CDE 131 Children's Literature Guide: Picture Books

A retelling of the well-known tale in which two children are left in the woods but find their way home despite an encounter with a wicked witch.

A strange little man helps the miller's daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child.

The fisherman's greedy wife is never satisfied with the wishes granted her by an enchanted fish.

An ugly duckling spends an unhappy year ostracized by the other animals before he grows into a beautiful swan.

A tall tale sets off a comic chain of mishaps from Mosquito to Iguana to Python to Rabbit to Owl, but all is wisely resolved by King Lion at the jungle council meeting.

From debut author/illustrator Rachel Katstaller comes this rich, evocative folk tale inspired by stories she heard growing up in El Salvador. Itzel lives happily with her grandmother at the edge of the jungle. When the rains fail to come to water their crops, putting their livelihood at risk, her grandmother tells her that the giant snake is the one who announces the arrival of the rain. But many people don't believe in him anymore, so he has retreated to the place where the water is born. Itzel sets off alone to find the source of the river, determined to help her grandmother and summon the rain. As she journeys deeper into the jungle, she's joined by a strange ocelot who seems to recognize her -- and various other creatures who need the rain to come but have lost faith in the giant snake. Itzel convinces them to join her anyway. And finally, just when she thinks she's failed, something surprising happens...

Sukkot is Shoshi's favorite Jewish holiday. She and her brothers love to decorate their sukkah, the hut where her family will celebrate. But who will win the Ugandan Abayudaya community's annual sukkah contest? While only one sukkah can be the best, everybody wins when neighbors work together.

Once there was a bridge and a terrible and VERY hungry troll lived underneath it. When the three Billy Goats Gruff decide to clip-clop across the bridge to get to the grassy ridge, the troll is already imagining all the way to prepare a delicious goat dinner. But the troll underestimates those seemingly sweet but oh-so-savvy goats!

A tiny girl no bigger than a thumb is stolen by a great ugly toad and subsequently has many adventures and makes many animal friends, before finding the perfect mate in a warm and beautiful southern land.