Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Madness by Edgar Allan Poe

Setting: Settings from the 4 stories
Characters: Characters from the 4 stories
Theme: Themes vary by story

This book is an anthology of 4 of Edgar Allan Poe's well known stories. It contains The Black Cat, The Masque of the Read Death, Hop-Frog, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Not only does it include these great stories, but the illustrations are the best part. Gris Grimly does a great job, and they add so much more to the sometimes are hard to follow stories.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner

A re-telling of the classic story, Goldilocks finds herself in the 3 bear's home testing her jump rope on the chairs to see which works best, eating porridge, and napping. When she is discovered, she leaves and Mama Bear makes more porridge for everyone to eat.

Hansel and Gretel by James Marshall

A re-telling of the classic story. The woodcutter's new wife said that Hansel and Gretel eat too much food. So she attempts to get rid of them, but they find their way back on a rock trail, but the second time they use bread crumbs and they get eaten. They find themselves at the witch's house and are in trouble. The witch intends to eat Hansel, and Gretel saves him by pushing the witch into the oven.

Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman

A re-telling of the classic story, Little Red Riding Hood goes to deliver a basket of things to her grandmother. She passes a woodcutter on the way there, and when she arrives she finds someone who is not her grandmother. It's a wolf, and he has eaten her grandmother. The wolf eats Little Red Riding Hood as well, but the woodcutter comes and saves them by cutting the wolf open.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Scrooge hated Christmas. His partner at work had recently died and was sent to warn him that if he continued being a mean person that he would regret it. The ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future show Scrooge his impacts, what he's missing, and what his life will be like if he doesn't change. Finally he decides to change and be a better person.

Dinorella by Pamela Duncan Edwards

A book that is full of "D" alliteration, Dinorella waits on her sisters hand and foot. Her fairy godmother comes to the rescue and allowing her to go to the Dance where she meets and saves Duke. The two eventually fall in love.

The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philemon Sturges

This is a twist on the classic story. The Red Hen is making a pizza. She asks her friends, duck, dog, and cat, to help her get ingredients to make a pizza. No one wants to help her so she makes a big, delicious pizza. After it's done cooking, she asks who wants to help her eat the pizza, and that's when her friends finally decide they want to help. She's nice enough to let them have some, and they even do the dishes for her afterwards.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

In this story, 4 children find themselves in the magical land of Narnia. There they fight against the evil witch to save Narnia. Eventually they prevail and become the kings and queens of Narnia.

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

Setting: Snowy land, Igloo
Characters: Aloo-ki, Dog team, Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear
Themes: Manners


Aloo-ki's dog's got stuck on a broken piece of ice. A little while away 3 bears were going for a walk to wait for their soup to cool. Aloo-ki was looking for her dogs when she found an igloo. She went in and smelled the soup. She drank the biggest bowl, but it was too hot. She tried the middle-sized bowl, but it was too cold. Then she tried the smallest bowl and drank the whole thing. In the next room she tried on boots, the biggest were too big. The middle-sized boots were too fancy and the smallest were just right. In the nest room she found beds and she was suddenly very sleepy. The biggest bed was too lumpy, the middle-szied was too soft, and the smallest was just right. She finally fell asleep. The bears rescued the dogs and went back to their igloo. They saw their soup was tasted and Baby's was gone. They saw their boots were tried on, and Baby's were gone with Aloo-ki's left behind. They saw their beds were slept in, and Baby's was still occupied. Aloo-ki woke up and ran away on her dogs. She wave and said, "Thank you," and they said, "Goodbye."

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel

Setting: Forest
Characters: Anansi, Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Hippo, Giraffe, Zebra, Little Bush Deer
Theme:

Anansi the spider was walking through the forest and saw a moss-covered rock. He said, "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock?" When he said these words he fell and passed out for an hour. Anansi knew how he would use this rock. He went to Lion and asked him if he wanted to go for a walk since it was so hot. They went walking, and Anansi pointed to the rock and the Lion said the words. He fell over and Anansi went and stole all of his yams that he was too lazy to get his own. When the Lion woke up an hour later, Anansi was gone and so were all of his yams. Anansi did the same thing to Elephant to get his bananas, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, and Zebra. Little Bush Deer had been watching from the bushes as Anansi played this trick on everyone. She picked a bunch of coconuts and wait for Anansi. Soon he came and tried his trick, but Little Bush Deer pretended not to know what he was talking about and made Anansi say the words and pass out instead. Little Bush Deer and all the animal took all the food back. Anansi woke up and found an empty house but he didn't learn his lesson.

Tom Thumb: Grimms' Tale Retold by Eric Carle

The Grimms' Tales book is an anthology of small stories.

Story One: Tom Thumb
Setting: Woodcutter's home, woods, barn, stomachs
Characters: Man, Wife, Tom Thumb, 2 men, 2 thieves, Maid, Wolf
Theme: There's always a way out of a problem

The first story is about a man and wife who wished they had a child even if he was no bigger than their thumb. That's exactly what they got! They named him Tom Thumb. One day men offered the man gold for Tom, but the man said no. Tom objected and told his father to take the gold and that he would back soon. Finally Tom escaped from the men and overheard 2 thieves talking. Tom offered to help them, but actually just talked about their plan really loudly so that they got caught. The thieves go caught by a maid, and meanwhile, Tom hid in some hay. The maid fed the hay to a cow, and when she came back she heard Tom screaming in it's stomach and killed the cow because she thought it was evil. Tom was making his way out of the cow's stomach when a wolf came up and ate him again. Tom told the wolf to go eat food from the woodcutter's home. Once they were there, Tom yelled for help and his father killed the wolf. Tom told his father about his adventures, and his father said they would never sell him again.

Story Two: The Fisherman and his Wife
Setting: Hut by the sea
Character: Fisherman, Wife, Magic Fish
Theme: Don't be greedy

One day, the fisherman caught a fish with gold and silver scales that claimed it was a prince. The man let it go since it could talk, and his wife said that fish could grant wishes. The man thought they already had everything, but she wanted a bigger house and a dress. The fish granted those wishes, but later she decided she wanted to be a queen and have a castle. Again, she was not satisfied, she wanted to be a pope. Then she wanted to be the ruler of the universe and make the sun rise. The man went to ask the fish and when he got home everything was as it was in the beginning. The man fished everyday and never saw that fish again.

Story Three: Hans in Luck
Setting: From Miller to home
Characters: Hans, Miller, Horseman, Farmer, Man, Woman, Grinder
Theme: Don't take what you have for granted, It's not what you have but who you have

Hans worked for a miller for 7 years and decided it was time to go home. The miller paid Hans a piece of gold that was the size of his head. As Hans was on his way home, the gold was getting too heavy. A horseman came by, and they decided to trade. Hands would get the horse and the man got the gold. The horse ended up throwing Hans off because he wasn't a horse rider. Then Hans saw a farmer with a cow and they traded the horse for the cow. Hans tried to milk the cow, but he was no good at it and the cow killed him. Next he saw a man with a pig and they traded the cow for the pig. The pig didn't want to move though, but Hans saw a woman with a goose. They traded the pig for the goose. The Hans met a grinder who liked the goose and he said that Hans should take his business. He traded the goose for the grindstone, but he got tired and had to drink from a fountain. The rock fell into the fountain, and then Hans was happy because he had nothing to carry now. He ran home and his mother greeted him. She was so happy, and he felt even luckier because she made him his favorite food and he got to sit in the most comfortable chair.

Story Four: The Seven Swabians
Setting: Outdoors
Characters: 7 Swabians
Theme: Not listening

Seven Swabians went out adventure with a spear. They came upon a rabbit and were scared so they held their spear to it and ran. They thought the rabbit was a monster. When they thought it was safe they came out of hiding. Then they came to a river and asked a man on the other side how to cross. He didn't hear so he said, "What?" They thought he said, "Wade." So they all walked into the water and sank except the last Swabian because he wasn't paying attention. He ran back to tell this story.

The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka

Setting: A fairytale world, woods
Character: Frog Prince, Princess, Sleeping Beauty's Witch, Snow White's Witch, Hansel and Gretel's Witch, and Cinderella's Fairy Godmother
Theme: Work through your problems, Be thankful for what you have

After the princess kissed the frog and turned him into a prince, they did not live happily ever after. The princess was sick of his frog-like tendencies and was upset that he didn't act more like a prince and go slay something. The prince realized like would be better if he was still a frog, so he went in search of a witch who could turn him back. The first witch he ran into was the witch from Sleeping Beauty, and she thought he was going to wake Sleeping Beauty. She was going to cast a spell on him so he ran. Then he ran into the witch from Snow White, and she thought he was going to save her. She offered him a poison apple, and her ran off. Next he ran into the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and she had offered to help him. He recognized who she was, though, and ran off again. Soon he found himself to be lost and ran into Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. She tried to turn him back into a frog but accidentally turned him into a carriage. He felt horrible and rather be at home with the princess. At the stroke of midnight, he turned back into a prince. The princess missed him so much and they kissed. They both turned into frogs and lived happily ever after.

The Three Pigs by David Weisner

Setting: Outside and inside various stories
Characters: The Three Pigs, Wolf, Cat, Dragon
Theme: Change up a routine, Stand up for yourself

The three pigs live in their traditional houses; straw, sticks, and bricks. The wolf goes to the first pig's house and blows it down. He goes to eat his, but he's escaped from the story. Then the wolf goes to the second pig's house and blows it down. He goes to eat him, but he escapes from the story along with the first pig. Then the third pig escapes with the other two pigs, and they play with the pages of the story, fold up the wolf, and fly on a paper airplane. Then they go into the story of "Hey diddle, diddle" and rescue the cat and the fiddle. Next they go into a story with a dragon and rescue him and his gold rose. Then they all go back to the third pig's house, and the dragon scares the wolf away. In the end they all decide to live together and eat some food

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Setting: The fir tree, McGregor's Garden
Characters: Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Peter, Mrs. Rabbit, McGregor, bird, mouse, white cat
Theme: Listen to your parents, Danger

Mrs. Rabbit was going out, and she told her four children, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter, to be good and go down the lane. Everyone but Peter listened. Peter decided to go to Mr. McGregor's garden instead. The four rabbits were not supposed to go there because their father was made into a pie by being caught in there. Peter snuck into the garden and ate some things from the garden, but Mr. McGregor saw him while he was planting. Then he chased Peter with a rake, and Peter couldn't figure out where the gate was. He lost his shoes, and then got caught in a gooseberry bush. He finally got himself free but lost his jacket. He ran into the tool shed and fell into a watering can. Mr. McGregor went to look for him in the tool shed and heard him sneeze. Peter jumped out a window and got lost. A mouse couldn't help him, but finally he saw the gate. He ran out of the gate and all the way home. Once he got home, he fell asleep, and his mom wondered where his clothes were. He began to not feel well and only had tea for dinner while everyone else had a lot to eat.

The Lion and The Mouse by David Pinkey

Setting: Savannah
Characters: Mouse, Lion
Theme: Karma, Helping others

The mouse is chased by an owl and unknowingly crawls up a lion. The lion swats it away and catches it but let's it go. The mouse goes back home to its babies. Safari men come and set a trap that catches the lion. The mouse sees him, remembers his kind act from before, and climbs up a chews through the rope freeing the lion. The mouse takes a knot from the net home for the baby mice.