Most Popular Books by Margaret Read MacDonald

Offers over eighty short stories from around the globe, including Asia, Mexico, and eastern Europe.

A companion to Three Minute Tales compiles another delightful collection of entertaining stories from around the world to read or tell on any occasion. Simultaneous.

This handy paperback presents 80 songs designed to be sung as rounds. Each one appears on an uncluttered page or two, illustrated by a simple ink drawing. A fine resource for school music teachers, choir directors, camp leaders, and children who sing for the love of it.

Instruction on how to tell stories. Includes 12 tales from other countries.

Presents five folktales for young children, including "Snow Bunting's Lullaby" from Siberia, "Chin Chin Kobokama" from Japan, "The Playground of the Sun and Moon" from Argentina, and "Counting Sheep" from the British Isles.

In this British variant of a traditional tale, an ungrateful woman who complains constantly about her house is granted increasingly grandiose wishes by a fairy.

Here is a ghostly gazetteer chronicling the numerous contemporary accounts of Northwestern hauntings and other strange happenings reported in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.

Working with or without a native speaker, a storyteller can touch the minds and hearts of all listeners—even those with little or no English language skills. Here a group of expert storytellers share a variety of tips and techniques that help bridge the language gap; along with sample stories that librarians, teachers, and professional storytellers can easily incorporate into their repertoires. Four basic techniques for bilingual telling are explored: summarizing, line-by-line translation, tandem telling, and inserted phrases. In addition, contributors discuss such topics as the translator's role, using story in language instruction, presenting tellers of other languages, traveling and giving workshops abroad, and more.

An old woman complains about all the housework she has to do, but when some fairies come to help her she finds that they are more trouble than they are worth.

2010 Best English Language Children's Book, Sharjah International Book Fair Jouha gets confused counting his donkeys while leading them to market. Jouha is loading his donkeys with dates to sell at the market. How many donkeys are there? His son helps him count ten, but once the journey starts, things change. First there are ten donkeys, then there are nine! When Jouha stops to count again, the lost donkey is back. What's going on? Silly Jouha doesn't get it, but by the end of the story, wise readers will be counting correctly−and in Arabic!

The Animals and Birds are getting ready for the big game. Bat wants to WIN. The Animals look strong and fast, so Bat picks that side. But when the Animals fall behind, Bat switches to the Bird team—doesn't a bat have wings? Maybe the Birds will win!

Presents twenty-five variants of the "Tom Thumb" tale from around the world, with notes on each, a unit for classroom study, a bibliography, and suggestions for other related activities.

Pick of the Lists, ABA A 2001 Parents' Choice Picture Book Silver Honor Highly Commended Book–2002 Charlotte Zolotow Award Committee Texas Library Association 2002 2 X 2 Reading List Children's Literature Choice List 2002 Storytelling World Award-2002 Winner-Stories for Young Listeners 2001 Aesop Accolade, American Folklore Society 2003 Washington Children's Choice Master List "MacDonald's retelling of this Limba tale is engineered for storytime success."—School Library Journal starred review Mabela may be the smallest mouse in the village, but her father has taught her to be clever. And this cleverness comes in handy when the cat comes, inviting everyone to join the secret Cat Society. The mice line up, with Mabela at the front and the Cat at the back. They march into the forest, singing the secret Cat song and shouting FO FENG! Only clever Mabela realizes the Cat is up to no good!

A collection of skits written by young people with instructions for performance. The skits are arranged under such categories as "Cumulative Actions," "Silly Singers," "Skits With Trick Endings," "Skits From Jokes," "Musical Ensembles," and others.

This unique and diverse selection of traditional folktales from the countries of the Arabian Peninsula appeals to a broad audience, ranging from storytellers and educators to folklorists and scholars. A unique compilation of stories, Folktales from the Arabian Peninsula includes tales from seven countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Coauthored by a renowned folklorist and a professor of education who recalls some of these poignant tales from her own childhood, the book opens with a discussion of the Arabian Peninsula that introduces each country and discusses its terrain, peoples, and current situation to provide important background information. The engaging stories that follow will serve elementary, junior high, and high school librarians as well as public librarians, professional storytellers, and folklorists. The tales themselves—many of which have never been published in English language children's collections—are appropriate for readers grades five and up.

Includes twenty folktales that encourage audience participation.

In this retelling of a Shona folktale from Zimbabwe, a girl promises a crocodile he can come to a party in exchange for a favor, but since crocodiles aren't allowed in the village, she doesn't expect she'll have to keep the promise. When you promise Croc a party, you better keep that promise and give him a party! Zuva knows you should never invite a crocodile to town—everyone knows that! But what if the crocodile does you a favor? And what if you promise to return the favor by inviting him to the village party? And what if this croc actually comes knocking on your front door? Because this crocodile is a PARTY CROC! This hilarious retelling of a Shona folktale from Zimbabwe is both a cautionary tale about keeping promises and a raucously fun read-aloud for party animals of any age.

In this unique collection of stories and personal interviews, folklorist Margaret Read MacDonald examines storytelling through the distinct voices of the tellers themselves. Ten Traditional Tellersoffers an intimate look at their lives and art as they discuss their reasons for telling, their uses of the stories, and the influence of their cultural heritage. Coming from places such as Ghana, Brazil, and Thailand, the tellers include colorful characters like Vi Hilbert--a member of the Upper Skagit tribe--who continues to work despite near blindness, and Rinjing Dorje, whose bawdy shepherds' tales shock his audiences and validate his identity in a western culture that expects piousness from Tibetans. In addition to the interviews, the book also includes brief introductions for each teller and one or two of their representative stories.