This enchanting book delves into the history of folktales, or stories made up by peoples around the world to teach important values to their children. Traditional folktales from a variety of Native American communities and distant countries such as India and Botswana are all presented to show the commonalities shared by such diverse cultures in their classic stories. Artwork and paintings illustrate the tales, while textboxes explain important terms...

"Twelve animals race to determine where they will stand on the Chinese zodiac calendar, and each animal's unique quality comes into play." --

"John Henry is the strongest, fastest hammerman working on the railroads in the years after the American Civil War. One day, a salesman comes by with a machine he says can drill faster than any man. John is determined to prove no fancy device can beat him"--

"In this Latin American folktale, three princes search for a magical bird to cure their father's blindness, but when the youngest brother earns the birds help, the others grow jealous" --