ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 361 In this 361st issue of the Baba Indaba?s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the Fairy Tale "LITTLE BLUE FLOWER?. long ago and far, far away, a stork swept high over the Bohemian forest. It was a most important duty that had brought him from his own marshes into this mountainous region, where far and wide no croak of frog could be heard. In his beak he carried two little children, a boy and a girl, both intended for the knight who dwelt in the gloomy fortress below. Smaller and smaller grew the circles made by the stork in his flight. Lower and lower he sank towards the earth, until at length he rested on the highest chimney of the castle. But before letting the children slip down the narrow black hole he paused and looked carefully around. While in the air, this old castle, with its round turrets glittering in the rising sun, had appeared to him a most stately edifice. But now, when quite close, the stork discovered many things that did not please him. The walls were sadly out of repair, there were holes in the roof, whilst the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. "I do not like this," said the stork, looking thoughtfully down his long, red beak. "This place seems to have a very bad landlord. A knight who cannot keep his castle in proper repair certainly does not deserve two children. I will take one away with me." "Which should he have now, the boy or the girl?" thought the stork. He looked once more thoughtfully down his long beak, and on the two children smiling happily in their dreams. "I think I will give him the boy," he said at length. "He will push his way in this wretched place better than the girl." With these words he made a movement to throw the little boy down the chimney. This, however, was not so easy as the stork had thought. In their sleep the little ones had embraced each other, and would not let go. "I have never had two such obstinate little creatures in my beak before," exclaimed the stork angrily. Then he began to shake them, at first gently, then harder, and at last so roughly that the children half awoke from their dreams, and looked at each other with blinking eyes. After this the boy would not let go his companion, and no wonder, for the little girl had shown him a pair of blue eyes of such wondrous beauty, that there were not many like them in the world. But the stork, now thoroughly angry, gave the poor little fellow a kick that sent him head first down the castle chimney. "Now, what shall I do with the other little thing?" said the stork thoughtfully, scratching the back of his ear. "Ah! I have it," he cried?the little girl had kept on blinking her eyes, and the stork had also seen their beautiful blue?"I have it!" he repeated. "Such eyes can only belong to Norway." High overhead soared the stork. Powerfully his wings clove the air as he sailed away towards the north. Well what happened to the babe with the beautiful blue eyes? Did the stork complete the journey to Norway and was Little Blue Eyes delivered to loving family? Did she grow up to become a loving mother? Well many things happened, some strange, some fun and some serious. To find the answers to these questions, and others you may have, you will have to download and read this story to find out! ÿ BUY ANY 4 BABA INDABA CHILDREN?S STORIES FOR ONLY $1 33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities. INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES ÿ Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps. Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories". ÿ

Learn at home with help from The Wonder Years/Hallmark actress, math whiz, and New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar using her acclaimed McKellar Math books! Fairies, butterflies, and magic help to make this math-focused board book positively enchanting! Join ten flower friends for a night of excitement that mixes a little math with a lot of magic. As each flower turns into a butterfly, children will discover different ways to group numbers to create ten, an essential building block of math, all while watching each flower's dream come true. (And keep an eye out for the adorable caterpillar who wishes he could fly, too!) In this, the second book in the McKellar Math line, Danica McKellar once again sneaks in secret addition and subtraction concepts to help make your child smarter and uses her proven math success to show children that loving numbers is as easy as a wave of a wand and a BING BANG BOO! "[Danica McKellar's] bringing her love of numbers to children everywhere." --Brightly on Goodnight, Numbers "Danica McKellar is now on a mission to make math fun for even the youngest of kids." --L.A. Parent Magazine Don't Miss Even More Math Fun in Bathtime Mathtime!

An enchanting and captivating novel about how our untold stories haunt us — and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. After her family suffers a tragedy, nine-year-old Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak. Under the watchful eye of June and the women who run the farm, Alice settles, but grows up increasingly frustrated by how little she knows of her family’s story. In her early twenties, Alice’s life is thrown into upheaval again when she suffers devastating betrayal and loss. Desperate to outrun grief, Alice flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. In this otherworldly landscape Alice thinks she has found solace, until she meets a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man. Spanning two decades, set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows Alice’s unforgettable journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.

Relive the beauty and magic of Cecily Mary Barker's Flower Fairies of the Spring, now with a brand new enchanting cover. Since the publication of Cicely Mary Barker's first book in 1923, the Flower Fairies have been ethereal companions to readers around the world. Her charming poetry and delicate illustrations have sparked the imaginations of children for over ninety years and continue to inspire a life-long love for fairies and all things magical.

**WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL 2013-2014 MORNING CALM MEDAL** This multicultural children's book presents a heartwarming Korean fairy tale about a little girl and a fortunate encounter. Poverty is all Maya has ever known, but she doesn't allow it to stop her from caring for her father, and others, as best she can. Kind and gentle, she is a lovely young girl who always puts others first. One day, she finds a little turtle and takes him home, raising and loving him, never knowing that he will play an instrumental part in her destiny. Similar to The Korean Cinderella, Maya and the Turtle, is an original Korean fairy tale by authors John Stickler and Soma Han that teaches children that the road to greatness lies in selflessness and that the loving kindness of a pure heart can awaken great love and power in another. Beautifully illustrated by Han, this book contains fascinating bits of information about Korean culture and is a poignant tale about the rewards of kindness, patience and courage.

Filled with magic and fierce emotion, Lisa Jensen's multilayered novel will make you question all you think you know about beauty, beastliness, and happily ever after. They say Château Beaumont is cursed. But servant-girl Lucie can’t believe such foolishness about handsome Jean-Loup Christian Henri LeNoir, Chevalier de Beaumont, master of the estate. But when the chevalier's cruelty is revealed, Lucie vows to see him suffer. A wisewoman grants her wish, with a spell that transforms Jean-Loup into monstrous-looking Beast, reflecting the monster he is inside. But Beast is nothing like the chevalier. Jean-Loup would never patiently tend his roses; Jean-Loup would never attempt poetry; Jean-Loup would never express remorse for the wrong done to Lucie. Gradually, Lucie realizes that Beast is an entirely different creature from the handsome chevalier, with a heart more human than Jean-Loup’s ever was. Lucie dares to hope that noble Beast has permanently replaced the cruel Jean-Loup — until an innocent beauty arrives at Beast’s château with the power to break the spell.