Traditional Literature

1. The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka

Summary: After the Princess and the Prince are not getting along so well, the prince decides that he wants to turn back into a frog.

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

Summary: Anasi used the moss-covered rock to trick all of the animals, but Little Spotted Deer plays a trick back on him.

3. The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

Summary: Aloo-ki loses her dog sled team and finds an igloo where three bears are staying.  She goes inside and eats their soup, tries on their boots, and falls asleep in their beds.

4. The Three Pigs by David Weisner

Summary: Three little pigs build houses to escape a big bad wolf.

5. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

 Summary: While Mrs. Rabbit and the other bunnies gather food for supper, Peter runs away and gets into trouble at a garden.

6. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

 Summary: A lion and a mouse become friends due to some unlikely circumstances.  When the mouse wakes up the lion he is upset but lets him go.  A few pages later the lion gets caught in a net by some hunters and the mouse gets him out by biting threw the ropes.

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

 Summary: The story begins in World War II where a set of brothers and sisters are evacuated out London and sent to live with the Professor.  While there the children find a wardrobe that has a doorway to a magical world called Narnia.

8. Tom Thumb: Grimms’ Tales Retold and Illustrated by Eric Carle

 Summary: A farmer and his wife lived in the forest and were not well off, a Merlin came to their door disguised as a beggar.  The wife wanted nothing more then to have a child.  When the Merlin left they had a child no bigger then a thumb and his name was Tom Thumb.

9. A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

Summary: This tale begins on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge is established within the first stave as a greedy and stingy businessman who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity, or benevolence.

10. The Cajun Gingerbread Boy By Bertha Amoss

Summary: Retelling of classic story in which gingerbread boy keeps running through bayou country until he is outwitted and gobbled up by an alligator. Comes with a die cut figure of gingerbread boy, which is passed through a slit in each page.

11. The Little Red Hen By Paul Galdone

Summary: Henry is a very particular sort of pig. "A place for everything and everything in its place," he always says. But when he looks out his window he is troubled. The farm is a mess!  Henry is worried that nobody will be able to find anything in this mess. So he draws a map showing all the animals exactly where they belong.  And Henry embarks on a journey through the farm, his friends tagging along as he creates his map: sheep in the woolshed, chickens in the coop, the horse in the stable. After the map is complete, Henry uses it to bring himself back home, where he is relieved to know that he is exactly where he belongs.

12.  The Monkey and The Crocodile By Paul Galdone

Summary: On the banks of the Ganges, a monkey lived in the rose apple tree. While he was eating them, one day a crocodile came out of the river, and the monkey threw down a few rose apples. The crocodile chomped on them and found truly wonderful. After that action the monkey and the crocodile became friends. 

13.  The Three Little Kittens By Paul Galdone

Summary: The favorite Mother Goose rhyme about the three careless kittens who lost their mittens is given added appeal with Galdone's bold and colorful illustrations.