Ladybird Tales of Super Heroes: With an introduction by David Solomons

by Sufiya Ahmed, Yvonne Battle-Felton, Sarwat Chadda

Superheroes have always been with us, from gods with mighty powers to human heroes who don disguises to save the day . . .

Join six larger-than-life mythic and legendary heroes from around the world in this colourful, illustrated collection of Ladybird Tales.

Meet tricksters, fighters, shape-shifters and even people who save the day with just the power of speech.

Anansi the Spider-Man
Loki and the Magical Hammer
Hanuman, Demon Fighter
Inanna in the Underworld
Shahrazad the Storyteller
The Legend of Hua Mulan


Perfect for bedtime, to read aloud or enjoy alone, these thrilling tales breathe marvellous life into ancient tales. Includes a special introduction from award-winning author David Solomons.

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Adventure, Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Family

96 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2019

About the author

Sufiya Ahmed was born in India and arrived in the UK as a baby. She lived in Bolton, Lancashire, before moving to London where she still lives. Sufiya has worked in advertising and in the House of Commons, but is now a full-time author. In 2010 Sufiya set up the BIBI Foundation, a non-profit organisation, to arrange visits to the Houses of Parliament for diverse and underprivileged school children.

Reviews

[Emily Shilling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features 6 heroes and 6 legendary superheroes from ancient tales. The stories come from varying cultures, histories, and religions and features both men and women heroes. Each story follows a character through their journey. The 6 stories are as follows: Jua Mulan (from a Chinese ballad), Hanuman (the Indian monkey-God from the Ramayana), Inanna (Sumerian goddess), Shahrazad (the middle-eastern queen from a Thousand and One Nights), Loki, and Anansi (the African spider trickster-god of Ghana). Each story has a slightly different structure as it is written and illustrated by different artists and writers. The writers have retold traditional tales which are being passed through many generations. The use of character is very strong and clear in every story. Each character gives the story a sense of purpose. For example, Hanuman is a great God from the Hindu religion, and the tale of Mulan is taken from China. Thus, all characters are culturally and religiously diverse which gives the book a very well-rounded feel.

[Olivia Dodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overview –

Each tale within this storybook is from a different area of the globe. Every one of these tales, and the background and culture behind it, could be used to form the basis and starting point for a topic. There is a use of both male and female super heroes, representing a good level of diversity throughout all of the tales. I believe these tales would be good to read aloud to the whole class or whole groups as you could bring them to life through the use of different voices for each of the characters. Children could also bring these stories to life themselves by turning them into drama pieces. Other than characters names, the language used throughout all six tales is relatively simple, allowing children to be able to read the book for themselves without much support from an adult or class teacher.

The Legend of Hua Mulan –

This story follows a young woman, Mulan, who takes her father’s place as a solider in the war. She then goes on to lead thousands of men into many battles until she is promoted to the Commander of the Imperial Army by the Emperor. The illustrations in this short tale are clear and support the text by representing the main point of the text on each page. This tale is a clear example of how women can be appreciated just as much as men when at work and can reach the same rank, if not higher than others regardless of their gender.

Hanuman Demon Fighter –

This story follows two young brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, and their mission to rescue Rama’s wife from the evil King Ravana. The tale follows their journey and the obstacles the brothers face. The illustrations in this tale are drawn in a traditional Indian style to reflect the fact that this is a tale from India. The message I believe children should take from this story is that they should never give in to bullies and in the end good will always come from a seemingly bad situation.

Inanna in the Underworld –

This story follows Queen of Heaven and Earth, Inanna, her journey to the underworld and her struggle in being able to return to Heaven and Earth. In the illustrations throughout this short tale the darkness of the colours represents and mirrors the predicament Queen Inanna finds herself in. The colours are bright when she is safe and happy and dark when she is trapped and scared. The colours could also be seen to represent the darkness of the underworld compared to heaven and earth.

Shahrazad the Storyteller –

This short tale focuses on Shahrazad and how she avoids being beheaded by the King by telling stories every night until the King falls in love with her and lets her stand beside him as Queen. The illustrations throughout this tale are abstract and colourful. I believe that the message in this story is to show children that books can bring all people together and give them something to get to know and bond with each other over.

Loki and the Magical Hammer –

This story follows two men, Thor and Loki, and how Loki took Thor’s wife’s hair. The story progresses to see how Loki gets the dwarfs to weave Sif a beautiful new head of hair. The moral of this story is that children should always be nice to those around them because at some point the bad things they do will catch up with them and they will have to recompense for what they have done.

Anansi the Spider-Man –

This tale is about a spider and his desire to share stories with the world. However, in order to do this, he had to pay the price by collecting three things. This is a lesson that shows children how not everything in life is free and how somethings they really want will sometimes come at a price.

[Ché Constable · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of traditional tales is an amazing addition I have to my teaching collection. I feel that each of the stories within this book have valuable messages to help children, exploring these in the classroom context would be super useful.

Personal favourite:
Shahrazad the Storyteller

[Dana Lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book contained 6 stories from a variety of backgrounds. It would be a useful book to use in a classroom to explore things like differing cultures and their stories.
The stories may be more challenging for younger children but this book contains lovely illustrations. I also like that the book gives some background to each story.

[Charlotte Yardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst there are only five stories within the book - each tale is selected from a different region or area around the world. I personally like how it tells the reader the origin of the story, in an educational setting this can form the basis of a topic. However, I feel as though these stories are more suited to be read aloud rather than read alone. I feel as though reading these stories aloud would bring them more to life (with the addition of voices and actions). Furthermore, I enjoyed the variation of the superheroeos - ensuring that both male and female superheroes were included.

[Mr Bramley · Rating 2 out of 5]

- this book was on my summer reading list for Uni -

I'm not particularly sold on this one unfortunately. I get the intention, and I definitely think that classrooms need more of what this book tried to do: a good diversity of stories geographically and culturally, and a different understanding of what a hero really is.

However, compared to some other books of traditional tales that I've read that also did the same thing, I found this particular collection to be a little underwhelming.
It's representation was limited, the 'different' heroes weren't convincingly portrayed (it would be almost entirely up to the teaching to provide this context), and the writing style wasn't as clear or enchanting as others I've read.

I did enjoy a couple of the stories enough to possibly use in future though:

'Shahrazad the Storyteller' was my favourite. If all the stories had been like this one I would have been much happier. The strong female lead, the moral, and the redemption of the villain all worked well together to offer a story for children to really think about.

'The Legend of Hua Milan' was well written. This story is a little more well known, so I think holds a lot of potential to be written in a much more gender-explorative way, but I did also appreciate the simplicity of its moral and subtle but firm feminist approach in this retelling.

And 'Hanuman, Demon Fighter' was also a great epic tale for children to enjoy. I do think it tried to push a /lot/ of detail into a story short enough to fit with the others, which could lead to a lot of confusion and questions from children. So I would encourage any teacher using this to fully research the story, and maybe make a topic of learning out of it, its origins and it's morals, rather than a one off story. (I also particularly loved the artwork on this one!!)

[Milly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains tales from all over the world and can be used in many different ways. It can be used to introduce topics and can be used throughout the topics as well. It can be used cross curricular as I would love to use this as a basis of an art lesson and get the children to create their own drawings. It can be used to teach about a range of cultures and would be a good book to read aloud to the children and really bring the book to life. Using it over the year and learning about all different cultures within the book will ensure the children are given a broad range of different cultures they have learnt about. I would aim this book at upper key stage 2 and if used in a PSHE lesson it could really bring through some interesting ideas and brilliant discussions.

[Rosie Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains six stories from around the world with fantastic illustrations. There's a use of female and male protagonist hero's throughout the stories which provides a good diversity. I especially liked the story of The Legend of Hua Malan and can create discussion within the classroom. This book can create cross-curricular opportunities as in drama children could act out scenes from the story or the book can be linked to RE or Geography.

[Varda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful, the illustrations brining each story and culture to life! It was also an interesting way to frame a collection of myths and legends as superheroes, and it makes you think of the characters in a different light.

[Gareth Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of folk tales from around the world, focused on individual heroes as protagonists. The protagonists are a nice variety of heroes, some male, some female and of varying ages, I think this is important as it teaches the lesson that no matter who you are you can still make a difference. What makes this collection more interesting and adds to the feeling of variety is that each story is written and illustrated by different authors. Each story is well written, but ultimately in a different style to the previous, leaving not only the reader being able to identify with some heroes more than others, but also finding the writing of one author resonating more than another.

I do, however, find the concept not too indifferent to other story collections for children and the stories themselves are a basic version of the ‘originals’. I am careful to use the word original when referring to folk tales as they were often spread by word of mouth, resulting in many different versions, google ‘The Emperor's New Clothes’ if you would like examples of how many versions of one story you can find. Due to my opinion that the stories are basic versions of the originals, I find that this book would be a wonderful addition to the library of younger children, and they would get great satisfaction from having the stories read to them, although potentially not stretching the imagination and creativity of children as they start to grow older. That said, a great springboard of a book to kick-start children's appreciation of folk tales from around the world.

From a teacher's perspective the stories could be used in a variety of ways, I have personally used a couple of the stories to start P4C (Philosophy for Children) discussions which have worked really well. I have also used the story of Mulan from the book to lead onto creative writing, allowing the children to create and write their own endings. One qualm I have with teaching with this book is its failure to acknowledge the past tense of the origins of the stories, this coupled with the vivid colourful illustrations of the cultures around the world may lead children to believe that everyone that lives in India, for example, dresses and looks this way. Personally this goes against my personal belief that as much as we should celebrate and appreciate other cultures, we should also expose children to the reality that the majority of people in the world dress the same and behave the same, and we are not as different as they may believe. That however, is a pedagogical choice and easy to overcome.

Overall, I think it’s a lovely book, to be enjoyed by younger children and a great addition to the classroom, the stories are sweet and simple and can be used as a springboard for the exploration of other folk tales and stories from around the world.

[Alisha Oakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this beautiful collection of stories and the charming illustrations! This book shows an appreciation of different countries and cultures, with stories from all over the world that the children may or may not be familiar with, exposing them to many different themes such as loyalty, love, and bravery. I particularly enjoyed the story of Hanuman, Demon Fighter, which I was familiar with already but was cleverly retold in this book. I thought this book would be a great story time book or could be used in literacy and writing.
Each tale followed the story of a different character, from a different place, such as Loki from Scandinavia and Anansi from Ghana. I think the retelling of old tales is an excellent idea as it exposes children to a range of new texts and stories that they may not have heard before. Although Mulan has been made into a Disney movie, I think it is important for children to fully appreciate its roots and that it has been passed down through generation upon generation. The stories, however had been condensed to fit into 6 pages each which I think led to a lot of detail being packed into a few sentences, which may lead to misconceptions, which would be unfortunate as each of these tales provides a rich dose of history and culture. This creates the need for increased teacher input; for the books to be fully appreciated, I think they need to be taught in context. This book really opened my eyes to the idea of using books from all over the world in my teaching, and this is definitely something I now value strongly.
While reading, I thought about how this book could be useful for older EAL students, as they may be familiar with the stories (the stories may even be from their own culture!), so they will be able to follow the story and pick up some new English vocabulary. The beautiful illustrations will also help them deduce the meaning of the words. I also thought this book created lots of cross-curricular links, for example, to RE, history and art. There are clear links to RE and history, due to the age of some of the stories and the cultural nature of the tales, and I would love to see some children’s interpretations of some of the characters, such as Ravana, with his 10 heads and 20 arms!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brings together six traditional tales from around the world, all of which feature a “superhero” and their adventures in overcoming adversity or outwitting villains. There is “The Legend of Hua Mulan” (from China), “Hanuman, Demon Fighter” (from India), “Inanna in the Underworld” (from Ancient Sumer), “Shahrazad the Storyteller” (from the Middle East), “Loki and the Magical Hammer” (from Scandinavia) and “Anansi the Spider-Man” (from Ghana). I picked it up because I loved this idea of extending the concept of “superheroes” beyond the white, male archetype that often fixates on physical strength.

For this reason, my favourite story was “Shahrazad the Storyteller”, as Shahrazad is a “hero” as a result of her intelligence and eloquence rather than fighting. She charms King Shahriyar with one thousand exciting stories over the course of one thousand nights and escapes the fate of being killed by him. I was already familiar with the “tales of 1001 nights” but found this to be a succinct and effective retelling for the context.

I also particularly enjoyed “Anansi the Spider-Man”, where Anansi, the spider son of the sky god, uses cunning tactics to free all of the world’s stories from a locked box kept by his father. It certainly challenges the Hollywood image of “Spider-man” but is just as full of excitement and wonder.

This would be an excellent feature of a reading corner in KS2 or to use as a whole class to talk about stereotypes and different cultures. Some of the vocabulary is challenging (including some long, unfamiliar character names) but the individual stories could also be read aloud and/or discussed with younger year groups. I found “Hanuman, Demon Fighter” a little hard to keep up with but (as with all the tales) the illustrations helped carry the storytelling.

David Solomons writes in the introduction that “If you imagined that being a superhero was all about super-strength and super-speed, then you only know half the story”. The overall message of the text is that there is power in intelligence, hard work, wit and kindness. Alongside the fact that it incorporates a diverse range of voices and traditions, it is a great resource.

[Chloe Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lovely collection of superhero stories is the perfect addition to any classroom.
The tales come from a variety of different cultures and can expose children to stories from all around the world from a young age. Some of the stories such as the story of Mulan and Loki the children may already be familiar with, but may not know where they have come from. It would also be good for children in the classroom who come from different backgrounds as they may want to share stories from their own cultures and therefore feel their cultures are valued.
It could also form the basis of a research project about stories around the world, and children could find other stories not mentioned in this book to adapt and write in their own words.
Some of my favourites that would be great to use in the classroom are ‘Shahrazad the Storyteller’ and ‘Anansi the Spider-Man’ as they both emphasise the importance of telling stories and the impact storytelling has. This could help to reinforce the reading attitudes of the classroom and put the value of reading and stories into context.
Overall I would love to base a unit of work on this book as there is so much to be explored both in the stories and the beautiful illustrations, which could be analysed deeper to look at the symbolism of colour and the effects of images alongside text.

[Matthew Duigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The six-short tales in this book are perfect for children of the primary age range with every one of them having a powerful message and meaning behind them. The tale I chose was ‘Shahrazad The Storyteller’. The reason I chose this tale is because it starts off by pulling the reader in with its dark and terrifying opening. It leaves the reader wanting to find out exactly why King Shahriyar would even think about committing such horrific crimes and if the royal minster’s daughters were ever going to be safe.

A theme that is apparent throughout is the theme of womanhood and how women can be just as strong willed and brave as men can. Shahrazad’s courage and bravery are clear to see, as well as her determination to put an end to this horrific law that the King has in place and bring peace to the women of their land. The ending is a welcome one, with the importance of storytelling being the main focus, as telling stories and spreading positivity and happiness is one of the key elements to a happy and content lifestyle.

[Thomas Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about a series of tales about superheroes from authors all around the world, sharing their ability to tell an interesting story whilst sharing a love and affection for superheroes. All the stories are accompanied with a brilliant array of illustrations to support the telling of the story as well as the culture from where the story originates. The book also contains a chapter near the end that depicts the origins of where these tales came from, this is a nice touch as it can demonstrate how and where inspiration can be drawn and what their superpowers. The focus on different regions and their cultures is an interesting approach to reading the stories, as you look for the influences in pop culture and their own. The book demonstrates the universal nature of superheroes and although they might vary across the world, the general concept of what a superhero is or represents is shared by all.

[Hayley Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of tales. I really enjoyed Hua Mulan, Shahrazed and Anansi. All three of these stories show the heroes trying to do something for others, Mulan saves her father, shahrazed saves her sister and other girls across the land, Anansi brings the gift of stories to the world.
The story is well illustrated and would be useful to use with key stage 2 children. It provides a good range of diversity both geographically and culturally and I think used within a class there would be a tale for everyone. I think these stories would be good to get children thinking about different characters as well.

[Immy]

I love this book.
The illustrations are beautiful and engaging for all readers.

The collection of stories itself are a range of recognisable (like Mulan or Thor's hammer) and some unknown stories.

The mix of cultural, traditional tales is great for EAL students, as they may know these tales from their own countries. But if not, it allows the story to be equally accessible to all students as they have no prior knowledge.

A lovely read, and a great basis for children to write their own adventure stories.

So nice to have a book of traditional tales that stray from the usual culprits. Reminds me of Hans Christian Anderson in its wholesome storytelling.

[Niamh Arnott]

This book of 6 traditional tales illustrates and portrays all different cultural backgrounds beautifully. It creates many opportunities for cross-curricular because the high quality texts draw upon, RE, History and Geography but only as a starting basis for a topic. As it draws upon their cultural differences, however, as these traditional tales have been retold by different authors; other versions may confuse children as parts may get missed out. This book needs prior knowledge regarding the mythical legends - making it a good guided reading book for KS2.

[Mafaz Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a beautiful collection of tales. I liked all of them but my top favourite are Hua Mulan, Shahrazed and Anansi. All three of these stories show the heroes trying to do something for others, Mulan saves her father, shahrazed saves her sister and other girls across the land, Anansi brings the gift of stories to the world.
The illustrations are great and would recommend for year 4-6 .The book covers diversity and can be used to educate children about cultures.

[Olivia Tempest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology contains 6 short stories from across the globe bound with wonderful illustrations. When reading the stories there were so many opportunities for cross-curricular links and ideas for thematic planning. These high-quality stories offers stimulus for good Literacy teaching, and can remain central for a variety of subjects: History, Geography, RE.

[Grace Steed · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 tales of superheroes from traditional tales all over the world. Beautifully illustrated.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book of tales, all culturally different from every corner of the world. It shows diversity in different countries' religion and backgrounds, and provide meaningful messages for children. They are great contextual tales for all ages and aspects of the curriculum.

[Carla Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladybird Tales of Super Heroes extended diary entry

What is the book about ?
Ladybird Tales of Super heroes is a book written by David Solomons and includes 6 short stories about different ‘Larger than life’ heroes. The short stories all share the idea that heroes don't have to look like typical superheroes, it can be just everyday people doing heroic things. Each of different cultures and religions .The stories all focus on a moral that you discover by the end of reading the stories.



Likes and dislikes
One of my favourite parts of this book is the fact that the different heroes are a variety of different cultures and races, making the book extremely inclusive for everyone who reads it. My favourite short story in the book is ‘The legend of Hua Mulan’. Which is a story that identifies that women can be soldiers and therefore it's not just a job for men. It also expresses the importance of family and the people you love. One dislike that I have for this book is that the traditional tales were at times a little confusing as the writing style isn't that clear.



Any Patterns or puzzles in the novel ?
One pattern that repeats throughout the stories is the use of unusual names and some quite advanced vocabulary, this makes it inaccessible to some lower ability children or to younger age groups. Another pattern throughout this book is the lovely illustrations that really bring the stories to life.



Teaching opportunities using this novel.

There are various teaching opportunities throughout this novel, which could be cross curricular tasks, or tasks for a specific subject.These tasks will support children as readers and writers. Some examples of these include:

English:
Children could create their own short story taking inspiration from one, are from all of the traditional tales.
Analysis a page or small section of a story to identify techniques that the authors has used to have an impact on the reader.

Extra Curricular:
Act out one of the storys, either as a whole class or in small groups.
There is an opportunity for a geography lesson based on one of the countries or places such as India or Scandinavia.
History lesson into one of the stories such as ‘Akan people’ of Ghana.
Art lesson, where children create a piece of artwork based on the cultures explored in the book.

[Lauryn Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this book for the culturally diverse messages that arise from it - that each and every person, as well as cultures, should be celebrated. The approach the authors have taken in order to make the tales child friendly is excellent and would provide great support when looking to strengthen a PHSE/ topic lesson in a primary classroom setting. However, I think this book/ stories would be best shared with a group, where drama can play a huge part in acting out the stories and physically connecting to the cultures and different characters in order to make them come alive.

[Chloë Boffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a six stories about male and female cultural legends from around the world. Although this is a book I wouldn’t normally chose to read, it would be great to link to RE and PSHE to support children’s understanding of cultural differences. However, children would need prior knowledge of the mythical legends before being able to read and thoroughly engage in these stories independently. It would also be an effective guided reading book for KS2 to explore.