Fabulous Folktale Books from the Ottawa Public Library
/The Ottawa Public Library is back to share fabulous folktale books with us. This month’s post is by Véronique Dupuis, Librarian, Children's and Teen Services at the Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Publisher Usborne has board books of all sorts for little hands, and this includes many favourite tales such as The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, always with lovely illustrations. Perfect for some quality lap time with your little one – without being afraid that they will tear the pages out! Ages 18 months to 4 years old.
Tomie DePaola’s Favorite Nursery Tales
First published in 1986, this collection of 30 classic tales by the Brothers Grimm, Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen and other authors is a must-have for any family’s library. Tomie DePaola’s illustrations are simple and timeless. The perfect book to keep at your children’s bedside. Ages 3-6.
Riding a Donkey Backwards / retold by Sean Taylor & the Khayaal Theatre
This collection of short tales (one page or two) feature Mulla Nasruddin, “the wisest fool of them all”, a beloved character that has been known all over the Middle East and Central Asia for centuries. They all end with a punch and are guaranteed to make you laugh. Ages 4-8.
Books by Jerry Pinkney
Jerry Pinkney has received many prestigious awards over his extensive career, and you will know why simply by looking at the covers of his books – his watercolor illustrations are outstanding. Some retell much beloved-tales in detail (The Little Mermaid), and others have fewer words which make them easier to read with smaller children (The Tortoise & the Hare) or even no words at all (The Lion & the Mouse)! Recommended age varies from title to title.
On the Shoulder of a Giant / retold by Neil Christopher
The tale of a solitary hunter on the tundra who gets mistaken for a little child by a giant, Inukpak, who adopts him and cares for him. We liked that the book includes at the end an information section on giants, creatures which often appear in stories from all over the Arctic. Ages 5-7.
Delightfully Different Fairy Tales / by Lynn Roberts-Maloney and David Roberts
Imagine Cinderella at a 1930’s flapper party, Rapunzel as a David Bowie fan and living in a tall apartment building with her mean dinner-lady aunt, and Sleeping Beauty as a wanna-be engineer who dreams of seeing what cities will look like in the distant future. You will find these three tales in this wacky book! Ages 5-9.
Véronique Dupuis, Children's Services Librarian at the Ottawa Public Library.
