A World Full of Animal Stories

December 1, 2017

K-Gr 3-In this handsome volume, McAllister collects 50 short animal tales. Some stories, such as "The Elephant and the Blind Men" and "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," may be familiar to readers. The majority of entries feature animal characters interacting with humans or mythological beasts. The stories are gentle rather than gory-no pigs are eaten in this version of "The Three Little Pigs"-and even villains tend to be chased away, never to be seen again. The content is organized by continent/country of origin (excluding Antarctica), and there are five to 12 tales from each area; Europe and North America are the largest sections. Some are associated with specific Indigenous nations/tribes; others are merely labeled "A Native American Indian Story" and include references to "the Great Spirit," a troubling simplification. The back matter consists of a list of sources, mostly folk and fairy-tale collections from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, though some stories are simply listed as "traditional." The pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are detailed with bright, eye-catching splashes of color. There are spot illustrations on every page, with the occasional full-page spread. Human characters, when they appear, are portrayed in costume. Overall, the style is folksy, but not cartoonish. VERDICT A lack of consistent sourcing makes this a low-priority addition.-Misti Tidman, Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, OH

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017
A cornucopia of retold myths and fables gathered from every inhabited continent. With quaint disregard for rigorous authenticity, McAllister draws largely on old public-domain sources written for general audiences (most of which she helpfully cites at the end) for these 50 tales, tones down overtly violent incidents, and delivers animal-centered episodes that are stylistically similar no matter their (purported) ethnic or regional origins. Looking a bit crammed-in thanks to small type and narrow line spacing, the one- to four-page entries mix familiar stories such as "The Three Little Pigs" (featuring a brick-laying sow named Curly and a wolf who runs away singed but alive) and "The Elephant and the Blind Men" with some semifamiliar entries like "The Bear Prince"--ascribed to "Mexico" but actually reading like a version of the European "Bearskin" with a coyote shoehorned in--and a variety of lower-profile trickster and pourquoi tales. These include why cheetahs have tear tracks beneath their eyes, why pandas are black and white, why warthogs are ugly, and why bears have stumpy tails. In flat, folk-art-style compositions the Romanian-born illustrator scatters a broad variety of small realistic or anthropomorphic animals over stylized landscapes and interior scenes with human figures that are diverse of skin color and facial features but clad in likewise stylized generic national dress. Broad of scope but parochially Eurocentric in style and vision. (Folk tales. 9-11)

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January 1, 2018
Grades 2-5 In her last anthology (A Year Full of Stories, 2016), McAllister collected 52 stories from around the world and presented them in a yearlong calendar format. Now, she takes a similar approach with this compendium of animal tales. This collection is arranged by continent, and it offers stories from a wide range of cultures, with the African and North American (primarily Native American) sections particularly varied. Most English-speaking readers will likely be familiar with a handful of the European stories ( The Three Billy Goats Gruff from Norway, The Three Little Pigs from England, The Ugly Duckling from Denmark), while other stories represent another culture's variation of a familiar story ( The Bear Prince from Mexico has shades of Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun, West of the Moon). Still, most of these stories will be entirely new to younger readers. Aitch's folk-style illustrations, primarily spot art but occasionally full spreads, add flavor to the brief one-to-three-page tales. A colorful collection that encourages readers to learn more about other cultures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

October 9, 2017
In a companion to A Year Full of Stories, McAllister compiles 50 folktales from around the world, retelling them in clear, straightforward prose. Grouped by continent, the stories offer light morals and “just-so” style explanations about animal characteristics and behavior: in “How the Jellyfish Lost His Bones,” a rather grim Japanese tale in which the Dragon King who rules the sea removes Jellyfish’s shell and leg bones as punishment after the creature fails to retrieve a monkey’s liver to heal the queen. Readers will recognize European tales such as “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Ugly Duckling,” but most of the international tales will likely be new to many children. Rich with imagery and magical happenings, this treasury offers plenty to captivate readers, and Aitch’s pencil and watercolor art neatly bridges the stories’ varied settings. Ages 6–9.