The Fairytales and Folktales of 2013: An Accounting

If you’ve sat in the audience during one of my talks of 2013, any of them really, then at some point during my presentation I probably mentioned that my deep and abiding love for small publishers is due, in no small part, to the rise in the fairytales and folktales in the marketplace.  It’s not a surprise to anyone when I say that while in previous years folktales were plentiful to purchase, in recent years they’ve become rarities.  Well, in 2013 I started to keep track of any and ALL fairytales and folktales published.  The result?  I started to see that where the big six (now the big five) publishers have fallen down on the job, the little fellas and gals picked up the slack.

Yet have I ever presented you with evidence to support this belief?  I have not.  Here then is a list of much of what I saw in 2013.  It’s not everything, but it is the bulk.  I’m not telling you which are the best (though some certainly appear on my 100 Magnificent Books of 2013 list).  At the very least, here’s a little something to give your day a bit of heart.  Alphabetical by author . . . .

• Aesop’s Fables by Aesop, ill. Ayano Imai

• The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted by Cynthia Rylant, ill. by Jen Corace

• The Market Bowl by Jim Averback

• Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters & Mortals by Donna Jo Napoli, ill. Christina Balit

• Can’t Scare Me! by Ashley Bryan

• The Tiny Boy: And Other Tales from Indonesia retold by Murti Bunanta, ill. Hardiyono

• Tug-of-War by John Burningham

• Nelly May Has Her Say by Cynthia DeFelice, ill. by Henry Cole

• The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna by Demi

• Grandma and the Great Gourd by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, ill. by Susy Pilgrim Waters

• The Hungry Wolf by Lari Don, ill. Melanie Williamson

• Masha and the Bear by Lari Don, ill. Melanie Williamson

• The Crocodile and the Scorpion by Ed and Rebecca Emberley

• The Little Red Hen by Mary Finch, ill. Kate Slater

• The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies by Heather Forest, ill. Susan Gaber

• Little Red Riding Hood by Bernette Ford, ill. Tom Knight

• Arctic Aesop’s Fables: Twelve Retold Tales by Susi Gregg Fowler

• The Barefoot Book of Jewish Tales by Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, ill. Amanda Hall

• Snow White: An Islamic Tale by Fawzia Gilani, ill. Shireen Adams

• Whiskers, Tails & Wings: Animal Folktales from Mexico by Judy Goldman, ill. Fabricio VandenBroeck

• The Princess and the Pea by Xanthe Gresham

• Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm, ill. Sybille Schenker

• Aesop in California by Doug Hensen

• Old Mikamba Had a Farm by Rachel Isadora

• The Girl With a Brave Heart: A Story from Tehran by Rita Jahanforuz, ill. Vali Mintzi

• Fantastic Stories by Terry Jones, ill. Michael Foreman

• The Lion Classic Wisdom Tales by Mary Joselin, ill. Christina Balit

• The Girl of the Wish Garden: A Thumbelina Story by Uma Krishnaswami, ill. Nasrin Khosravi

• Lion Vs. Rabbit by Alex Latimer

• Otis Steele and the Taileebone: A Southern Tall Tale by Tom McDermott, ill. Jeff Crosby

• Give Up, Gecko!: A Folktale from Uganda by Margaret Read MacDonald, ill. Deborah Melmon

• Aesop’s Fables by Ann McGovern

• My Mother Goose by David McPhail

• Princess Tales by Grace Maccarone, ill. Gail de Marcken

• Demeter and Persephone by Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden, ill. Carole Henaff

• Theseus and the Minotaur by Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden, ill. Carole Henaff

• Orpheus and Eurydice by Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden, ill. Carole Henaff

• East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris

• The Legend of the Jersey Devil by Trinka Hakes Noble, ill. Gerald Kelley

• Grim, Grunt and Grizzle-Tail: A Story from Chili by Fran Parnell, ill. Sophie Fatus

• Rona Long-Teeth: A Story from Tahiti by Fran Parnell, ill. Sophie Fatus

• The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney

• The Tall Tale of Johnny Kaw by Devin Scillan, ill. Brad Sneed

• Anubis Speaks! by Vicky Alvear Shecter, ill. Antoine Revoy

• Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

• Chinese Fables: “The Dragon Slayer” and Other Timeless Tales of Wisdom by Lak-Khee Tay-Audouard

• Nasreddine by Odile Weulersse, ill. Rebecca Dautremer

• The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde, ill. Ritva Voutila

• Korean Nursery Rhymes: “Wild Geese”, “Land of Goblins” and Other Favorite Songs and Rhymes by Danielle Wright, ill. Helen Acraman

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