Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date:
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Blurb from goodreads:
Science tells us that young children develop best when they are read to. In this follow-up to Read to Your Baby Every Day, soothe your toddler with retellings of traditional folk tales, fairy tales and fables from around the world paired with images of Chloe Giordano’s charming hand-embroidered illustrations on cloth.
Every tale is the perfect length to read aloud to your toddler before bedtime and carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us. Bond with your toddler and help them grow as you read to them these timeless stories:THE THREE WISHES, Scandinavia
THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, Ancient Rome
BRER RABBIT AND THE WELL, North America
HOW THE BEAR LOST HIS TAIL, Iroquois
THE MAGIC PEAR TREE, China
WHY THE BANANAS BELONG TO THE MONKEY, Brazil
THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE, Syria
THE STONECUTTER, Japan
THE RAINBOW SERPENT, Indigenous Australia
THE CLEVER LITTLE TURTLE, Mexico
THE SCRUFFY DUCKLING, Denmark
THE LION AND THE THORN, Ancient Greece
ANANSI AND THE TURTLE, Caribbean
KING MIDAS, Ancient Greece
A BAG FULL OF STORIES, Cambodia
THE MICE AND THE ELEPHANTS, India
SNOWFLAKE, THE SNOW CHILD, Russia
WHY CATS CHASE MICE, Nigeria
HOW THE WREN BECAME KING OF THE BIRDS, Ireland
THE FEAST, Mali
My Thoughts:
I decided to read this because I am a firm believer in reading to children on a daily basis, even though the blurb gave me pause. This bit was concerning - "carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us" Now, those seem like good things, and they are. But, I worried the stories would be too moralistic and wouldn't focus on the story. That was definitely true for some of the stories but not all of them. I am not a fan of stories that are strongly moralistic, though they can have their uses. I prefer the message, if a story must have one, to be woven into the story subtly. So, that was something I knew I probably wouldn't like about the book.
As you can see from the blurb, the book has a nice variety of stories from around world. The stories that I was familiar with were slightly changed, mildly updated for modern readers; in some cases, shortened. While I agree that one should read to their toddler every day, I don't see these as being stories for toddlers. They are short, which is good, but the stories are not likely to catch and hold their interest, and many are strongly moralistic, as I mentioned earlier. The artwork is good and the color scheme soothing, all of which should appeal to young children. Each mini-story has one, maybe two illustrations. I think this book would work better for children four years or older, not toddlers.
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