This comprehensive, entertaining and authentic collection of English folktales is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Philip Pullman and the Brothers Grimm.

This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art - when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o'-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find Jack the Giantkiller, Tom Tit Tot and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms' Little Snow White - as well as bedtime frighteners, including Captain Murderer, as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse.

Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale's journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.

The world of children's poetry is as diverse and as miraculous as the human imagination itself, a land where owls and pussy-cats set to sea in beautiful pea-green boats, and tigers burn bright in the forests of the night. It embraces word play, parody, nonsense, lullaby, and elegy, and ranges from brief nursery rhymes to long narratives. It can be utterly silly, but it also recognizes that if children's lives are full of wonder and delight, they are also fraught with worries, disappointments, and moments of sadness. The best children's poets come to terms with grief as well as joy. Now, in The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse, Neil Philip has surveyed and mapped this delightfully protean landscape, in a book that spans some two hundred and fifty years, from Isaac Watts, the first true children's poet, to such classic figures as Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and A. A. Milne, to scores of contemporary writers, such as Richard Wilbur, Sandra Cisneros, and Jack Prelutsky.
The range of poems is remarkable. Young readers will find long narratives such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride (Listen, my children, and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere) and Robert Browning's Pied Piper of Hamelin (Rats! / They fought the dogs and killed the cats) as well as Mick Gowar's Rat Trap, a political satire that parodies Browning's poem. The book also includes many miniature gems, such as Ogden Nash's The Eel (I don't mind eels / Except at meals, / And the way they feels) and Hughes Mearns's The Little Man (As I was walking up the stair / I met a man who wasn't there; / He wasn't there again today. / I wish, I wish he'd stay away). There is of course much zany verse, such as Hilaire Belloc's Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and was Eaten by a Lion (Now, just imagine how it feels / When first your toes and then your heels, / And then by gradual degrees, / Your shins and ankles, calves and knees, / Are slowly eaten, bit by bit. / No wonder Jim detested it!), Eugene Field's classic The Duel (The gingham dog and the calico cat / Side by side on the table sat), and A.A. Milne's Disobedience (James James / Morrison Morrison / Weatherby George Dupree / Took great / Care of his Mother, / Though he was only three). And Philip has also included many thought-provoking poems, such as Langston Hughes's Children's Rhymes (By what sends / the white kids / I ain't sent: / I know I can't / be President), Countee Cullen's Incident (Now I was eight and very small, / And he was no whit bigger, / And so I smiled, but he poked out / His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger'), and Theodore Roethke's My Papa's Waltz (The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy; / But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy).
Ranging from Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, to Robert Frost's The Pasture, to John Updike's January, here is an anthology that captures the full breadth of children's verse in English. It will delight children of all ages, and launch the young on a life-long appreciation of poetry.

12 enchanted stories including The Ugly Duckling, The Wild Swans, and The Princess and the Pea

The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen have enchanted children for over a hundred and fifty years. The twelve stories in this new selection include old favourites such as The Nightingale, The Snow Queen, and the Ugly Duckling, as well as some lesser-known tales such as The Snowman, The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep, and The Shadow. These tales show many facets of Andersen's unique genius. By turns romantic and practical, sentimental and comic, straightforward and ironic, they are sure to captivate new and old readers alike. Neil Philip's sparkling translation aims to capture Andersen's relaxed, conversational style while Isabelle Brent's glowing gold pictures are full of rich, decorative detail.

This wonderful collection of fairy tales draws on the classic folklore of Eastern Europe. Read about stories of romance and adventure, gods who help mere mortals to wealth and happiness, and fables that touch on the origins of man and the creation of the world. Meet a man transformed into a noble animal to help him find his true love, the dragon trying to eat the man who saved his life, and the beautiful princess Vassilissa who is courted far and wide. Gods on a mountaintop help a young girl to wealth and happiness in 'The Twelve Months', and a man transformed into a noble animal finds his true love in 'The Feather of Bright Finist the Falcon'. Fables teach about the 'Origin of Man' and the creation of the world from an egg (in 'God's Cockerel'), and also of the injustice with which a friendly gesture is too often rewarded ('A Good Deed is Always Requited with Ill'). The twenty-two traditional tales reflect a wide range of emotions and experiences, flavored by a shared cultural heritage. Whether the setting is a poor cottage deep in the forest, a small village, or a king's court, each story reveals a fascination with routines of family, church and community life, and a humorous ironic perspective on people and their affairs. Folklorist Neil Philip retells these stories in modern English, preserving the richness, meaning and magic of the original tales; ideal to read aloud or for older readers to discover by themselves. Larry Wilkes's lively illustrations of fantastical dragons and beautiful princesses complete the translation of Eastern European culture into stories for children of all ages to enjoy.

The Little Mermaid is one of the most haunting love stories ever written. Its author, Hans Christian Andersen, is a master storyteller whose tales have withstood the test of time and have been shared across borders and languages. In this sparkling anthology 17 of his creations are enchantingly retold for children today by Neil Philip. Many of his most popular tales are here: The Tinderbox, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and The Little Match Girl. Read about Little Ida who dared to dance at night with the flowers, the young prince who searched for a mysterious bell deep in the forest, and the very vain emperor who was cruelly tricked by wicked thieves. There are also some less-well known stories that will delight a new generation of children including Five Peas from the Same Pod, The Goblin at the Grocer's, The Flying Trunk and The Beetle. Originally the son of a poor shoemaker, the secret of Andersen's success is that he wrote his stories as if he were telling them to a child. None of the original magic has been lost in this joyful new edition, ideal to read aloud or for older readers to enjoy discovering by themselves. Delightfully illustrated with Isabelle Brent's magical watercolours, lavishly embellished with gold decorations.

Every night, King Shahryar married a new bride. Every morning, he chopped off her head. So when the lovely Sheherazade became the latest of his wives, she had to do some quick thinking to stay alive. Over a thousand and one nights, she kept the King enthralled with her storytelling, and the stories, gathered together as The Arabian Nights, have become one of the world's classics. You will find famous stories such as Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and also others such as How Many Fools? and The Keys of Destiny, which will quickly become firm favourites.

Full of magic and mystery, a selection of the original Arabian Nights stories are here retold for children in a lively and robust way. Read how through fanciful histories, romances, tragedies, comedies, riddles and songs, the enterprising maiden Sheherazade prolongs her life by holding the king's rapt attention. With vibrant illustrations by Sheila Moxley, The Arabian Nights offers a ride on a magic carpet into a world of adventure and excitement. Ideal to read aloud or for older readers to enjoy discovering by themselves.

The world of fairy tales is one that we all love to enter. Many of these stories had been told for centuries, delighting children and adults alike with their mixture of magic, mystery, and truths older even than the stories themselves. Here twenty best-loved tales by the famous German storytellers, the Brothers Grimm, are retold for the enjoyment of children today. As well as many old favourites, other tales of magic and enchantment are included, such as The Musicians Bremen, Hans the Hedgehog, and Clever Elsie. Neil Philip's retelling tries to capture some of the immediacy and sparkle of the living storyteller's voice. The language is fresh and direct, and the pace is lively. Isabelle Brent's detailed illustrations decorate the pages beautifully.

This sparkling collection of fairy tales captures the true spirit of Christmas - a mixture of magic, fantasy and joy. It opens with Hans Andersen's moving story, 'The Book of Fairy Tales, ' and also features two other Andersen tales, 'The Fir Tree, ' and 'The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree, ' specially translated for this edition.

Ruth Sawyer's joyous 'Schnitzle, Schnotzle, and Schnootzle, ' and Alf Pr ysen's witty 'Father Christmas and the Carpenter, ' are two classic modern tales to stand beside such enchanted favourites as 'The Nutcracker' by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and the Russian legend of 'Babushka and the Three Wise Men.' All are beautifully illustrated by Isabelle Brent, whose gold-leaf pictures glow with seasonal cheer.

Myths are the greatest stories ever told. Passed down over millennia, the great myths are the templates for all our stories, with their eternal themes of creation and destruction, fate and cunning, heroism and cruelty, sensuality and war.
Retold here are nearly 200 myths--from Prometheus defying Zeus to create man, to the destruction of Troy; from the reign of the sun god Ra in Egypt to the one-eyed, raven-flanked Odin of the icy North; and from valiant battles against Frost Giants and Cyclopes, to the heroic quests for the Golden Fleece and the Holy Grail--all accompanied by commentaries on their origins, common themes, and meanings.
Compellingly written, concise, and with each myth illustrated with an iconic image, Myths in Minutes is the perfect way to understand and enjoy the world's great fables.