Title: A Handful of Beans
Author: Jeanne Steig
Illustrator: William Stein
Publisher: HarperCollins
Copyright: 1999
Summary: This book consists of six fairy tales: Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty & The Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Strengths: These stories are how I traditionally remember them from my childhood. The illustrations are simple but represent the text well.
Age level: ages 4-8
Classroom use: To introduce traditional fairy tales and during independent reading time.
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Title: Alice's Adventure in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Publisher: Candlewick
Copyright: 2003
Summary: Beloved classic describes a little girl's adventures in a topsy-turvy land underground and her encounters with such improbable characters as the White Rabbit, March Hare and Mad Hatter, the sleepy Dormouse, grinning Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle and the dreadful Queen of Hearts.
Strengths: I enjoyed how the narrator talked to the reader as if they were in the story. Its a fun story that keeps the reader intrigued ad wondering what other kind of trouble Alice is going to get herself into.
Concerns: Some terms maybe difficult for children to follow.
Age level: ages 9-12
Classroom use: Independent reading
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Title: Rhinos For Lunch and Elephants for Supper
Author: Tololwa A. Mollel
Illustrator: Barbara Spurll
Publisher: Clarion Books
Copyright: 1991
Summary: A humorous and ironic folk tale from the Maasai of East Africa in which only the frog (a most unlikely heroine) is courageous enough to take on a bully.
Strengths: This books is strong for young children because it shows a lot of repetition and can help children when making predictions.
Age Level: k-2
Classroom use: when teaching prediction techniques and independent reading.
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Title: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Author: Verna Aardema
Illustrator: Leo and Diane Dillon
Publisher: The Dial Press
Copyright: 1975
Summary: In this West African folktale, retold by author Aardema, a mosquito brags to an iguana that he spied a farmer digging yams as big as mosquitoes. The iguana scoffs at such a notion and refuses to listen to anymore nonsense. Grumbling, he puts sticks in his ears and scuttles off through the reeds and sets off a chain reaction among a myriad of animals inhabiting the same landscape. The iguana offends a friendly python, who shoots down a rabbit hole and terrifies a rabbit. Seeing the rabbit scares a crow overhead, who spreads an alarm that danger is near. When a monkey reacts to the alarm, an owlet is killed, which sets off a wave of grieving in the mother owl so profound that she is unable to wake the sun each day with her hooting. The nights grow longer, and when the King Lion calls a meeting to get to the bottom of the situation, the chain of events is traced back to the source of all the trouble — the pesky mosquito. Finding the culprit satisfies the mother owl, who calls the sun back again. But, alas, the mosquito is forever plagued with a guilty conscience, compelling him to forever be a pest.
Strengths: the illustrations in this book are excellent.
Age Level: k-2
Classroom use: independent reading. When teaching cause and effect.
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Title: Three Perfect Peaches
Author: Cynthia DeFelice and Mary DeMarsh
Ilustrator: Irene Trivas
Publisher: Orchard Books
Copyright: 1995
Summary: The man who can provide three perfect May peaches, the only things that will cure the princess, will win her hand in marriage. Once she is cured, the king requires additional tasks to win her hand. The youngest of three brothers succeeds because he is kind
Strengths: illustrations are colorful and capture children's attention.
Age Level: k-12
Classroom Use: This is a variation of CInderella. It can be pair with other versions to show children how stories change depending on the the location or time they are written.
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Title: The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Fairytales
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith:
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Copyright: 1992
Summary: Imagine a comic retelling of some of our best-loved fairy tales. In this collection readers encounter "Cinderumpelstiltskin," "Little Red Running Shorts," and "The Princess and the Bowling Ball," to name a few. In these slapstick, satirical stories told by Jack, the sarcastic narrator, the ugly duckling grows up to be ugly, Cinderella rejects Rumplestiltskin, the princess gets a mouth full of slime after kissing a frog, and the giant and Little Red Hen share goodies at the top of the beanstalk!
Strengths: This book is funny and will keep children interested in reading. The illustrations as well are humorous and tie in well to the text.
Concerns: May be a problem is children are not familiar with original fairy-tales, but they will still be interested nonetheless
Age Level: k-4, 6-10 years old
Classroom Use: independent reading. To show students different variations of traditional fairy
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