Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

In West of the Moon, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Margi Preus expertly weaves original fiction with myth and folktale to tell the story of Astri, a young Norwegian girl desperate to join her father in America. After being separated from her sister and sold to a cruel goat farmer, Astri makes a daring escape. She quickly retrieves her little sister, and, armed with a troll treasure, a book of spells and curses, and a possibly magic hairbrush, they set off for America.

It’s 1955, and Laurie Valentine’s best friend Dickie has contracted polio. Confined to a breathing machine in the hospital, he begs Laurie to stay by his side and tell him a story. As Laurie creates the tale of the giant Collosso and the young boy destined to stop him, Dickie starts to believe he’s part of the story. But when Laurie is forced to stop telling the story, Dickie has to reach within himself to create his own ending.

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Cynthia Rylant has also received the Caldecott Award and numerous other honors. In The Beautiful Stories of Life, Rylant vividly retells the Greek myths of Pandora, Pygmalion, Narcissus, Perse­phone, Orpheus, and Psyche. Exploring classic themes of love, destruction, vanity, and redemption, these tales will introduce young listeners to the exciting world of Greek mythology.

To the people of planet Yipsmix, words have tastes, numbers have distinct personalities, and emotions have color and shape. Jaq Rollop, who lives on Yipsmix with his mother and grandfather, is having a particularly hard time. His next-door neighbors are bullies, his family’s crops are dying, and his mom is making him sell his beloved pet so they can buy food. Things go from bad to worse when Jaq is tricked into trading his pet for a useless old key. His mom is furious, and Jaq feels gloomier than a 38, which everyone knows is a very sad number.

It's not easy being Zarf. As a troll, he's stuck at the bottom of the middle school hierarchy, way below the prince and knights (populars), ogres and giants (jocks), and even the lowly minstrels (band geeks). Plus, trolls aren't exactly known for their brain power or cool demeanor. But it gets worse. When the king disappears and Zarf's archenemy, the prince, ascends the throne, he makes Zarf's life even more miserable.

New Rotterdam is no place for a kid—and that’s what Emrys Houtman likes about it. Emrys obsessively documents his town’s urban legends and cryptid sightings in a Wiki, along with his neighbors and fellow horror fans Hazel and Serena. It’s all in good fun until one day, the trio stumbles upon the Doomsday Archives, a collection of relics with dazzling powers and dangerous consequences. When a mysterious blood-red hourglass begins appearing around town and children begin to go missing, the trio must band together to stop the horrors plaguing New Rotterdam, or risk losing their home.

Evoking the classic fantasy adventures of Joan Aiken and Eva Ibbotson, this darkly delightful new novel from New York Times best-selling author Catherine Fisher glimmers with winter magic. Orphan Seren Rhys is on her way to a new life at the remote country mansion of Plas-y Fran when she is given a package by a stranger late at night in an empty train station. The package contains a crotchety, mechanical talking crow, which Seren reluctantly brings to her new home.

Aria is raised by the Wind. She grew up in a castle, floating among the clouds with creatures of the air. She spends her days racing and soaring through the sky with her best friend, Gwyn, a young gryphling. At night, she falls asleep to the music of the Wind. One morning, Aria is woken by a frantic Gwyn. The chimes are silent, there is not a breath of breeze, and their castle has settled on the ground. The Wind has vanished. Aria and Gwyn go on a desperate search only to discover the Wind is being held captive by a sinister alchemist named Worton.

Pat Mora, recipient of the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, weaves the culture of the American Southwest into the charming tale of DoNa Flor, a giant woman with a giant heart to match. She would do anything for her friends, and in this tall-tale, Flor protects her pueblo community from the threat of a puma.

As Ash trains to run in the Stag Chase - a race rooted in violent, ancient lore - he's certain that if he can just win the race and make his father proud, life will return to normal. But the line between reality and magic, between the living world and the dead, is rapidly blurring, and the past has a way of threatening the present. Ash's friend Mark is on a quest to bring his late father back from the dead in a ritual that now threatens Ash.

When Prince Leo’s devious cousin seizes control of Singara, Leo is forced to escape into enemy territory until he can return and claim the throne. Trapped among his enemies, Leo discovers they know a lot more about him than he knows about himself. With some guidance from unlikely allies, Leo is poised to fulfill a destiny greater than he ever imagined. Can Leo harness his power, stop a war, and prevent a monstrous demon from escaping and destroying the world?

Marikit is used to wearing recycled clothes. Her mother, the best seamstress in the barrio, has become an expert at making do ever since Marikit’s father and brother were lost at sea. But for her tenth birthday, all Marikit wants is something new. So when her mother gifts her a patchwork dress stitched together with leftover scraps from her workshop, Marikit vows to never wear it. That is, until the eve of her birthday, when shadow creatures creep into their home and upend the only life she’s ever known.

Life is wonderful on a pretty island in the Antilles - until the seven-headed Bird of Darkness comes from behind the horizon to turn noon into midnight with its terrible black wings! The Bird of Darkness only leaves the kingdom in peace when the beautiful Princess Marie lets it take her away as its prisoner. Brave, clever Soliday decides to rescue the princess. But Salacota, his mean-spirited, cowardly twin brother, has some greedy plans of his own.

Hades, god of the dead, welcomes listeners on a dangerous tour of his underworld kingdom, filled with monsters, furies, giants, and vampire demons. Along the way, he reveals ancient death rites and sinister curses, tells hair-raising stories, and cracks jokes to die for. With his witty voice and ghoulish sense of humor, Hades is the perfect guide through this fresh and imaginative work of nonfiction that unfolds like a novel. Includes a glossary, bibliography, and index.

Back at his evil tricks, Set, the devious god of chaos, has rid Egypt of the sun god, Ra, and plunged the kingdom into never-ending night. He’s even managed to trap the rest of the gods in a palace chamber without the use of their magic. Now demons run amok in the city, filling it with chaos and destruction.

Wanting only to be fierce, Jackalope doesn't count on the horns causing heaps of trouble. This latest book by sisters and award-winning authors Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel delights and enchants young audiences.

Warning: Egyptian curses and demons inside. Listen at your own risk. Still here? Then come, mortal—if you dare—on a journey to the Land of the Dead. You’ll be in good hands with Anubis, god of the dead and mysteries of embalming. Join him to encounter fearsome gods and gruesome monsters. Watch as he and the gods battle the giant demon snake that wants to devour the world. Delve into ancient Egyptian beliefs, rituals, and myths, and learn the craft of mummification. Anubis is itching to reveal his secrets. Don’t let his fangs and hungry eyes frighten you. He’s harmless.

With heroic deeds, family drama, pulse-pounding battles, and shape-shifting magic, it’s no wonder that mythology fascinates us all. Packed with facts, Amazing Immortals profiles over eighty of these fantastical beings.

People just can't live together without telling stories. We tell stories that are funny, ironic, insightful, or just simply pleasing to the tongue and ear. Stories just seem to happen. When a story happens with the force of universality, it finds its way into that pantheon of tales that is the common denominator of cultural exchange. Here are 33 such tales, collected from Brazil, China, Korea, Russia, Tibet, Africa, from America's native peoples, and other lands, and chosen for the universality…

Edgar Award-nominated author Brenda Seabrooke reimagines the tale of the three little pigs in this enchanting fable. Here James, Marvin, and Lester Pygg have just put the finishing touches on their new brick house when a knock sounds at the door. It’s a wolf! But the Pyggs know better than to let a big, bad wolf in. So the wolf hatches a new plan - sit and wait until the Pyggs come out.