Rich in cultural significance, each title in this bestselling series includes a collection of 20 to 30 tales together with an introduction and a historical overview that give the reader compelling insights into the culture, the folk literature, and the lives of the people in the region.Mermen? Yes. Long before mermaids emerged to people our inner seas, long before they established their restless, inviting niche in human fantasy, there was the merman. Born of the human need to dominate the great fruitful oceans, to control the vast destructive seas, to regulate the healing rains, to understand the tides, the merman emerged.

collected and retold by Edna Ledgard The people of Burma/Myanmar call it Shwe Pyidaw, the Golden Land, their fertile valley cradled in a horseshoe of mountains. When squabbling Western nations vied for control of the newly-mapped country a century ago, the local population had already lived in the mountainous land for over a millenium. Throughout those centuries, the legends and tales rooted in animist religions created a rich tapestry of spirits that underlie the later arrival of Buddhism. "Nat" spirits, dragons, winged lion-dogs, ogres, mythical galon birds, sorceresses and many more populated the land. This volume brings together 25 of the most-loved of these folk tales.

Discover the fantastical world of fairy tales in this captivating collection of 28 short stories. From a living man made entirely of wax to a secret cave of gnomes brewing magical beer, to a prince facing a ferocious giant wolf and a joust fought on the backs of donkeys and pigs. Each story is filled with laughter, tears, magic, and morality, featuring daring knights, bold seafarers, and the occasional monster. Perfect for bedtime reading, this enchanting book will captivate young and old alike with its unique and imaginative tales

Chemistry and Other Stories, A Picador Paperback Original From the pre-eminent chronicler of this forgotten territory, stories that range over one hundred years in the troubled, violent emergence of the New South. In Ron Rash's stories, spanning the entire twentieth century in Appalachia, rural communities struggle with the arrival of a new era. Three old men stalk the shadow of a giant fish no one else believes is there. A man takes up scuba diving in the town reservoir to fight off a killing depression. A grieving mother leads a surveyor into the woods to name once and for all the county where her son was murdered by thieves. In the Appalachia of Ron Rash's stories, the collision of the old and new south, of antique and modern, resonate with the depth and power of ancient myths.

'The Magic Bed' is a collection of famous Indian fairy tales of varied authorship. India is undoubtedly the home of the fairy-tale. Of those now in existence, probably one-third of such tales came from India. Gypsies, missionaries, travelers, and traders carried them to other countries where they were told and retold until much of their original form was obliterated, and many of their titles lost. The "Jatakas," or birth-stories of Buddha, form the earliest collection of fairy-tales in the world. It is from these, and from others told by native nurses, or ayahs, to children in India--where the belief in fairies, gnomes, ogres, and monsters is still widespread--that five stories most likely to interest young people have been selected to form this volume.

The Kite of Stars and Other Stories is the first collection of speculative fiction by Dean Francis Alfar, including includes fantasy, science fiction, horror, and other strange short stories: youngsters go on a quest that take all their lives, a man trades time in a shop, mermaids are sold in a wet market, and an android questions the meaning of love.