English Fairy

Around the world each night, parents tell stories to children as they put them to bed. Margaret Read MacDonald - a folklorist, storyteller, and children's librarian - uses bedtime tales in the daytime to end her story hours on a calm note. Here, with accompaniment on dulcimer and autoharp by musician Richard Scholtz, she includes seven of her favorites from around the world.

The little mermaid is engaged to the Prince, but she's in love with Captain Hook. When Lexa’s father, Poseidon, is taken by a powerful enemy, the only way to get him back is for the Princess of the Sea to accept a marriage alliance with the Prince of the Shores. But her heart already belongs to Captain Hook, a broody pirate she saved from a shipwreck and nursed back to health at her island. She longs to see him again.

It is said that Kunti fulfilled her desires and ambitions through her sons, the Pandavas, resulting in the bloodbath in Kurukshetra. And once the truth struck her she sought help from Krishna to get rid of her guilt. Krishna became Kunti’s moral guardian, a conversation began, from which emerged fascinating tales of women in mythology. In this brilliant retelling, Kunti is placed at the central of the novel and running parallel to her universe are the stories of Aditi and Diti, the primordial mothers....

Sixteen-year-old Skye is done playing the knight in shining armor for her insufferable younger sister, Deirdre. And moving across the country seems like the perfect chance to start over as someone different. In their isolated new neighborhood, Skye manages to fit in, but Deirdre withdraws from everyone, becoming fixated on the swampy woods behind their house and building monstrous sculptures out of sticks and bones.

A mouse begs a lion for mercy and, after he is set free, promises that he will help the lion some day in return.

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse. A lighthouse that weathered more than storms. Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation. Coincidence? Or curse? Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home—until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher).

Tilly Pages is a bookwanderer; she can travel inside books and even talk to the characters she meets there. But Tilly’s powers are put to the test when fairy tales start leaking book magic and causing havoc. On a wintry visit to Paris, Tilly and her best friend Oskar bravely bookwander into the land of fairy tales to find that characters are getting lost, stories are all mixed up, and mysterious plot holes are opening without warning. Can Tilly work out who, or what, is behind the chaos so everyone gets their happily ever after?

From number one New York Times best-selling author Chris Colfer comes a gorgeous, full-color fairy-tale treasury. Dear Listener, this is a very special audiobook that contains more than 35 classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes, plus your very own survival guide to The Land of Stories. Enter the world of fairy tales in this stunning illustrated gift audiobook that includes more than 35 beloved stories and rhymes retold by number one New York Times best-selling author Chris Colfer.

In Daniel Defoe’s 17th century masterpiece of English literature, hero Robinson Crusoe relates his story of shipwreck, perseverance, hope, and redemption. Full of adventure, suspense, and daring heroics, this celebration of Robinson Crusoe, updated for the modern young reader, retains all of the classic elements of Defoe’s original tale of courage, insight and the power of endurance.

Deep in Loch Ness, stories of a mysterious underwater creature bubble to the surface. Learn more about the origin of this water-bound monster.

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow's best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home.

A montage of his life flickered before my eyes. I felt every joy, heartbreak, triumph, and defeat. And then there was nothing but terror.... For years, powerful empath Vesper Tallinn has kept herself isolated from the rest of the world. Because of her ability to manipulate emotions, she has the tendency to draw dangerous people to her. She can count the number of people she trusts on one hand, because in her experience, it's altogether safer to be alone. Not only that, but keeping her head down keeps her off the radar of the Remnant Gods.

Snuggle up with Ariel, Cinderella, Tiana, and all your favorite princesses with this charming collection. Help Cinderella and the mice search for a sparkly ring. Dance the night away at Aurora's party. Drift to sleep as Tiana wishes on an evening star. Nineteen enchanting tales await to send you off to a dreamland of happily ever after.

For ten years, I lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas's golden castle. One night changed everything. Now I'm here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom's army, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it out of this in one piece. They're marching to battle, and I'm the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war.

A kingdom of shadows. A soldier sworn to protect. A princess silenced by love. Plagued by her mother's matchmaking attempts, Princess Lily, the eldest of 12 sisters and heir to a mighty kingdom, struggles to prove herself worthy of her inheritance while avoiding the attention of unwanted admirers. Tradition forbids marriage with the man she loves, so she would rather rule alone than marry someone who only wants the crown.

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life. But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow's best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday.

Persephone and Hades are engaged. In retaliation, Demeter summons a snowstorm that cripples New Greece and refuses to lift the blizzard unless her daughter calls off her engagement. When the Olympians intervene, Persephone finds her future in the hands of ancient gods, and they are divided. Do they allow Persephone to marry Hades and go to war with Demeter or prohibit their union and take up arms against the God of the Dead?

Most people have heard of the Celts - the elusive, ancient tribal people who resided in present-day England, Ireland, Scotland and France. Paradoxically characterized as both barbaric and innocent, the Celts appeal to the modern world as a symbol of a bygone era, a world destroyed by the ambition of empire and the spread of Christianity throughout Western Europe. Despite the pervasive cultural and literary influence of the Celts, shockingly little is known of their way of life and beliefs, because very few records of their stories exist.

Ten years ago this season, Gregory Maguire wrapped up the series he began with Wicked by giving us the fourth and final volume of the Wicked Years, his elegiac Out of Oz. But “out of Oz” isn’t “gone for good.” Maguire’s new series, Another Day, is here, 25 years after Wicked first flew into our lives.