Fairy Folk

Traditional tales are a well-established part of all cultures. Retold from the originals, these lively stories will captivate listeners.

Aesop's Fables are stories based on allegories and caricatures featuring mostly animals. These stories got the collective name Aesop’s Fables from the person who collected the stories. Aesop, popularly believed to have been a Phrygian slave, collected his fables sometime around the sixth century BC. Whatever his real story may be, the fables he collected feature valuable lessons.

For thousands of years, these tales have thrilled audiences. In this audiobook, master storyteller Jim Weiss makes mighty Hercules, greedy King Midas, beautiful Arachne, brave Perseus, and dangerous Medusa understandable to children, while emphasizing character over violence.

The rain hasn't stopped for a week, and the 12 guests of the Blue Vein Tavern are trapped by flooded roads and the rising Skidwrack River. Among them are a ship's captain, tattooed twins, a musician, and a young girl traveling on her own. To pass the time, they begin to tell stories - each a different type of folklore - that eventually reveal more about their own secrets than they intended. As the rain continues to pour down - an uncanny, unnatural amount of rain - the guests begin to realize that the entire city is in danger, and not just from the flood.

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want - except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice.

In all of Tyme, from the Redlands to the Grey, no one is as lucky as Rapunzel. She lives in a magic tower that obeys her every wish; she reads wonderful books starring herself as the heroine; her hair is the longest, most glorious thing in the world. And she knows this because Witch tells her so - her beloved Witch, who protects her from evil princes, the dangerous ground under the tower, even unhappy thoughts. Rapunzel can't imagine any other life. Then a thief named Jack climbs into her room to steal one of her enchanted roses.

Strega Nona's meddling assistant Big Anthony is determined to prove to the townspeople his knowledge of the magic secrets contained in the pasta pot of Strega Nona. In so doing, he unleashes a torrent of pasta which threatens to engulf their little Italian town.

Despite being a slave, Morgiana will do anything to keep her brother safe, even if it means getting kidnapped by the Forty Thieves. Once they escape, things seem to go back to normal—that is, until Morgiana finds out the Forty Thieves are planning to rob her master’s house! Together with her brother and new friends, she must find a way to fend off the thieves and protect her family and their home.

One day, when they have no food left, Jack's mom sends him to market to sell the cow. On the way, Jack bumps into a funny little man wearing a big, baggy jacket with big, baggy pockets. In the pockets lie six bewitched beans, but the funny little man has lost the instructions for them. Jack's adventure begins when he swaps Daisy the cow for six magic beans that grow to the land of the clouds.

Marjan is a poor, crippled orphan girl, but she is happy living with her aunt and uncle in the sultan's city. Her hero is the beautiful Shahrazad, who has bewitched the sultan with her nightly tales and thus keeps him from killing other wives. Marjan wonders what Shahrazad's life is like in the silken rooms of the palace. She will soon find out. Taken to the palace to help Shahrazad find new tales, Marjan realizes that the lovely woman is a prisoner of the cycle of stories.

Revisit the tale of Red Riding Hood. A visit to her grandmother turns dangerous with the addition of a wolf! Will Red Riding Hood make it there safely, or fall victim to the wolf's traps?

Revisit the tale of Rapunzel. The princess in the tower longs for friends—and she finds one, in the shape of a curious prince. Will the princess get her happily ever after, or grow old at the top of the tower?

Astaroth has been weakened, and the demon Prusias is taking full advantage of the situation to create an empire of his own. His formidable armies are on the move, and Rowan is in their sights. Rowan must rely on Max McDaniels and David Menlo and hope that their combined powers can stop Prusias's war machine before it's too late. But even as perils loom, danger stalks their every move. Someone has marked Max for death and no one is above suspicion.

A twist on the well-known story of The Three Little Pigs. In The Straw House, the wolves are the ones who are in trouble. After a battle with hungry wolf cousins, three brother wolves end up sick and fighting for their lives. Since it is no longer safe for them to remain in the woods, they stumble down the road to find help in ‘pig world’ only to discover that pigs have very different ideas about helping wolves!

When a hungry, mistreated dog flees his careless master, he meets a small sparrow whose cleverness and loyalty change his fate—if only for a moment. The sparrow guides the weary dog through town, stealing scraps of food to ease his hunger and offering companionship where none had been shown before. But when cruelty intervenes, the story turns. What follows is a darkly playful chain of events in which the smallest creature proves the most relentless, and injustice is answered not with mercy, but with reckoning.

England is a maritime nation. Our folklore and history is peppered with tall tales of the high seas: mysteries of the great ocean, the unknown world beneath the surface of the salt sea, and the liminal coast where the sea-gods meet our lives on the land. Here is a collection of traditional folk tales from the coasts and seas of England. Lisa Schneidau retells the old stories with a contemporary twist: dragons and monsters, sailor heroes and ghost ships, mermaids and shapeshifters.

Nationally bestselling author of Daughters of Sparta Claire Heywood returns with an imaginative and female-centered reinterpretation of the myth of the great hero Perseus, told through the voices of three women who are sidelined in the traditional version—his mother, Danae; his trophy, Medusa...

Is there anything more magical than a new best friend? Especially when that friend is a tiny kitten named Cosmo, who happens to have sparkling secrets! When Emily welcomes Cosmo into her home, she finds not just a pet, but a companion filled with gentle wonder. Cosmo can talk in whispers only Emily understands, change his snowy paws to dazzling colours, and even weave the sweetest dreams to chase away nighttime worries. Follow their delightful escapades as they find lost treasures with sparkle trails, sing flowers awake with magical hums, and share secrets under the vast, starry sky.

In this breathtaking book we (finally!) discover THE TRUTH about your favorite fairy tale characters and settle several matters, not limited to the following: Is the Big Bad Wolf really that bad? What happens when Rapunzel finally lets her hair down? Why are frogs so attractive?

Experience Jim Weiss's hilarious tellings of "The Gingerbread Man," "The Three Little Pigs", and others, each with a multitude of character voices. A lush bouquet of stories for young listeners! You and your children will be enthralled by Jim Weiss's tellings of "The Gingerbread Man," "The Three Little Pigs", and the African folk tale, "Why Flies Buzz," each with unique character voices; touching versions of Hans Christian Andersen's beloved "Thumbelina" and "The Ugly Duckling," and the classic "Dick Whittington and His Cat," with its famously satisfying ending.