Freya Littledale (1929–1992)

This is my favorite retelling of the story "The Fisherman and His Wife" from Grimm'sTales.
The artwork is simple but effective, and the rhyming repetition of the fisherman's requests give a wave-like rocking motion to the recitation.

Picked up for Turkle's art, which is the highlight of the book. Such cute elves, like real little boys! Littledale's telling is straightforward.

Nice classic fable; good to find something from a non-Euro culture. This edition rather lackluster compared to most modern picture-books, but I would have loved it when I was 7 or 8.

The story does end abruptly, leaving the reader to figure out the 'lesson' - assuming there is one.... I do have a current interest in Jataka stories so maybe I'll learn whether or not that's typical... as opposed to Aesop's fables in which the moral is usually explicitly stated at the end.

The text is show more interesting: it's slightly simplified and patterned, as intended for a developing early reader, but not at such a low level that it doesn't appeal to fluent readers... in fact, the effect of the style adds to the folklore vibe.

There is a note referencing [b:The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births|444191|The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births|E.B. Cowell|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|432950]. show less

Peter travels away from his mother to find help, the north wind takes his flowers but gives him magic items in return. He shares the magic items with the inn keeper and then brings them home. However at home they are not magic anymore...he soon finds out that the inn keeper is replacing his magic items with things that are not magic so he teaches the inn keeper a lesson. Pre school classes would have a fun time illustrating the north wind and imagining the magic involved in the story.