Traditional stories from around the world underlie most narratives and this, coupled with their significance in introducing children to a range of cultures, is the thinking behind the development of CLPE’s collection. The collection includes folk and fairy tales, myths and legends in picture book format and in anthologies. Currently available and out of print titles are included.

Visit CLPE’s library to discover a whole world of tales such as variants of the stories Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood or The Gingerbread Man, see how a variety of illustrators have interpreted The Arabian Nights and the tales of Hans Christian Andersen, and find a special, perhaps long-forgotten story to retell to your class.

Rumpelstiltskin and other Grimm Tales retold by Carol Ann Duffy, illustrated by Markéta Prachatiká
Faber & Faber
Spare prose retellings including ‘Hansel & Gretel’, ‘Ashputtel’ (Cinderella), ‘Snow White’ and ‘Little Red-Cap’ which originated in the adaptations the writer developed for the Young Vic theatre's two productions of Grimm Tales.

Tales of Hans Christian Andersen translated and introduced by Naomi Lewis, illustrated by Joel Stewart
Walker
One of the many editions of Andersen’s stories which appeared to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth in 2005. Joel Stewart’s illustrations bring out some of the macabre elements of the tales.

A Bag of Moonshine by Alan Garner, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
Collins
Alan Garner mines the rich seam of British folk tales for this collection and retells them in language that contrives to be both colloquial and literary.

The Thousand Nights and One Night retold by David Walser, illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
Puffin
The best known stories - Ali Baba, Aladdin and Sindbad – form the basis of this stunningly illustrated volume. Also have a look at Robert Leeson’s My Sister Shahrazad (Frances Lincoln) which includes some lesser known tales as well as drawing on several different translations as source material.