog was very much in earnest. "Only take me there," he pleaded. "I'll defeat the enemy, never fear."

The father could not dissuade the frog, so he took his frog-son to the city to seek an audience with the emperor. After two days' journey, they arrived at the capital, where they saw the imperial decree displayed!

"The imperial capital is in danger. My country has been invaded. We are willing to marry our daughter to the man who can drive away the enemy."

The frog tore down the decree and with one gulp swallowed it. The soldier guarding the imperial decree was greatly alarmed. He could hardly imagine a frog accepting such a responsible duty. However, since the frog had swallowed the decree, he must be taken into the palace.

The emperor asked the frog if he had the means and ability to defeat the enemy. The frog replied, "Yes, Lord." Then the emperor asked him how many men and horses he would need.

"Not a single horse or a single man," answered the frog. "All I need is a heap of hot, glowing embers."

The emperor immediately commanded that a heap of hot, glowing embers be brought, and it was done. The heat was intense. The frog sat before the fire devouring the flames by the mouthful for three days and three nights. He ate till his belly was as big and round as a bladder full of fat. By now the city was in great danger, for the enemy was already at the walls. The emperor was terribly apprehensive, but the frog behaved as if nothing unusual was happening, and calmly went on swallowing fire and flame. Only after the third day had passed did he go to the top of the city wall and look at the situation. There, ringing the city, were thousands of soldiers and horses, as far as the eye could see.

"How, frog, are you going to drive back the enemy?" asked the emperor.

"Order your troops to stop plying their bows," replied the frog, "and open the city gate."

The emperor turned pale with alarm when he heard these words.

"What! With the enemy at our very door! You tell me to open the gate! How dare you trifle with me?"

"Your Imperial Highness has bidden me to drive the enemy away," said the frog. "And that being so, you must heed my words."

The emperor was helpless. He ordered the soldiers to stop bending their bows and lay down their arrows and throw open the gate.

As soon as the gate was open, the invaders poured in. The frog was above them in the gate tower and, as they passed underneath, he coolly and calmly spat fire down on them, searing countless men and horses. They fled back in disorder.

The emperor was overjoyed when he saw that the enemy was defeated. He made the frog a general and ordered that the victory should be celebrated for several days. But of the princess he said nothing, for he had not the slightest intention of letting his daughter marry a frog.

"Of course I cannot do such a thing!" he said to himself. Instead, he let it be known that it was the princess who refused. She must marry someone else, but whom? He did not know what to do. Anyone but a frog! Finally he ordained that her marriage should be decided by casting the Embroidered Ball.

Casting the Embroidered Ball! The news spread immediately throughout the whole country and within a few days the city was in a turmoil. Men from far and wide came to try their luck, and all manner of people flocked to the capital. The day came. The frog was present. He did not push his way into the mob but stood at the very edge of the crowded square.

A gaily festooned pavilion of a great height had been built. The emperor led the princess and her train of maids to their seats high up on the stand.

The moment arrived. The princess tossed the Embroidered Ball into the air, and down it gently floated. The masses in the square surged and roared like a raging sea. As one and all stretched eager hands to clutch the ball, the frog drew in a mighty breath and, like a whirling tornado, sucked the ball straight to him.

Now, surely, the princess will have to marry the frog! But the emperor was still unwilling to let this happen.

"An Embroidered Ball cast by a princess," he declared, "can only be seized by a human hand. No beast may do so."

He told the princess to throw down a second ball.

This time a young, stalwart fellow caught the ball.

"This is the man!" cried the happy emperor. "Here is the person fit to be my imperial son-in-law."

A sumptuous feast was set to celebrate the occasion.

Can you guess who that young, stalwart fellow was? Of course it was the frog, now in the guise of a man.

Not till he was married to the princess did he change back again. By day he was a frog but at night he stripped off his green skin and was transformed into a fine, upstanding youth.

The princess could not keep it a secret and one day revealed it to her father, the emperor. He was startled but happy.

"At night," he said to his son-in-law, "you discard your outer garment, I hear, and become a handsome young man. Why do you wear that horrid frog-skin in the day?"

"Ah, Sire," replied the frog, "this outer garment is priceless. When I wear it in winter, I am warm and cozy; and in summer, cool and fresh. It is proof against wind and rain. Not even the fiercest flame can set it alight. And as long as I wear it, I can live for thousands of years."

"Let me try it on!" demanded the emperor.

"Yes, Sire," replied the frog and made haste to discard his skin.

The emperor smiled gleefully. He took off his dragon-embroidered robe and put on the frog-skin. But then he could not take it off again!

The frog put on the imperial robe and became the emperor. His father-in-law remained a frog forever.

* Source: Folk Tales from China, third series (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1958), pp. 74-82. No copyright notice. Slightly abridged.

Seeking Her Husband at the Great Wall

2009-04-21T00:33:00.000+07:00

A little over two hundred years before our era, the first emperor of the Chin dynasty ascended the throne under the name of Shih Huang. This emperor was very cruel towards his subjects, forcing people from every part of the country to come and build the Great Wall to protect his empire. Work never stopped, day or night, with the people carrying heavy loads of earth and bricks under the overseers' whips, lashes, and curses. They received very little food; the clothes they wore were threadbare. So it was scarcely to be wondered at that large numbers of them died every day.

There was a young man, named Wan Hsi-liang, among those who had been pressed into the service of building Emperor Shih Huang's Great Wall. This Wan Hsi-liang had a beautiful and virtuous wife, whose name was Meng Chiang-nu. For a long, long time after her husband was forced to leave her, Meng Chiang-nu had no news of him, and it saddened her to think what he must be suffering, toiling for the accursed emperor. Her hatred of the wicked ruler grew apace with her longing for the husband he had torn from her side. One spring, when the flowers were in bloom and the trees budding, when the grass was a lush green, and the swallows were flying in pairs in the sky, her sorrow seemed to deepen as she walked in the fields, so she sang:

In March the peach is blossom-dressed;
Swallows, mating, build their nest.
Two by two they gaily fly....
Left all alone, how sad am I!

But even when autumn came round, there still was no news about Wan Hsi-liang. It was rumored that the Great Wall was in building somewhere way up north where it was so cold that one would hardly dare stick one's hands out of one's sleeves. When Meng Chiang-nu heard this, she hurriedly made cotton-padded clothes and shoes for her husband. But who should take these to him when it was such a long way to the Great Wall? Pondering the matter over and over, she finally decided she would take the clothes and shoes to Wan Hsi-liang herself.

It was rather cold when she started out. The leaves had fallen from the trees and, as the harvest had been gathered in, the fields were empty and forlornly dismal. It was very lonely for Meng Chiang-nu to walk all by herself, especially since she had never been away from home in her life, and did not know the way and had to ask for directions every now and then.

One evening she failed to reach a town she was going to, so she put up for the night in a little temple in a grove beside the road. Having walked the whole day, she was very tired and fell asleep as soon as she lay down on a stone table. She dreamed her husband was coming towards her, and a feeling of great happiness enveloped her. But then he told her that he had died, and she cried bitterly. When she woke up in the morning, she was overwhelmed by doubts and sadness as she remembered this dream. With curses on the emperor who had torn so many families asunder, Meng Chiang-nu continued on her way.

One day, she came to a small inn by the side of the hilly road. The inn was kept by an old woman who, when she saw Meng Chiang-nu's hot face and dusty clothes, asked where she was going. When Meng Chiang-nu told her, she was deeply moved.

"Aya!" she sighed, "the Great Wall is still far away from here, there are mountains and rivers to cross before you. How can a weak young woman like yourself get there?" But Meng Chiang-nu told the old woman she was determined to get the clothes and shoes to her husband, no matter what the difficulty. The old woman was as much touched by the younger one's willpower as she was concerned about her safety. The next day she accompanied Meng Chiang-nu over a distance to show her sympathy.

And so, Meng Chiang-nu walked on and on and on till, one day, she came to a deep valley between the mountains. The sky was overcast with gray clouds, a strong wind was blowing that chilled the air. She walked quite a long time through the valley without, however, finding a single house. All she could see were weeds, brambles and rocks. It was getting so dark that she could no longer see the road. At the foot of the mountains there was a river, running with water of a murky color. Where should she go? Being at her wit's end, she decided to spend the night among some bushes. As she had not eaten anything for the whole day, she shivered all the more violently in the cold. Thinking of how her husband must be suffering in this icy cold weather, her heart contracted with a pain as sharp as a knife. When Meng Chiang-nu opened her eyes the next morning, she found to her amazement the whole valley and her own body covered with a blanket of snow. How was she to continue her travel?

While she was still quite at a loss as to what to do, a crow suddenly alighted before her. It cawed twice and flew on a short distance, then sat down again in front of her and cawed again twice. Meng Chiang-nu decided that the bird was inviting her to follow its direction and so she resumed her travel, a little cheered because of the company of this living thing, and she began to sing as she walked along:

Thick and fast swirl round the winter snows:
I, Meng Chiang-nu, trudge, bearing winter clothes,
A starveling crow, alas, my only guide,
The Great Wall far, and I far from his side!

Thus she walked past mountain ranges, crossing big rivers as well as small streams.

And thus many a dreary day had passed before she at last reached the Great Wall. How excited she was when she caught sight of it, meandering like a huge serpent over the mountains before her. The wind was piercingly cold and the bare mountains were covered with dry grass only, without a single tree anywhere. Clusters of people were huddling against the Great Wall; these were the people who had been driven here to build it.

Meng Chiang-nu walked along the Great Wall, trying to find her husband among those who were toiling here. She asked after her husband, but nobody knew anything about him, so she had to go on and on inquiring.... She saw what sallow faces the toilers had, their cheekbones protruding through the skin, and she saw many dead lying about, without anybody paying any attention. Her anguish over her husband's unknown fate increased, so that she shed many bitter tears as she continued her search.

At last she learned the sad truth. Her husband had died long ago because of the unbearably hard toil, and his body had been put underground where he fell, under the Great Wall. Hearing this tragic news, Meng Chiang-nu fell into a swoon. Some of the builders tried to revive her, but it was a long while before she regained consciousness. When she did, she burst into a flood of tears, for several days on end, so that many of the toilers wept with her. So bitter was her lament that, suddenly, a length of over two hundred miles of the Great Wall came crumbling down, while a violent storm made the sand and bricks whirl about in the air.

"It was Meng Chiang-nu who, by her tears, caused the Great Wall to crumble!" the people along the edifice told one another with amazement, at the same time filled with hatred of the cruel emperor, who caused nothing but misery to his subjects.

When the emperor heard how Meng Chiang-nu had brought part of his Great Wall down, he immediately went to see for himself what sort of person she was. He found that she was as beautiful as a fairy, so he asked her to become his concubine. Meng Chiang-nu who hated him so deeply for his cruel ways would, of course, not consent to this. But she felt a ruse would serve her purpose better than frankness, so she answered amiably: "Yes, I will, if you do three things for me." The emperor then asked what these three things were and Meng Chiang-nu said: "The first is that you bury my husband in a golden coffin with a silver lid on it; the second is that all your ministers and generals go into mourning for my husband and attend his funeral; the third is that you attend his funeral yourself, wearing deep mourning as his son would do." Being so taken with her beauty, the emperor consented to her requests at once. Everything was, therefore, arranged accordingly. In funeral procession, Emperor Shih Huang walked closely behind the coffin, while a cortege of all his courtiers and generals followed him. The emperor anticipated happily the enjoyment the beautiful, new concubine would give him.

But Meng Chiang-nu, when she saw her husband properly buried, kowtowed before his tomb in homage to the deceased, crying bitterly for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, she jumped into the river that flowed close by the tomb. The emperor was infuriated at being thwarted in his desires. He ordered his attendants to pull her out of the water again. But before they could seize her, Meng Chiang-nu had turned into a beautiful, silvery fish and swam gracefully out of sight, deep down into the green-blue water.

* Source: Folk Tales from China, first series (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1957), pp. 90-98. Translated by Chou Chia-tsan. No copyright notice.

The White Duck

2009-04-21T00:16:00.002+07:00

There was once a prince who married a most beautiful princess, but he had not yet had time to feast his eyes on her to his heart's content or to have enough of talking to and listening to her when the time came for them to part, for he had to go on a far journey. What was to be done! The princess wept and the prince, who kept begging her not to, bade her, since he was leaving her with strangers. never to leave her chambers, to avoid the company of wicked people and to close her ears to wicked talk. This the princess promised to do, and as soon as the prince had gone, she locked herself in her chamber.

One day a woman, who seemed a simple and kindly soul enough, came to see the princess. "Why should you eat your heart out!" said she. "Why don't you at least go out for a walk in the garden and have a breath of fresh air?" At first the princess would not hear of it, but then, telling herself that a walk in the garden could do her no harm, she went outside. Now. in the garden was a stream with the freshest, clearest spring water ever seen. "It's very hot today," the woman said, "and the water is nice and cool. So why don't you take a dip?" "No, no, I can't do that!" the princess said, but then she took off her gown and stepped into the water. And the woman at once struck her on the back, and saying "Be a white duck and swim in the water!", turned her into a white duck.

After that the witch, for that was what the woman was. took the princess's shape, put on the princess's gown, combed her hair, painted her cheeks and brows and sat down to wait for the prince. By and by a pup yelped, a bell tinkled, and there was the prince at the gate! The witch rushed out to meet him, she embraced and kissed him, and the prince, who was overcome with joy, pressed her to his heart.

And as for the white duck, she laid three eggs, and out of them three babies were hatched, three boys, two of them fine, sturdy little lads, and the third, a tiny little thing. Their mother took good care of them and they grew quickly and were soon splashing about and catching fish, which now became their favourite dish, jumping out on the bank for a look at the lea, a place which they found very pleasant to see, and were nothing loath to make shirts of cloth. "Don't go far, children!" the mother said. But the three boys would not listen to her and with each passing day went farther away. One day they wandered even farther away than usual and found themselves in the prince's courtyard. The witch knew at once who they were and gnashed her teeth in anger. She got them to come inside, gave them food and drink and put them to bed, and then ordered fires to be kindled, kettles to be hung and knives sharpened. The two bigger lads lay down and fell fast asleep, but the third, the tiny one, whom one or the other of them kept always in his bosom lest he catch cold, did not sleep and saw and heard everything. In the middle of the night the witch came to the door of their chamber and called: "Are you asleep, my little ones?" And Tiny called back:

"We cannot sleep for the thoughts that chill us;
We dare not sleep, for they mean to kill us-
Fires are being kindled.
Kettles are being hung,
Knives are being sharpened!"

"They're not asleep!" the witch told herself. She went away, took a walk and then came back to the door of their chamber again. "Are you asleep, my little ones?" she called. But Tiny called back again:

"We cannot sleep for the thoughts that chill us;
We dare not sleep, for they mean to kill us-
Fires are being kindled,
Kettles are being hung,
Knives are being sharpened!"

"Why is it that one and the same voice answers me?" thought the witch. She opened the door quietly, and, seeing that the two brothers were sound asleep, passed a dead man's hand cut off at the wrist over them so that they might never wake.

In the morning the white duck called to her children, but they did not reply, and her heart told her that evil had befallen them. She flew to the prince's court-yard, and there were her sons, their faces white as snow and their bodies cold as ice, lying side by side. She rushed to them, her wings outspread, and called out in a human voice:

"Quack-quack, my sons,
"Quack-quack, my beloved ones,
In want I reared you,
With tears I suckled you,

You slept-1 lay sleepless.
You ate-1 went hungry."

"Did you ever hear the like. Wife?" the prince asked. "The duck is speaking in a human voice." "It only seems so to you," the witch told him. "Ho there, all! Drive the duck out of the yard!" The servants chased the duck away, but it flew round and round and dropped down beside her children again.

"Quack-quack, my sons.
Quack-quack, my beloved ones!"

she called again.

"The witch it was that put you to sleep,
The witch it was with her wicked ways,
For a snake is she and a deadly one...
From you she took your father own,
Your father own and my own dear spouse;
She drowned us all in the river swift,
She turned us all into white-winged ducks,
And herself she lives like a princess true!"

"Ah, so that is the truth of it!" said the prince, and he called to his servants telling them to catch the duck. They rushed to do his bidding, but the duck flew round and round and would not be caught. But when the prince went after her himself she came down of her own free will and dropped into his hands. He took her by the wing and said: "Rise behind me, a white birch! Stand before me, a fair maid!"

And lo!-a white birch rose behind him and a fair maid stood in front of him, and she was none other but his own dear wife.

They then caught a magpie, and, tying two phials to its wings, bade it fill one with living water and the other with talking water. Away flew the magpie and was soon back with the living and the talking water. They sprinkled their sons with the living water, and the lads started and came back to life; they sprinkled them with the talking water, and they began talking and laughing.

And so now the prince has his whole family with him, and they never had cause to shed a tear and prospered the more from year to year. Never more to return was the evil past, and they could be happy together at last. And as for the witch, she was tied to a horse's tail and the horse sent across a field. Where the witch's leg came off, there a poker appeared; where her arm was severed, there lay a rake; where her head rolled down, there a burdock grew up. The birds came flying up, and they pecked the flesh; the winds swept up, and they bore off the bones. And nothing was left of the wicked witch, neither trace nor word nor memory.

Stories From http://russian-crafts.com/tales/whiteduck.html

Cowgirl kate and cocoa : Rain or Shine

2009-04-18T05:33:00.003+07:00

The lovable duo of Cowgirl Kate and her horse, Cocoa, are back - this time for some fun (and not-so-fun) adventures in the rain.

Cocoa isn't so sure about being outside during a thunderstorm, even if the thought of racing the wind sounds exciting. He may just get his chance, though - on the way back to the safety of the barn! Pretending to have a cold might give Cocoa an idea of what a sick cow would feel like, but missing out on timothy grass, apples, and corn is not appealing. When it comes to wearing a rain sheet, Cocoa isn't much for the idea. It looks silly, and besides, prancing in the puddles is so much fun! Until you're dripping wet and shivering, that is. After the rain, the air is fresh, the grass is sweet, and the joy of chasing the pot of oats at the end of the rainbow can't be beat.

want to know more about the adventure of these two cowgirl, buy from amazon

Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog

2009-04-16T06:21:00.003+07:00

it's a story about Hachiko, a large Akita dog that was owned and loved by its master, Dr. Ueno. Through the eyes of a small boy we see the dog return to the railroad station every day to wait for Dr. Ueno when he steps off the train from work.
The boy loves the dog but is content to simply pet and hug it at the station. One day, the boy hears terrible news. Dr. Ueno has passed away, and naturally the boy's first question is, "What will happen to Hachiko?".
Some kind relatives attempt to take the dog in, but to their surprise Hachiko continues to wait at the station every day for his lost master. For almost ten years, faithful Hachiko would wait for Dr. Ueno to come home.
No one knows the dog's motivation, or if it really understood what it was waiting for. After its death, however, the people of the town raised the money to create a large bronze statue of the pup in its honor. A replica of that statue stands in the Shibuya Station of Tokyo to this day.

Buy & read the whole story at amazon

The Two Frogs

2009-04-12T08:14:00.002+07:00

Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the city of Kyoto. At such a great distance apart, they had never even heard of each other; but, funnily enough, the idea came into both their heads at once that they should like to see a little of the world, and the frog who lived at Kyoto wanted to visit Osaka, and the frog who lived at Osaka wished to go to Kyoto, where the great Mikado had his palace.

So one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that led from Kyoto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the other. The journey was more tiring than they expected, for they did not know much about traveling, and halfway between the two towns there arose a mountain which had to be climbed. It took them a long time and a great many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and what was the surprise of each to see another frog before him!

They looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation, explaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. It was delightful to find that they both felt the same wish--to learn a little more of their native country--and as there was no sort of hurry they stretched themselves out in a cool, damp place, and agreed that they would have a good rest before they parted to go their ways.

"What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog; "for then we could see both towns from here, and tell if it is worth our while going on."

"Oh, that is easily managed," returned the Kyoto frog. "We have only got to stand up on our hind legs, and hold onto each other, and then we can each look at the town he is traveling to."

This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. There they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could, and holding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down. The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his nose towards Kyoto; but the foolish things forgot that when they stood up their great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their noses might point to the places to which they wanted to go, their eyes beheld the places from which they had come.

"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog, "Kyoto is exactly like Osaka. It is certainly not worth such a long journey. I shall go home!"

"If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kyoto I should never have traveled all this way," exclaimed the frog from Kyoto, and as he spoke he took his hands from his friend's shoulders, and they both fell down on the grass. Then they took a polite farewell of each other, and set off for home again, and to the end of their lives they believed that Osaka and Kyoto, which are as different to look at as two towns can be, were as alike as two peas.

* Source: Andrew Lang, The Violet Fairy Book (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1901), pp. 125-126.

365 Bed Time Stories

2009-04-03T05:41:00.006+07:00

Are you parents that always read stories for your children before they go to sleep? Are you tired of reading the same topic and the same book time after time? and you need a book designed for children from ages 2 to 10 years old?

365 Bed Time stories, Arranged as a lively journey through the year, 365 Bedtime Stories includes stories for every mood, occasion, and day of the year. There are stories celebrating the New Year, beginnings and second chances, myths about the arrival of spring, foolhardy stories for April, tales of independence for July, spooky tales for October nights, soothing tales for difficult days, tales of gratitude and thanksgiving, and miracles for the year end. Although each story is designed to be read aloud, the charming drawings and sidebars on storytelling that accompany them are likely to inspire both readers and listeners to add their own imaginative embellishments along the way.

This book will show children great stories with meaning to them.They will ask for you to read it every night after the first story.It is an adorable, non-violent, family book for all children.

A charming way to spend a quality moment with your young child every day for a year. Where else will you find something that gives you the chance to spend a magical moment with a child EVERY DAY?

Talaga Warna; Folk tales from Indonesia

2009-04-02T05:40:00.002+07:00

Long long ago there was a kingdom in West Java. The kingdom was ruled by a king. People called their king His Majesty Prabu. Prabu was a kind and wise king. No wonder if that country was prosperous. There's no hunger in this kingdom.

It was a very happy condition. But it was a pity that Prabu and his queen hadn't got any children. It made the royal couple very very sad. Some old men and women who was respected by Prabu suggested the king to adopt a child. But Prabu and the queen didn't agree. "No, thank you. But for us, our own daughter or son is better than adopted children."

The queen was very sad. She often cried. That was why Prabu decided to go. He went to the jungle. There he prayed to God. Everyday he begged for a child. His dream come true. A few months later, the queen got fregnant. All people in the kingdom felt happy. They sent many presents to the palace to express their happiness.

Nine months later a princess was born. People sent their presents again as a gift to a little princess. This baby grew as a beautiful teenager then.

Prabu and Queen loved their daughter so much. They gave what ever she wanted. It made Princess a very spoiled girl. When her wish couldn't be realized, she became very angry. She even said bad things often. A true princess wouldn't do that. Eventhough the princess behaved badly, her parents loved her, so did the people in that kingdom.

Day by day, the princess grew more beautiful. No girls couldn't compare with her. In a few days, Princess would be 17 years old. So, people of that kingdom went to palace. They brought many presents for her. Their presents gift were very beautiful. Prabu collected the presents. There were really many presents. Then Prabu stored them in a building. Some times he could take them to give to his people.

Prabu only took some gold and jewels. Then she brought them to the goldsmith. "Please make a beautiful necklace for my daughter," said Prabu. "My pleasure, Your Majesty," the goldsmith replied. The goldsmith worked with all his heart and his ability. He wanted to create the most beautiful necklace in the world because he loved his princess.

The birthday came. People gathered in the palace field. When Prabu and queen appeared, people welcomed them happily. Prabu and his wife waved to their beloved people.

Cheers were louder and louder when the princess appeared with her fabulous pretty face. Everybody admired her beauty. Prabu got up from his chair. A lady gave him a small and glamourous pillow. A wonderful necklace was on it. Prabu took that necklace. "My beloved daughter, today I give this necklace to you. This necklace is a gift from people in this country. They love you so much. They presented it for you to express their happiness, because you have growing to a woman. Please, wear this necklace," said Prabu.

Princess accepted the necklace. She looked at the necklace in a glance. "I don't want to accepted it! It's ugly!" shouted the princess. Then she threw the necklace. The beautiful necklace was broken. The gold and jewels were spread out on the floor

Everybody couldn't say anything. They never thought that their beloved princess would did that cruel thing. Nobody spoke. In their silence people heard the queen crying. Every woman felt sad and began crying too. Then everybody was crying.

Then there was a miracle. Earth was crying. Suddenly, from the under ground, a spring emerged. It made a pool of water. The palce was getting full. Soon the place became a big lake. The lake sank all of the kingdom.

Nowadays the water on that lake is not as full as before. There is only a small lake now. People called the lake "Talaga Warna". It is mean "Lake of Colour". It's located in Puncak, West Java. On a bright day, the lake is full of colour. So beautiful and amazing. These colors come from shadows of forest, plants, flowers, and sky arround the lake. But some people said that the colours are from the princess's necklace, which spreads at the bottom of the lake.

retold by Renny Yaniar

Cinderella

2009-04-02T05:19:00.003+07:00

Once upon a time there lived an unhappy young girl. Her mother was dead and her father had married a widow with two daughters. Her stepmother didn't like her one little bit. All her kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. Nothing was too good for them - dresses, shoes, delicious food, soft beds, and every home comfort. But, for the poor unhappy girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters’ hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No rest and no comfort. She had to work hard all day. Only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That’s why everybody called her Cinderella.

Cinderella used to spend long hours all alone talking to the cat. The cat said, “Miaow“, which really meant, “Cheer up! You have something neither of your stepsisters has and that is beauty.” It was quite true. Cinderella, even dressed in old rags, was a lovely girl. While her stepsisters, no matter how splendid and elegant their clothes, were still clumsy, lumpy and ugly and always would be.

One day, beautiful new dresses arrived at the house. A ball was to be held at the palace and the stepsisters were getting ready to go. Cinderella didn't even dare ask if she could go too. She knew very well what the answer would be: “You? You're staying at home to wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters.” They will come home tired and very sleepy. Cinderella sighed, “Oh dear, I'm so unhappy!” and the cat murmured “Miaow.”

Suddenly something amazing happened. As Cinderella was sitting all alone, there was a burst of light and a fairy appeared. “Don't be alarmed, Cinderella,” said the fairy. “I know you would love to go to the ball. And so you shall!” “How can I, dressed in rags?” Cinderella replied. “The servants will turn me away!”

The fairy smiled. With a flick of her magic wand Cinderella found herself wearing the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. “Now for your coach,” said the fairy; "A real lady would never go to a ball on foot! Quick! Get me a pumpkin!” “Oh of course,” said Cinderella, rushing away. Then the fairy turned to the cat. “You, bring me seven mice, and, remember they must be alive!”

Cinderella soon returned with the pumpkin and the cat with seven mice he had caught in the cellar. With a flick of the magic wand the pumpkin turned into a sparkling coach and the mice became six white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman in a smart uniform and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe her eyes.

“You shall go to the ball Cinderella. But remember! You must leave at midnight. That is when my spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin and the horses will become mice again. You will be dressed in rags and wearing clogs instead of these glass slippers! Do you understand?” Cinderella smiled and said, “Yes, I understand!”

Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball until she heard the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what the fairy had said, and without a word of goodbye she slipped from the Prince’s arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound... oh... what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night.

The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked up the slipper and said to his ministers, “Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!” So the ministers tried the slipper on the foot of every girl in the land until only Cinderella was left.

“That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball,” snapped the stepmother. “Tell the Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can't you see how ugly Cinderella is?”

But, to everyone’s amazement, the shoe fitted perfectly.

Suddenly the fairy appeared and waved her magic wand. In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a splendid dress, shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters gaped at her in amazement, and the ministers said, “Come with us Cinderella! The Prince is waiting for you.“

So Cinderella married the Prince and lived happily ever. As for the cat, he just said “Miaow!”