Nursery Tales Around the World Selected and Retold by: Judy Sierra

"Through these tales, children learn basic story patterns of plot, theme, and character." Judy Sierra.
          Nursery Tales Around the World is presented in groups of three, with variations on a theme or idea. There are six sections of the book, containing three fairytales each. All sections have a fairytale from the United States and two from various other countries. The first section is called "Runaway Cookies," and contains three stories: The Gingerbread Man (US), The Pancake (Norway) and The Bun (Russia). Do you see a theme? Since I already knew the story of the Gingerbread Man, I was anxious to see how it was told in another country. Other sections of the book include: "Incredible Appetites," which contains a fairytale called The Boy Who Tried to Fool His Father (Zaire) and another from India called, The Cat and the Parrot. All of these fairytales are about the dangers of an uncontrollable appetite; "Chain Tales" which is about tricksters like, Anansi and the Pig (Jamaica), and This Is the House That Jack Built (England). It is easy to recognize the theme of "Slowpokes and Speedsters," which has the The Hare and the Tortois as it is told in Greece, and one from China titled, The Fox and the Crab, all of which follow along the lines of a traditional Aesop's Fable. Can you guess the theme of the section entitled: "Fooling the Big Bad Wolf?" This section does contain a fairytale called, The Three Pigs, but it is from England. The fairytale from the United States is called The Gunny Wolf (which I had never heard of), but is about a little girl who outsmarts a Gunny Wolf (who wants to eat her) by singing to him and putting him to sleep so that she can escape.
          Overall this book is a fun and easy read, and I enjoyed reading traditional fairytales that I knew, from the perspective of other cultures. These nursery rhymes contain lots of rhymes and repetitions making it easy for even the youngest child to understand and enjoy. Also the story lines are very basic making this book an easy read aloud too. It could be used to discuss different cultures, beliefs, and morals. The artwork is what you would find in a book about traditional folklore and does not contain bright or vivid colors, but more muted tones; the artwork on the first page of each story depicts which charaters are in that story. I also liked how the author incorporated an introduction page with information about each different section, and what the underlying theme is. I would recommend this book for younger children, but it could also be used for older children when discussing rhymes, morals, old proverbs, different cultures etc.

Judy Sierra has a Ph.D. in folklore and has compiled five folklore anthologies. She has a new book coming out in 2010 called, Tell The Truth B.B. Wolf (which sounds fun) and another book coming out in the Fall 2011 called, ZooZical!! You can find out more about Judy Sierra by visiting her website at: http://www.judysierra.net/.