Books about Accolades from Amazon.com

"It is my wish that the voice of the storyteller may never die in Africa, that all the children of the world may experience the wonder of books."—Nelson Mandela, from the Foreword

The vibrant tradition of African folktales—an oral heritage of stories that predates Ovid—is long, varied, and exceptionally rich, but surprisingly has been largely overlooked in the West. Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Laureate for Peace, selected thirty-two African stories for this extraordinary new book, an anthology that will present Africa's oldest folktales to the children of the world. In these stories, we meet a Kenyan lion named Simba and tricksters from Zulu folklore; we hear the voices of the scheming hyena and learn from a Khoi fable how animals acquired their tails and horns. Accompanied by dozens of enchanting, specially commissioned color paintings, these fables—culled from African countries as far-flung as Morocco, Uganda, and Tanzania—present a veritable bible of stories "universal in their portrayal of humanity, beasts, and the mystical." Four-color illustrations throughout..
Price: $15.37 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Powers of the air, be here now. So mote it be."

Conceived on May Morning, Nell is claimed by the piskies and faeries as a merrybegot, one of their own. She is a wild child: herb gatherer and healer, spell-weaver and midwife ..and, some say, a witch.

Grace is everything Nell is not. She is the Puritan minister's daughter: beautiful and refined, innocent and sweet-natured...to those who think they know her. But she is hiding a secret -- a secret that will bring everlasting shame to her family should it ever come to light.

A merrybegot and a minister's daughter -- two girls who could not have less in common. Yet their fates collide when Grace and her younger sister, Patience, are suddenly spitting pins, struck with fits, and speaking in fevered tongues. The minister is convinced his daughters are the victims of witchcraft. And all signs point to Nell as the source of the trouble....

Set during the tumultuous era of the English Civil War, The Minister's Daughter is a spellbinding page-turner -- stunning historical fiction that captures the superstition, passion, madness, and magic of a vanished age..
Price: $1.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Grandma Lena believes that something worth doing is worth doing right. So she takes good care of the turnips she plants in her garden.

One turnip grows to an enormous size—Baby Pearl thinks it's a big potato! It is big enough to feed half the town. And it's so big that Grandma can't pull it out of the ground! Even when Grandpa, Uncle Izzy, Aunt Netty, and the dog help Grandma yank and tug, the big ol' turnip doesn't budge.

Still, this African-American family, including Baby Pearl, knows how to pull together. Denia Lewis Hester's adaptation of an old Russian tale will delight the entire family..
Price: $3.38 [Notify me when price goes down.]

On New Year’s eve, 1847, eleven-year-old Baptiste finds himself far from his friends and family and his home in La Beauce. He has come to the woods of the Ottawa Valley to live and work among “the finest lumberjacks in Canada.” As the New Year approaches, Baptiste and the lumberjacks grow more and more homesick. Resolved to see their families again before the stroke of midnight, the crew board a magical canoe that lifts them into the air, across villages, and closer to home.

This beautiful retelling of the Quebecois folktale reunites Roch Carrier with illustrator Sheldon Cohen and translator Sheila Fischman. (The Hockey Sweater, The Basketball Player, The Longest Home Run), and brings this beloved story to life..
Price: $9.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With the humor and wisdom of her North Carolina roots, Alice McGill shares the stories she remembers from her father, mother, grandmother, and neighbors Her telling is as fresh as "a loaf of bread still warm from the ashes" as she brings to life the creatures that so fascinated her as a child: Bruh Rabbit, Sis Possum, Bruh Bear, and Bruh Fox. Illustrated with zest and warmth, these stories were passed on for generations and are, ultimately, a celebration of the human spirit. For as sure as sunrise, the cleverness of the small but sassy Bruh Rabbit shines through as he outwits the more powerful, again and again..
Price: $3.77 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This short book is a collection of important lessons for living a Christ-centered, Christ-honoring life beyond graduation Its advice and encouragement reflect the author's passion for great Christian leterature.

Important truths are condensed into concise paragraphs, expressed creatively and paired with relevant Bible verses. The Paragraphs are then divided into topics of affirmatin and advice such as:

Accepting Yourself

Choosing Joy

Finding Peace

Stretching and Growing

Reaching Up

Reaching Out

This easy-to-read, thought provoking book will provide a lasting impact on readers' lives.

.
Price: $0.01 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Honor Book for the Society of School Librarians International’s Best Book Award - Language Arts, Grades K-6 Novels

Selected as one of four recipients of the 2004 Aesop Accolade

Selected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003


At about the time the Grimm Brothers were gathering their famous collection of folk stories and fairy tales in Europe, in China a similar collection of almost five hundred stories had just been compiled by the scholar Pu Sing-ling. Drawing on oral and written sources, he called his collection of the strange and wondrous Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure.

The fruits of his life’s work become immensely popular with storytellers who performed the stories in teahouses, where rapt audiences would sit for half a day drinking tea and listening to tales of ghosts, fox fairies, and other wonders.

Almost unknown in the West, the stories are given new life in this important work by the masterful Michael Bedard..
Price: $7.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Dog lived in the noisiest part of Bialystok. All day long he heard the hubbub of the nearby marketplace, and all night long he heard the banging and clanging of workmen unloading their goods. When he could take the racket no more, Dog set off for the country to find a quieter place to live.

On his first night in his new home, a gang of howling and yowling, hissing and screeching cats terrorize him, destroying his newfound peace and quiet. Inspired by a Jewish folk tale, how Dog outwits the rascally cats makes for a humorous, satisfying story, exuberantly illustrated with stunning jewel-toned paintings reminiscent of Marc Chagall's. Afterword..
Price: $3.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]