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Myths and folk tales

  • Author:
    Anonymous
    Summary:

    Furious at being cuckolded, a sultan beds a new virgin each night, then murders each before she can betray him. Only Scheherazade finds a way to keep herself alive: for 1,001 nights she tells the sultan a series of enchanting stories, always timing it so that dawn rises at a moment of nail-biting uncertainty.

  • Author:
    Illuitok, Levi
    Summary:

    In this faithful retelling of a traditional story from the Kugaaruk region, told by Elder Levi Illuitok, a father must save his infant child from an amajurjuk, an ogress known to steal children. When the ogress takes advantage of the child's mother being blind to trick her into giving away her child, the child's father embarks on a quest to save his infant from certain death.

  • Author:
    Coelho, Paulo
    Summary:

    This is the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy who dreams of travelling the world in search of a worldly treasure. From his home in Spain, he journeys to Tangiers, and from there into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him.

  • Author:
    Bulfinch, Thomas
    Summary:

    Presents the final two sections: the Age of Heroes, and the Iron Age.

  • Author:
    Bulfinch, Thomas
    Summary:

    Presents the first three sections: the Ages of Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

  • Author:
    Bulfinch, Thomas
    Summary:

    Bulfinch's masterpiece of history and fable recounts the tales of Arthur and the Round Table and how the Arthurian legend has metamorphosed from medieval Welsh texts through French romances to obscure British histories. This book not only tells the King Arthur tales but also explains the historical events and the mindset of the people during this time period.

  • Author:
    Bar-el, Dan
    Summary:

    Libby Gaborchik, a highly unusual fairy, helps Marvin, a poor peasant, win the hand of the beautiful but love-starved Princess Vera.

  • Author:
    Umezawa, Rui, Fujita, Mikiko
    Summary:

    A bitterly jealous brother, a samurai who makes the ultimate sacrifice, a cold-hearted husband, a monk who mistakes desire for piety, a fraudulent merchant who meets his match in a supernatural river otter — the motives underlying these traditional Japanese folktale characters are explored with haunting results. Prompted by the sometimes illogical and perplexing actions of folktale characters (Why doesn’t the wolf kill Little Red Riding Hood right away?), master storyteller Rui Umezawa revisits eight popular Japanese folktales, delving beneath their sometimes baffling plot lines to highlight the psychological motivations behind the characters’ actions. In “Betrayal,” a treacherous husband poisons his wife so he can marry another woman. In “Paradise,” a young man saves the life of a sea turtle, who takes him to a luxurious underwater palace, where his every whim is fulfilled. A brother in “Rage” is consumed by jealousy when his brother’s dog digs up a cache of gold. In “Honor,” a samurai kills himself to keep a promise made to his blood brother.Tales of addiction, bravery, sex, greed, abuse and control — these stories take their inspiration from the great Japanese storytelling traditions, as well as from Noh and Kabuki. Sometimes laced with ironic humor, sometimes truly horrifying, these stories of the strange and supernatural will appeal to readers of all ages, but they particularly speak to teenagers. Evocative and haunting illustrations by the stunningly talented Mikiko Fujita add to the eerie beauty of this collection. A detailed afterword outlines the author’s storytelling approach and provides source material for each tale.

  • Author:
    Campbell, Maria, Farrell Racette, Sherry
    Summary:

    Stories of the road allowance people are old men's stories, translated by Maria Campbell and given to you in the dialect and rhythm of her village and her father's generation. In the M¿Æis oral tradition, these stories must be said aloud to give life to the voices in village English.

  • Author:
    Bailey, Oster
    Summary:

    This book is a collection of stories about culture, history, and nationhood as told by Métis women. The Métis are known by many names — Otipemisiwak, "the people who own ourselves;" Bois Brules, "Burnt Wood;" Apeetogosan, "half brother" by the Cree; "half-breed," historically; and are also known as "rebels" and "traitors to Canada." They are also known as the "Forgotten People." Few really know their story. Many people may also think that Métis simply means "mixed," but it does not. They are a people with a unique and proud history and Nation. In this era of reconciliation, Stories of Métis Women explains the story of the Métis Nation from the women's own perspective.

  • Author:
    Holmes Whitehead, Ruth
    Summary:

    In Stories from the Six Worlds, it is their stories, passed down by word of mouth, that best preserve and present Mi’kmaw culture. For in their tales, the People themselves speak about their world and give us glimpses of how their universe manifests, in all its fascinating otherness. Mi'kmaw stories have many levels: entertainment, instruction, warnings. They might subtly encode maps of the land's important resources, or of the wheeling skies at night. Telling stories, Elders wove humour and stark tragedy, terror and beauty, to teach their listeners how to survive. More importantly, they underlined, over and over again, how their listeners, as humans, must conduct themselves. Their tales resound with the universal themes included in any worldview—Order and Chaos, Courage and Fear, Change, Revenge and Mercy, Death, Rebirth, and Power—yet are powerfully rooted in Mi'kmaw tradition, Mi'kmaw land. Their voices still speak to us, down the centuries.

  • Author:
    Lewis, R. C.
    Summary:

    A futuristic retelling of Snow White in which seventeen-year-old Essie, a master at repairing robots and drones on the frozen mining planet Thanda, is pulled into a war by handsome and mysterious Dane after his shuttle crash-lands near her home.

  • Author:
    Belyk, Robert C.
    Summary:

    The ghost of a scuba diver who still haunts the former British Columbia powerhouse where he met his death. An Alberta theatre where entities have been seen, heard, and even felt so often that it deserves to be called one of the most haunted sites in North America. The spirit of a dapper young man who is willing to share the second floor of a Saskatchewan museum—as long as the employees don’t linger after working hours. The ghostly nun who still occupies the third floor of a former Manitoba convent and has a strange way of making her presence known. The very frightening “Captain High Liner,” who took a special interest in one family living in his old seaside house.In his latest book in a series of western ghost story collections, Spirits of the West, Robert C. Belyk relates the stories of ghosts, both friendly and fearful, who haunt museums, hotels, pubs, houses, and many other locations throughout western Canada. These true stories will persuade the reader to turn on one more light during the long, dark night.

  • Author:
    Dawe, Tom
    Summary:

    Newfoundland is rife with stories of fairies who mislead, play tricks, or sometimes, spirit folks away. A rustle of a leaf, a glint at the corner of one's eye--these fairies lurk, menacing and amoral, at the edges of settled life. The pages of 'Spirited Away' are populated by people who wander onto fairy paths or fall under the spell of mysterious music, who find themselves lost in surroundings long familiar, or find family members grown strange--people irrevocably changed by their eerie encounters. Passed on as rumours and whispers, told at a remove, stories of fairies are still heard today. These literary renderings of stories and anecdotes Tome Dawe has collected across the island offer an accessible and engaging introduction to one of Old Newfoundland's most powerful and peculiar folk traditions. Veselina Tomova's darkly poetic wood-cut illustrations plumb the fascinating heart of these strange and affecting stories.

  • Author:
    Bouchard, David, Everson, Andy, Youngblood, Mary
    Summary:

    Corbeau est le faiseur de tours. Corbeau est le créateur. Corbeau est le transformateur. Corbeau peut être tout et partout. Mais n'oublions jamais que Corbeau est aussi... le marieur.Cette nuit-là, alors que grand-père Soleil se reposait et que père Ciel était enveloppé de froid et de brume, marieur travaillait. La nuit était son royaume, quand tout était sombre.

  • Author:
    Gilman, Phoebe
    Summary:

    In this retelling of a traditional Jewish folktale, Joseph's baby blanket is transformed into ever smaller items as he grows until there is nothing left--but then Joseph has an idea.

  • Author:
    Lim, Elizabeth
    Summary:

    What if Cinderella never tried on the glass slipper' Unable to prove that she's the missing princess, and unable to bear life under Lady Tremaine any longer, Cinderella attempts a fresh start, looking for work at the palace as a seamstress. But when the Grand Duke appoints her to serve under the king's visiting sister, Cinderella becomes witness to a grand conspiracy to take the king'and the prince'out of power, as well as a longstanding prejudice against fairies, including Cinderella's own Fairy Godmother. Faced with questions of love and loyalty to the kingdom, Cinderella must find a way to stop the villains of past and present ' before it's too late.

  • Author:
    Martin, Emily Winfield
    Summary:

    A New York Times Snow and Rose didn't know they were in a fairy tale. People never do. . . . Once, they lived in a big house with spectacular gardens and an army of servants. Once, they had a father and mother who loved them more than the sun and moon. But that was before their father disappeared into the woods and their mother disappeared into sorrow. This is the story of two sisters and the enchanted woods that have been waiting for them to break a set of terrible spells. Bestselling author-illustrator Emily Winfield Martin has created a world that sits on the border of enchantment, with characters who are grounded in real emotions that readers will recognize in themselves.

  • Author:
    Craig, Erin A.
    Summary:

    Ellerie Downing is waiting for something to happen. Life in isolated Amity Falls, surrounded by an impenetrable forest, has a predictable sameness. Her days are filled with tending to her family's beehives, chasing after her sisters, and dreaming of bigger things while her twin, Samuel, is free to roam as he wishes. Early town settlers fought off monstrous creatures in the woods, and whispers that the creatures still exist keep the Downings and their neighbors from venturing too far. When some townsfolk go missing on a trip to fetch supplies, a heavy unease settles over the Falls. Strange activities begin to plague the town, and as the seasons change, it's clear that something is terribly wrong. The creatures are real, and they're offering to fulfill the residents' deepest desires, however grand, for just a small favor. These seemingly trifling demands, however, hide sinister intentions. Soon Ellerie finds herself in a race against time to stop Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves from going up in flames.

  • Author:
    Shadick, Stan
    Summary:

    An informative sidekick to Stan Shadick's annual award-winning Skywatchers calendars, Skywatcher's Companion presents fascinating stories for skywatchers of all ages. Discover the wonders of the night sky and learn how to find the star patterns that have inspired the myths and storytelling of great cultures of the past. Meet the gods and goddesses of Rome, Greece and Mesopotamia and see how they found their way into the many constellations that dominate the ever-changing northern sky. Learn how the same stars inspired legends of the Native peoples in Canada, the United States, northern Europe and elsewhere. See how the sky changes with the seasons but always remains the biggest movie screen in the universe.

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