fiction Archives - Page 655 of 705

sevenprincesses
The Seven Princesses
by Smiljana Coh (Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: Once upon a time, there were seven princess sisters who did everything together, from horseback riding to jumping in royal leaf piles to throwing legendary piñata parties. But one day, they had the biggest fight in the entire history of princess fighting. There was no worse sound than the sound of this fight. Will the sisters ever find a way to fill their kingdom with sounds of laughter and playing again?

Snippet: Once it had seemed there was no worse sound in the kingdom than hearing the princesses fight.

But it turned out there was.

The silence was much worse.

Ancient and Epic Tales: From Around the World
by Heather Forest (Author)

Booktalk: The BIG Picture

This multicultural anthology presents pivotal episodes from epic tales such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf, the Odyssey, the Ramayana, and more illuminating large-scale narratives that were passed on and preserved through the oral tradition long before being captured in written form by early scribes. (The publication of Epic and Ancient Tales completes the trilogy of Tales From Around the World that includes Wonder Tales and Wisdom Tales.)

#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details

The introduction to this multicultural anthology explains why these ancient narratives have lasted for so long:

Heroic quests for victory, honor, wisdom, and order have long been threads in the fabric of epic tales. An enduring belief that there is more to reality than meets the eye pervades these stories and allows narrative space for mystical, supernatural, and otherworldly elements to intertwine with the logic of ordinary doings.

The next line in the introduction sounds like a description of the latest blockbuster films. What’s old is new:

Powerful human emotions and recurring themes of death, love, natural disaster, supernatural forces, and parallel worlds flow through the heart of these ancient narratives.

Why do we tell stories? The next paragraph gets to the heart of the matter:

Story listeners throughout history gained life lessons and leadership skills from vicariously experiencing how both the wise and foolish characters of popular adventure tales made choices and experienced the consequences.