Fairy tales, fairies, myths, legends & folklore

[kittywitty]

I was wanting to compile a good collection of these things for my kids. We love this subject and are always on the lookout for more. I read some good stories in the books The Forgotten Garden and Women Who Run With the Wolves that I wish were in children's book form for the kids.

Does anyone have any favorites in these subjects? Adult or kids books and gruesome is fine. We have a bunch of Craft books and I was thinking of buying the Blue Fairy (etc.) books. Otherwise websites with stories or good movies would also be appreciated.

[Arduinna]

I loved Rootabaga Stories by Carl Sandburg as a kid

[kittywitty]

I've never even heard of that one. Thanks! Off to request it.

[la mamita]

This book about St. George and the Dragon is kind of gruesome and wordy but SO beautiful http://www.amazon.com/Saint-George-Dragon-Margaret-Hodges/dp/0316367958

A good way to find the best fairy/myth/legend books is to attend the Winter festival at a local Waldorf school--they usually have vendors which sell books and have some of the loveliest collections of these types of books. If you have one nearby it's probably coming up! I go and write down a list and then get them from the library

[kittywitty]

I'll request that one. We don't live within...probably 4 hours of a Waldorf school, if not more, so that one won't happen unfortunately.

[la mamita]

Originally Posted by kittywitty 

I'll request that one. We don't live within...probably 4 hours of a Waldorf school, if not more, so that one won't happen unfortunately.

ooh sad! Maybe some Waldorf websites then, for good ideas?

[raksmama]

 http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/jomareadinglists/  this site has a very good list. You have to scroll down to get to the recomended fairy tales!

[meemee]

aaaaaaah i have passed on my love of fairy stories and fables onto my dd too.

we read a LOT of cultural fairy stories. i find lots of random books from the library.

my favourites are the russian fairly tales - they are sooooo beautifully illustrated and aboriginal tales.

one of my dd's particular favourite that  she has read over and over again is this one. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394740181/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0803281692&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1QHC3E487FCGTNXSN12E

almost every cultures have funny historical characters who are kinda philosophers like Nasiruddin http://www.amazon.com/Pleasantries-Incredible-Mulla-Nasrudin-Compass/dp/014019357X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

birbal from india http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=birbal+tales&x=0&y=0&sprefix=birbal+tales

as you can see in our house wit is our favourite. not so much gruesome. though the russian ones can be sometimes scary for little kids. 

[kittywitty]

Thanks! I put them on my library list.

[Aubergine68]

If you do e-books, you could probably get the Lang books for free via Project Gutenberg.  We paid a very little for the complete collection for Kindle, and use the text-to-speech function on my Kindle to listen to them in the car, sometimes.

I really like the Barefoot Books collections of fairy stories.  We listen to a lot of books together and those stories are well told and stand up to repeated listening (the versions with cds).

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales for Greek mythology, maybe? 

My kids got turned on to Norse mythology after listening to/reading Thor's Wedding Day, by Bruce Coville.

[cyclamen]

I loved the Dover's Brother's Grimm.  I think it's expurgated though.   Any Brother's Grimm is good.

Also these books

In the Beginning: Creation Myths from Around the World ed by Virginia Hamilton

The People Could Fly ed. by Virginia Hamilton

I also loved any kind of Nordic Mythology.   I can't think of any books off of the top of my head besides the Edda by Snorri Snurlson (sp?)

If you can get your hands on any Korean mythology, some of the really old creation myths are WILD. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_mythology)  And another site I had bookmarked: http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/fordangr.html

Anything translated by Allen Mandelbaum is awesome... Ovid's Metamorphoses, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid.

This is good website for resources: http://www.story-lovers.com/index.html

Also loved any kind or Russian or Polish mythology as a kid.  Baba yaga!

[kittywitty]

I love Baba Yaga. I just bought an illustrated version for my 6 yo for Christmas.

Thanks for the links! I have the classic books and In the Beginning-but we haven't read that one yet. My kids love Grimm, too. I do not know Korean mythology, though. I will have to check that out.