Serpents and Werewolves: Stories of Shape-Shifters from Around the World (World of Stories) - Softcover

Don, Lari

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1512413437 ISBN 13: 9781512413434

Publisher: Darby Creek Pub, 2016

Synopsis

A princess makes a daring deal with the Queen of the Snakes. A lonely sister weaves stinging plants together in order to save her brothers from their mother. A curious boy suddenly becomes a wolf cub.

Discover a worldwide collection of shape-shifter stories, based on folktales and lore from the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. From cursed princes to the first werewolves, things aren't always what they seem!

About this title

Review:

"A storyteller puts her own stamp on 15 traditional tales from four different continents about shape-shifters, those people who turn into animals and back again. In her afterword, Don explains, 'I've altered all these stories as I tell them to make them work for me and for the audience I'm telling to.' She carefully states her sources and then explains her adaptations, sometimes saying that children have given her ideas. There are occasional anachronisms. 'Yuck' seems to be a favorite way to express disgust, but Don wants her readers to feel comfortable. If she loses some gravity in her tellings, she quickly gains readers' interest. A kid understands completely the boy who becomes a buzzard in a tale from Mexico and says 'Yuck!' when he finds out that he must eat dead bodies. 'Mom' and 'dad' are used in the final story, about a child becoming a werewolf, more original than most of the others, although 'inspired' by a German tale. The black vignettes (occasionally reused) and the small drawings of a branch with a caterpillar from 'The Ashkelon Witches' (a Jewish folk tale) appearing as a header and the snakes from 'The Snake Prince' (from the Punjab) flanking the page numbers contribute to the book's handsome design. Two other series entries publish simultaneously: Ghosts and Goblins: Scary Stories from Around the World and Magic and Mystery: Traditional Stories from around the World, both by Maggie Pearson and illustrated by Greenwood. Engaging stories that will hook kids, send them looking for traditional stories, and perhaps encourage some to take up the art of oral (and written) storytelling."--Kirkus Reviews

--Journal

About the Author:

Lari Don was born in Chile and spent most of her childhood traveling around South America. She is an award-winning author of children's books and short stories. Lari lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her cats.

About this edition

• Publisher: Darby Creek Pub
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1512413437
• ISBN 13: 9781512413434
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 142
• Illustrator: Greenwood Francesca