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LIN
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (age 8-11)
by Grace Lin
traditions ... folklore ... fantasy
Publisher comments: In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz.
F
ALE
The Wizard in the Tree (age 8-11)
by Lloyd Alexander
fantasy ... magic ... folklore
When Mallory notices that there's something funny about an old oak tree, she takes a closer look and breaks a magical spell. Arbican the wizard has been trapped in the oak for thousands of years and his powers are gone. Will he get them back in time to save Mallory's village from greedy Squire Scrupner?
F
BAB
Kneeknock Rise (age 8-11)
by Natalie Babbitt
folklore ... mystery
From the moment young Egan arrives in Instep, he senses the spell cast over the villagers by the Megrimum--the mysterious something that lurks on the mist-wreathed peak of Kneeknock Rise. Everyone shudders in horror--delicious horror--whenever the Megrimum's unearthly wail floats down to the village. Before long, Egan is climbing the Rise to find a practical explanation for those wails.
F
KIP
The Beginning of the Armadillos (age 8-11)
by Rudyard Kipling
folklore ... animals
A tortoise and a hedgehog combine their natural assets and transform themselves into armadillos to escape the hungry attention of a young jaguar.
F
LEV
For Biddle's Sake (age 8-11)
by Gail Carson Levine
humor ... fantasy ... folklore
The young maiden, Parsley, will eat nothing but parsley, which in Snettering-on-Snoakes grows only in the fairy Bombina's garden. All is well, until Bombina is released from the fairy queen's dungeon. Her crime? Failing to get along with humans. And turning them into toads! Meanwhile, twin princes Randolph and Rudolph are causing trouble at Biddle Castle and pinning everything on their younger brother, Tansy. Prince Tansy cares about Biddle. Randolph and Rudolph don't. But one of the twins will be king, unless Prince Tansy accepts help from a green Biddlebum Toad!
F
LEV
The Fairy's Return (age 8-11)
by Gail Carson Levine
princesses ... humor ... fantasy ... folklore
Boy meets princess, and it's love at first sight. Both laugh at the same jokes. Both are named after birds. His name is Robin, hers is Lark. Could there ever have been a more perfect match? But alas! King Harrumphrey won't let Lark marry a baker's son. And Robin is betrothed to someone else. Now toss in Robin's nonsense-talking brothers, Nat and Matt, their versifying father, and Ethelinda, the fairy who wrought havoc in The Fairy's Mistake, and you've got a "nutcrazical" situation!
F
CAT
The Chocolate Touch (age 8-11)
by Patrick Skene Catling
folklore ... humor
John Midas loves chocolate. He loves it so much that he'll eat it any hour of any day. He doesn't care if he ruins his appetite. He thinks chocolate is better than any other food! But one day, after wandering into a candy store and buying a piece of their best chocolate, John finds out that there might just be such a thing as too much chocolate....
F
BAK
The Tales of the Frog Princess (age 8-11)
by E. D. Baker
princesses ... humor ... folklore ... magic ... fantasy ... action
After reluctantly kissing a frog, an awkward, fourteen-year-old princess suddenly finds herself a frog, too, and sets off with the prince to seek the means--and the self-confidence--to become human again.
title: The Frog Princess
title: Dragon's Breath
title: No Place for Magic
title: Once Upon a Curse
title: The Salamander Spell: A Prequel to the Tales of the Frog Princess
title: Dragon Kiss
title: The Dragon Princess
title: A Prince Among Frogs
F
NIX
The Gift (age 8-11)
by Joan Lowery Nixon
family ... folklore ... authorship
Brian, visiting his Irish relatives for the first time, tries to prove to his skeptical great-aunt that his great-grandfather's tales of Irish lore and leprechauns are true.
F
KIP
The Elephant's Child (age 8-11)
by Rudyard Kipling
animals ... folklore
Because of his "satiable curtiosity" about what the crocodile has for dinner, the elephant's child and all elephants thereafter have long trunks. One of Kipling's "Just So Stories".
F
FLE
The Whipping Boy (age 8-11)
by Sid Fleischman
folklore ... humor ... adventure ... growing up
A Prince and a Pauper. Jemmy, once a poor boy living on the streets, now lives in a castle. As the whipping boy, he bears the punishment when Prince Brat misbehaves, for it is forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne. The two boys have nothing in common and even less reason to like one another. But when they find themselves taken hostage after running away, they are left with no choice but to trust each other.
F
LEV
Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep (age 8-11)
by Gail Carson Levine
princesses ... fantasy ... humor ... folklore
A spiteful fairy. A beautiful princess. An outstretched finger. A spindle. A hundred-year snooze. A charming prince. A kiss. All the familiar ingredients. But wait! Where did that extra prince come from? And those fairy gifts that were never there before? And what does a flock of balding sheep have to do with anything? Gail Carson Levine has waved her magic wand over the old standby of "Sleeping Beauty" and presto! It reappears, transformed, sparkling and hilarious.
F
LEV
Cinderellis and the Glass Hill (age 8-11)
by Gail Carson Levine
princesses ... fantasy ... humor ... folklore
In this humorous retelling of a Perrault tale, a lonely young farm lad uses his unusual inventive ability to pass a nearly impossible test and win the hand of the neighboring princess.
F
LEV
Fairest (age 8-11)
by Gail Carson Levine
folklore ... humor
The fairy Lucinda has once again given a dreadful gift. This time it's a mysterious magical mirror. The gift is disastrous when it falls into the hands of Aza, who never looks in a mirror if she can help it. In the Kingdom of Ayortha, Aza is most definitely not the fairest of them all. Many spurn her. Many scoff at her. She keeps out of sight. But in a land of singers, Aza has her own gift, one she's come by without fairy intervention: a voice that can do almost anything, a voice that captivates all who hear it. In Ontio Castle, merry Prince Ijori is drawn to it, and vain Queen Ivi wants to use it for her own ends. Queen Ivi would do anything to remain the fairest in the land.
F
YOL
The Young Merlin Trilogy (age 8-11)
by Jane Yolen
magic ... growing up ... fantasy ... folklore
A boy is abandoned in the woods of medieval England. A year passes--a year of terror and hunger, of sleeping in trees and foraging for food, of outrunning packs of wild dogs--until one day a falconer captures and tames the boy as he would any passager, a young bird caught in the wild and trained. The falconer adopts the boy and teaches him all of the things he's forgotten, including the boy's true name--and the legacy of magic that will be his when he comes of age.
title: Passager: the Young Merlin Trilogy, Book One
title: Hobby: the Young Merlin Trilogy
title: Merlin: the Young Merlin Trilogy, Book Three
F
COE
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (age 8-11)
by Eleanor Coerr
war ... folklore ... historical ... illness/loss
Publisher comments: When Hiroshima-born Sadako falls gravely ill with leukemia, she recalls a Japanese legend that holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again.
F
NOR
Are All the Giants Dead? (age 8-11)
by Mary Norton
princesses ... folklore ... fantasy
Finding himself in a land peopled with fairy tale characters, James attempts to help Princess Dulcibel who is destined to marry a toad after her ball falls into the well.
F
OSB
Tales From the Odyssey (age 8-11)
by Mary Pope Osborne
adventure ... voyages/journeys ... folklore
Publisher comments: When Odysseus must leave his home to fight the Trojan War, he never imagines that he'll be away from his family for so many years. Now, at long last, he is leading his men home across the seas. But many dangers await them ... and none is more terrifying than Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant.
title: The One-Eyed Giant
title: The Land of the Dead
title: Sirens and Sea Monsters
title: The Gray-Eyed Goddess
title: Return to Ithaca
title: The Final Battle

Addison Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:24 2012
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