World Heritage Storybook Series
After publishing 17 songbooks, the client asked for additional media to enrich the school’s cultural unit offerings. A lifelong fan of world folklore, I pitched the idea for a series to retell traditional folk and fairy tales for an early childhood audience.
I authored ten manuscripts for this series after researching each country’s folktale repertoire, collaborating with illustrator Gabriela Issa Chacón, and copyediting each publication.
I later adapted many of the stories into action stories and short plays for preschool classes to explore and perform during their music classes and public community showcases.
"A Wedding for a Chickpea" is based on a Keloglan, or "Little Bald Boy" story from Turkey. This trickster character is the hero of many Turkish folk tales and stars in this story as a shrewd trader increasing his fortune with each exchange.
"Rooster, Cat, and Fox" is adapted from the classic Russian folktale. The story can be studied in relation to Stravinsky's adaptation, or performed as a play.
Momotaro recounts the story of the folk hero who banishes the Oni (ogres) from the island of Japan. In this version for young readers, Momotaro and his friends Dog, Monkey, and Pheasant stand up to the bullies terrorizing the country with their words and a whole lot of noise.
This British variation on the familiar Rumplestiltskin tale gave opportunities to play with Medieval art styles and lampoon the aloof nature of the lovably antagonistic king.
The Night of the Tatu is an indigenous story of Peru and Brazil. This story teaches the origin of night time and the ways humans and animals found a night that was just right.
'The First Ear of Corn' adapts the Nahua origin legend of this food staple. Young readers learn of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and how he works through many disguises to find nourishment for his people.
The Rabbit and the Crocodile adapts a Gambian folk tale typically told orally and musically by griots (West African storyteller/musicians). The griot character is illustrated as part of this book to acknowledge the same oral storytelling feeling throughout.
This Tamil fairy tale teaches morality on the virtue of gratitude and the consequences of greed. A poor man is rewarded by offering all he had to the spirits of the forest, and a rich man, driven by greed, is punished by the spirits when he tries to gain favor.
A poor young boy discovers a magical item that brings riches, wealth, and an unpredictable transformation in this folk tale from Sichuan Province, China.
This book does double duty as an adaptation of the French Cinderella story and a read-along companion to Massenet's opera version with a listening guide in the back.
This storybook adapts an animal trickster tale of South Africa.
