Folk Myths

Because there was no snow so far this winter, three friends decide to take matters into their own hands. They go down to the old ice factory and build a snowman out of melted ice. Instead of the friendly snowman they expected, the result was a very different kind of snowman. Fortunately, in the end it did snow and the boys were able to make a real snowman.

Japanese culture has fascinated the West ever since the country’s doors opened up in the 1800s. In many ways, Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all around the world to see for themselves how unique this nation remains. Another way of exploring this enigmatic culture is through its literature. The English language succeeds surprisingly well in revealing the Japanese sense of life.

After a bump on the head in gym class on April Fool's Day, Nikki has a wild dream in which she, her BFFs Chloe and Zoey, her crush Brandon, and mean girl Mackenzie all end up playing the roles of some familiar classic fairy tale characters. Of course, the stories don’t go quite as expected - because they each have a very special Dork Diaries spin!

Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media. The fables originally belonged to the oral tradition and were not collected for some three centuries after Aesop's death.

Isabelle should be blissfully happy - she's about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn't the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince's heart. She's the ugly stepsister who cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella's shoe...which is now filling with blood. Isabelle cut away pieces of herself in order to become pretty. Sweet. More like Cinderella. But that only made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Now she has a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

At last, Alanna of Trebond has become the first female knight errant in Tortall. She sets out on an impossible quest to find the Dominion Jewel, a legendary gem that, in the right hands, has limitless power for good. But while she searches for the one thing that can save her war-torn country, her nemesis returns from the dead and begins to wreak havoc. Only Alanna has the power to prevent Tortall's utter destruction.

Will is at the annual Ranger Gathering but Halt is investigating mysterious happenings in the west. When he does finally return, it’s with bad news: Hibernia is in turmoil. A false religious cult calling themselves the Outsiders are sowing confusion and sedition, and five of the six Hibernian kingdoms have been undermined. Now the sixth, Clonmel, is in danger. Halt, Will and Horace set out to restore order. Can the secrets of Halt’s past help them in their mission?

Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super annoyed) by the fact he keeps getting hit by lightening. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up. Zeus gets his wish - and a lot more than he bargained for - when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, Zeus grabs the first thing he sees - an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and he sets off on a quest to rescue his fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus.

Artemis' little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. The twins plus their fairy minder, the pixie-elf hybrid Lazuli Heitz, are lucky to escape with their lives. The Fowl parents and fairy police force decide that enough is enough and the twins are placed under house arrest. But Myles has questions like: Who was tracking the Fowl jet? Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky? What is the bigger picture?

Greetings, initiate! Carter Kane, here. Congratulations on reaching Brooklyn House in one piece. This accomplishment signals that you're descended from Ancient Egyptian royalty, and you have magic powers. But what good is power without knowing how to use it? That's where this training manual comes in. Packed with quizzes, stories, and insights about Ancient Egyptian deities, creatures (the friendly and the deadly), the mysterious Duat, and more, this primer will prime those with the blood of the pharaohs to take their first steps down the path of the gods.

Tristan Strong, just back from a victorious but exhausting adventure in Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, is suffering from PTSD. But there's no rest for the weary when his grandmother is abducted by a mysterious villain out for revenge. Tristan must return to Alke - and reunite with his loud-mouthed sidekick, Gum Baby - in order to rescue Nana and stop the culprit from creating further devastation.

The magical sixth installment in Sarah Mlynowski's megahit series Whatever After! Fractured fairy tales are all the rage, and this series has been a huge hit! This time, Abby and Jonah are on a quest to find The Snow Queen in order to save someone from being frozen! Hijinks and hilarity ensue once again in this sweet, charming, and enchanting series.

In this enchanting ninth installment, the siblings fall into the story of Aladdin. They're excited to be in this world of magic carpets and genies...but making three wishes isn't so easy, and soon hilarities and hijinks ensue! These books are feminist fairy tales for a new generation.

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 sheriff has an arrow-shooting contest, hoping to catch the best arrow-shooter, Robin Hood. But a strange man in red wins the prize instead.

Booted from one exclusive school to the next since his foster mom's death three years ago, 16-year-old Seph McCauley knows he's different. But he doesn't understand why he can summon menacing ravens, freeze summer ponds, and torch all he touches. And then Seph makes the mistake of trusting his new headmaster. If you like Harry Potter, you'll love Seph McCauley.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel.

Abby and Jonah fall through their magic mirror into the story of The Princess and the Pea. Abby spends a restless night atop a giant pile of mattresses - and in the morning, what does she discover but a smushed pea beneath the stack! The kingdom declares that she has passed their test, and is the new princess! But what will happen when the real princess shows up? Hilarity, adventures, and lots of girl power ensue!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after....

Traditional stories endure generation after generation because, although they are not literal, they resound in truths on a human scale. Folktales remind us of wisdom so elemental it is often lost in the rush of everyday life - sometimes common sense makes no sense at all.