In this intriguing tale (not for children), storyteller extraordinaire Ursula K. Le Guin explores the magic of animals. Her animal characters -- from the irreverent trickster Coyote to the wise matriarch Grandmother Spider -- seem like people to us, just as they do to the little girl who finds herself living among them. We learn, with the girl, that these "Old People" once lived freely on the earth but now must maintain their lifeways carefully alongside the "New People" -- humans. Susan Seddon Boulet chose this tale to illustrate, completing twenty works for its publication. They are extremely effective in bringing Le Guin's characters to life, imbuing them, of course, with Boulet's singular vision of the otherworldly realms occupied by animal spirits. This book is a must for any serious collector of Boulet art.

The title story portrays the birth of democracy in Eastern Europe, Standing Ground is set in an abortion clinic and features a teenage girl, and the story, Poacher, offers a new twist on Sleeping Beauty.

In this provocative new collection, Le Guin creates a magical, whimsical world in which the line between animal and human is quietly dismissed. A simple, yet brilliant, reversal of the conventional, interspersed with acute and often beautiful insight. 11 line drawings.

Tony Fredericks presents a collection of best loved stories in the popular readers theatre format to integrate with the United States history and language arts curriculum in the upper elementary and middle school grades. This collection of over 20 well-known and not-so-well-known tales will be invaluable to teachers in American schools as they do their usual units of study in American history and literature. Plays focus on entertaining folklore, tall tales, and legends to aid teachers in building fluency skills in their young readers. Included are tips for introducing and using Readers Theatre with students in grades 4-8.

As students regularly read and perform these age-appropriate texts, they improve decoding, interpretation, fluency, and comprehension.

The ancient tales of long-dead civilizations to the wild success of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, fantasy has fired our imaginations for as long as there has been story. Whether sweeping sagas of fantastic adventures or cautionary tales told around the campfire, fantasy is deeply woven into the very fabric of humanity, wearing many faces and coming in many flavors. But what fantasy is distinctly American? The American Fantasy Tradition sets out to answer this very question. This comprehensive critical anthology of American fantasy literature applies the groundbreaking theorems of such esteemed American literary critics as Leslie Fiedler, Richard Chase, and Irving Howe to the genre of fantasy in an effort to delineate the true American tradition of fantasy from the more prominent Anglo-European canon, breaking it down into three distinctive strains: The American Tale: Folk, Tall, and Weird Stories that might be considered fables or legends, much like the epics of the Age of Heroes from the classical eras of Rome and Greece, or the tales of the fairy folk from the European tradition, or the fables of Aesop. Fantastic Americana Stories set directly within the American historic landscape, much as the Arthurian tradition is set within the confines of British history. Lands of Enchantment in Everyday Life Stories that involve what might be called the American spirit, focusing on worlds that exist in the shadows of our own, just beyond Rod Serling’s famous signpost for The Twilight Zone.

Give your child a smart start with the revised and updated What Your Second Grader Needs to Know What will your child be expected to learn in the second grade? How can you help him or her at home? This book answers these all-important questions and more, offering the specific shared knowledge that hundreds of parents and teachers across the nation have agreed upon for American second graders. Designed for parents and teachers to enjoy with children, featuring a new Introduction, this second-grade volume of the Core Knowledge Series presents the knowledge and skills that should be at the core of a challenging second-grade education, including • Favorite poems—old and new, from “Caterpillars” to Gwendolyn Brooks’s prizewinning “Rudolph Is Tired of the City” • Literature—from around the world, with African folktales, American tall tales, European fairy tales, and classic myths from ancient Greece • Learning about language—the basic building blocks of written English, all explained with a touch of humor and common sense • World and American history and geography—visit Japan, explore ancient Greece, travel the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman • Visual arts—with activities and full-color illustrations of masterworks by El Greco, Van Gogh, Matisse, and others • Music—basic theory, great composers, instruments, and fun-to-sing songs such as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “Do-Re-Mi” • Math—challenging lessons ranging from telling time to doing fractions, numbers to 100, and a first look at geometry • Science—the cycle of life and the seasons, levers and magnets, the wonder of the human body, and more, with lots of hands-on activities and stories about famous scientists