I have been using this great collection of stories in My San Francisco classroom for 5 years now. My classes are always composed of children from a wide variety of different cultures. It is so powerful to have one book that so many students can relate to. With stories from Japan, Africa, Guatemala, Russia and many others, children can usually find a story that represents their personal culture. These stories are excellent tools for opening the door to group discussions. These discussions present opportune times to discuss morals, cultural differences/similarities and human nature. It is obvious that Pleasant DeSpain is a master storyteller and writer because the stories are so easy to read aloud. I could not recommend these tales to tell more.

This is a supurb collection of multicultural tales! It's a delight to read and the stories have many classroom uses. DeSpain knows how to make each story come alive and he keeps them short and to the point. Boys especially like to read this collection. I recommend it to everyone.

I am a music educator and am constantly looking for books that contain multicultural stories that I can incorporate into my music lessons. Many different countries are represented in this book and the illustrations are useful. They are black and white, and I have even allowed some of them to serve as coloring pages in my class. Each of the stories are relatively short so that they work into lessons extremely well.

Based on ecology worldwide, this is a timely collection. A classroom favorite, DeSpain makes these tales come alive with his tellings. A great collection to spark interest and explorations in science and nature.

If you like turtles, you will love this book! One of my favorite classroom titles, DeSpain's style of telling works with students of all ages. I also appreciate the informative notes on story sources and storytelling ideas in the back of the book. This is a fun as well as effective classroom source.

Finally, a Latin American collection of tellable tales that is full of variety (15 different cultures and countries)and enlivened tales. I'm a true fan of DeSpain's books because I find them so useful in the classroom. This collection is one of his best as the stories elicit so much interest in Latin America. Also, DeSpain says that he writes his versions down after telling them aloud for some time. I believe him. These read like they're being told.

I'm a fan of fairy tales and after using DeSpain's telling of "Jack and the Beanstalk," in the classroom for a few years, feel that it is one of the best. Boys especially like it and due to the strong female role in "Elinor," so do the girls. An appealing aspect of this version is that DeSpain begins at the true beginning of the story, with the death of Jack's father by the evil and cruel giant. Unlike Disney Productions, DeSpain's telling contains the soul of this important fairy tale. Also, I like the beautiful oil paintings (illustrations) and DeSpain's nearly lyric language.

Sweet Land of Story provides excellent stories from the various regions of the U.S. The brevity of the stories makes it easy for a teller of tales to read, digest, and develop for telling. At the same time, the stories, as written, are delightful. The introductory remarks of each region gives an excellent insight to the people and cultures of those areas. As a teller, I am appreciative of this book as a source for new stories.

I've used both volumes, One and Two, in the classroom for a number of years. Actually, I've worn out two sets and am using the third. Brief tellings of traditional tales that work great for listening rewards and creative writing exercises. I discovered DeSpain's works with these books and have successfully used everything he has written since.