(4) K-3 Illustrated by James Stimson. In this fractured-fairy-tale version of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" narrated by a moose, the baby troll uses her expert knowledge of the grammatical double negative to best the Bully Goat with "Random Hostility Syndrome." Quirky (if pointless) misspellings--explained in the "Glossary and Hoofnotes"--and (creepily) funny illustrations may appeal to some young readers. Audio CD included.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Chill-seeking readers will be enticed by the effectively creepy cover of this collection of scary tales, including contributions by a variety of authors and storytellers. The stories come from a wide range of cultures, from Irish and Scottish to Mexican to Japanese and more. They include a combination of folklore-inspired pieces, urban legends, and original tales; storytelling performance advice is also provided.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Paula Barragán. Twelve Latino festivals, one for each month of the year, are described in brief poems accompanied by short explanatory paragraphs. Some of the celebrations, such as Cinco de Mayo and Día de los Muertos, will be familiar; others that are very specific to certain countries or ethnic groups may not be. Vibrantly flowing digitally enhanced cut-paper illustrations accompany the text.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Susan Gaber. For sport, the sun and the wind compete to make a passing man remove his overcoat. Swirling, fanciful images show a bright, smiling, yellow sun and the dark, gray, angry wind. Though the book is visually striking, Forest's language can be overly earnest and a bit didactic ("I did not force him at all...Through gentleness I won my way").

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kristen Balouch. Hamilton and Weiss present a humorous retelling of an Indian folktale about a Bengali barber who must outwit a ghost to support his family and fellow villagers. Balouch's simply composed paintings comprising strong shapes show many of the townspeople in traditional clothing with some modern touches (e.g., hipster glasses on the barber, who also sports a stylish hairdo).

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel San Souci. Robert San Souci retells the Grimm tale of Clever Elsie as a story about a sibling duo, instead of the customary husband and wife, making a mess of their farm and housework. The wordy text is ably supported by Daniel San Souci's lively illustrations.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Kanzler. A kind Italian merchant traveling in the Orient is thanked royally after solving the kingdom's rat problem. A greedy trader expecting the same treatment gets his comeuppance after the king rewards him with a kitten. There's a lot of set-up and the subsequent pacing is off. Textured gold-toned paintings are appropriately sumptuous and also include humorous details.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. In this "Beauty and the Beast" variant, a man is saved from thieves by a smelly, slobbery dog, who then asks for the man's beautiful daughter as repayment. Unhappy at first, the girl eventually falls in love with the dog, despite his appearance, and he shows himself as a prince. Paschkis's strong-lined and patterned gouache illustrations are reminiscent of medieval tapestries.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(4) 4-6 Based loosely on Mason's childhood experiences in rural Arkansas, this story is narrated by twelve-year-old Richard, whose goal is to buy a red scarf as a Christmas present for beautiful Rosalie. Along the way, he and his best friend have encounters with a host of offbeat and dangerous adversaries (human and animal). The story meanders, but Richard's folksy voice is winsome.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stefan Czernecki. According to legend, mole was accidentally created by monks in Mexico. McAlister's retelling is kid-friendly, and her author's note provides more information about the history of the sauce. Set on a stark white background, the stiff cartoon illustrations are occasionally funny.

Reviewer:

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. In this "Tortoise and the Hare" revisioning, Turkey is trying on Turtle's shell when Rabbit (thinking it's Turtle) challenges him to a race. To Rabbit's dismay, Turkey sticks out his long legs, flaps his wings, and flies to the finish line. The story is uneven; parts are relayed in forced rhyme. Expansive illustrations show the action from a variety of perspectives.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Susan Gaber. "A little Red Hen lived in a house, / with a frisky dog, a cat, and a mouse." This retelling of the classic story about the hard-working hen who teaches her lazy friends a lesson has an unusual, lilting rhythm. The work benefits from Gaber's colorful, folksy, gently humorous pastel illustrations, modernized with subtle cut-paper effects.

Reviewer: Amanda Sullivan

(3) PS Illustrated by Geraldo Valério. "Some things you just have to put up with," we learn from this Balinese explication of interspecies connectedness. Gecko complains that the fireflies' lights are keeping him awake, but they're necessary to illuminate Buffalo's poop in the road and that poop fills potholes left by Rain, etc. MacDonald's energetic telling is prime story-hour material, illuminated by Valério's dreamlike, humorous art.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel San Souci. Female tricksters from the southern tradition of Br'er Rabbit get their due in this thoroughly entertaining retelling of stories from At the Big House by Anne Virginia Culbertson (first published in 1904). The amusing paintings, showing well-dressed animals cavorting and posturing, combine with rich language and easy-to-read print on creamy pages to make this a handsome volume.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 These Christmas-based childhood recollections are steeped in 1950s rural North Carolina nostalgia. The stories feel familiar--variations of the Christmas pageant gone awry, kids discovering that their parents are Santa, concerns about how Santa will find them after they move--and somewhat forced. Based on the author's oral storytelling, the book contains lively language but the cadence is lost in transcription.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Erin Bennett Banks. "In the beginning, the African forest had many sounds." Throughout this story, the animals come together to develop a new repertoire of sounds that blends beautifully into a tantalizing chorus. This highly rhythmic tale is well designed not just for reading aloud but also for performance. Bold, joyful oil paintings in deep jungle colors decorate the pages.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) 4-6 Tingle presents twenty-five stories, five each from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole oral traditions. Each section begins with an introduction about the tribe, describing unique storytelling themes and motifs and pointing out similarities. Some of the stories are deliciously eerie; others are tragic or hopeful (subjects include death and love lost and found). No sources are included.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Translated by Mus White. Illustrated by Stefan Czernecki. As in the game of telephone, an anecdote about a loose chicken feather passes from the hen house, to the owls' nest, to the pigeon roost, and so on, until it blows up into a shocking tale of multiple chickens plucking out all their feathers. Though the storytelling is lively, Andersen's anti-gossip moral is rather sophisticated for the young audience suggested by Czernecki's brightly colored, heavily outlined artwork.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer Mazzucco. Davis, a well-known Appalachian storyteller, has set down his version of the "Three Little Pigs," based on his grandmother's telling of the cautionary tale. Only one pig brother escapes the clutches of the fox, because only he listens to his mother's instructions to build a house of rocks and bricks. Detailed, expressive paintings depict a rural southern setting.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Keding's grandmother, the source of many of these simply told but effective tales, was from Croatia, and the author tells us in his introduction that she felt strongly about the moral lessons that she passed along in her stories. With variants of well-known stories, such as "Nail Soup," and lesser-known tales of princes and peasants, this volume of twelve stories provides many opportunities for traditional storytelling. Bib.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt