I just browsed at this book and found some very valuable inforation! I am planing story hours for 3-4 year olds and the information in this book is truly supurb.

I am also the mother of a 11 month old baby and found I could use a lot of the ideas in my home life as well.

What a shame this wonderful, elegantly written little book is out of print. I read it when I was 12 and I haven't forgotten it. In this book, Midsummer is a dreamy, magical time when love is in the air, the good can get their due, animals may speak and longed for hopes can, with luck come true.

Well i love this story because it is much like the cinderella story but it is with a boy this time. It shows his adventures and the friendship between Billy and the bull. It shows that good always prevails over evil. That is why i would really recommend this book to broaden your imagination and creativity.

Best children's book available: "I got a piece of pie for telling a lie and then I came slithering home." I encountered this story in a Collier's collection in my youth, 45 years ago, and have never forgotten it. A wonderful story.

The Pumpkin Giant is a book that has been around for years but is hard to find. When I first found it after weeks of searching there was only one copy of the book in all of the Kent County Library system. It is about a far away kingodm terroized by the pumpkin giant who eats fat liitle boys and girls. The farmer and his chubby son save the community and the chubby little boy meets up with the king's chubby little daughter and they all live happily ever after. The pumpkin giant slayer becomes the king's grounds keeper and his wife who made pies out of the pumpkin giant's head becomes the head cook. The kingdom is no longer terrorized and all is joy. Very cute story!

This is a wonderful book from my childhood- preserved with my Halloween decorations and brought out to share with my own children once a year. The story is charming- a kingdom, a castle, poor farmers, and a truly revolting Giant make this a delightful Halloween story to read aloud. Reminiscent of some of the milder Roald Dahl stories, it has elements of quasi-historical facts ( well, it COULD'VE happened like that) and just a touch of chilling evil. For ages 4 and up, the only possible objection being that the Giant likes to eat "fat little boys", certainly not any worse than anything Disney puts out year after year!

This is a Swedish legend that explains the origin of the flower known as the Christmas Rose. Lagerlöf was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature in 1909. This legend, retold by Ellin Greene, originally appeared in a magazine in 1907. The illustrations are beautiful. They capture the emotions of the characters splendidly. The story is not too long for advanced second graders to read in a single sit-ting. Younger children will be able to listen to it. Several times however the layout alternates from a two-page spread of text to a two-page illustration. The text pages can appear overwhelming for young readers, and because there is not an illustration on every page, it can be cumbersome to use in a read-aloud. The story does, of course, have a mention of the Christ Child and central characters include a Bishop, Abbot and lay priest. There is no attempt to influence the reader on behalf of the Christian faith however. Still, it may create some difficulties in a public school classroom. A well-written and illustrated legend, it is a shame the design features make it less appealing and it may create some trouble in a public school classroom.

Why 4 stars?:
This is a nice story, but has some logistical design flaws. The illustrations are well suited and many children will most likely enjoy it. However, the subject material may not always be accepted in a public school classroom.

This book is about the Paleolithic time in what is now North America, the Great Spirit creates Yah-qua-whee (the mastodon) to help the people. But when the mastodons turn against the people, the smaller animals side with the People to defeat them. After hundreds are killed in the great battle, the "creator" sends thunderbolts into the ground, killing the mastodons. The "crane-berries" that grow in the bogs formed during the fighting are a peace offering from the creator to the people. They are also the gift Native Americans give to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving. I found this book to be very interesting. The legend was something that I had never heard of and the way the author told the story really held my attention. The illustrations were beautiful and would be very helpful to a young reader. This would be a great book to use when doing a culture unit in the classroom.

I think this story is very nice. The language is very simple.It would make a good bedtime story. I liked most of theillustrations, although some of them I thought could have used a little more detail. I was hoping the story would be more up to date with stronger female roles, but it was a good story.

"Storytelling: Art & Technique" is an excellent book for anybody interested in becoming a storyteller. It begins with the history, purpose, and value of storytelling. The chapters on selecting and preparing a story are very helpful. Also included is information on storytelling to different audiences, from children with special needs to young adults. At the end are thirteen delightful stories to tell. Each story contains the source, culture, telling time, audience, and notes on telling. I found this chapter as well as the appendix full of sources to be incredibly valuable! Although this book can be a little dry in places, it is an outstanding resource for storytellers, especially those just starting out!