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National Geographic Timeless Tales
Treasury of Magical Tales From Around the World: Enchanting Tales from Around the World
A flower-spouting princess, gobbling prince, emerald-winged fairy, foolish giants, fearsome ogres, and talking frog and fish are just a few of the captivating characters found in this anthology of beloved stories from 29 places around the world, from the Arctic to Africa to Asia to Australia to Europe to the Americas.
Meet a sailor with an ogre wife in a story from China, a young girl who outsmarts giants in a tale from Fiji, a clever rooster seeking its fortune in a tale from Morocco, a music-playing jaguar in a story from Ecuador, and princes turned to statues in a story from Italy.
Donna Jo Napoli’s powerful storytelling makes these stories fresh and fun, and Christina Balit’s dazzling illustrations make this book a true treasure—a very special gift and a must-have for family bookshelves.
Complete your National Geographic Treasury collection with these popular titles:
Treasury of Greek Mythology
Treasury of Egyptian Mythology
Treasury of Norse Mythology
Tales from the Arabian Nights
Treasury of Bible Stories
Meet a sailor with an ogre wife in a story from China, a young girl who outsmarts giants in a tale from Fiji, a clever rooster seeking its fortune in a tale from Morocco, a music-playing jaguar in a story from Ecuador, and princes turned to statues in a story from Italy.
Donna Jo Napoli’s powerful storytelling makes these stories fresh and fun, and Christina Balit’s dazzling illustrations make this book a true treasure—a very special gift and a must-have for family bookshelves.
Complete your National Geographic Treasury collection with these popular titles:
Treasury of Greek Mythology
Treasury of Egyptian Mythology
Treasury of Norse Mythology
Tales from the Arabian Nights
Treasury of Bible Stories
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2021
4 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Donna Jo Napoli
138 books1,112 followersDonna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 23, 2021
Wonderful collection of magical stories from around the world - love the map at the end that shows where each tale is from. Plenty of humor and adventure in these short stories that capture the history of so many peoples.
August 18, 2022
Beautiful, colorful illustrations augment these 29 tales, each in contemporary language. Story map, introduction, afterword, bibliography, and index support the tales, each 4-6 pages long with a 2-page illustration to begin. A small fact box is included for each story, bringing the real world alongside the tale.
Illustrations may sometimes be awkwardly angular, yet the language should be understandable for today's children. Unfortunately I found the large format heavy on my adult lap and were I to share the group size pictures for a read aloud, the book is too heavy to use that way for very long.
Illustrations may sometimes be awkwardly angular, yet the language should be understandable for today's children. Unfortunately I found the large format heavy on my adult lap and were I to share the group size pictures for a read aloud, the book is too heavy to use that way for very long.
March 11, 2025
4 bintang
Anak suka dibacakan dongeng sebelum tidur? Buku ini bisa banget jadi pilihan apalagi dongeng-dongengnya dari seluruh penjuru dunia. Sama seperti buku Mitologi Yunani/Norse/Mesir dan Kisah 1001 Malam, Donna Jo Napoli kali ini menceritakan kembali dongeng - dongeng yang tentunya dilengkapi dengan ilustrasi unik dari Christina Ballit. Pemilihan dongengnya pun cukup kaya dan banyak dongeng yang baru gue tahu dari buku ini. Sebelum menceritakan dongeng, ada pembuka dari Napoli yang menurut gue juga sarat informasi utamanya dalam membedakan asal muasal dongeng dan mitologi. Dimana kalau mitologi lebih fokus ke menjelaskan asal mula atau sebab akibat sebuat fenomena alam, maka dongeng biasanya menceritakan hal - hal yang memuat pesan moral.
Dongeng (atau cerita rakyat) di buku ini bermula dari benua Eropa, untuk kemudian melaju ke Afrika, Asia, Amerika, Antartika dan bahkan dongeng dari kepulauan oceania. Yang bikin seneng, ada juga dongeng dari Indonesia walau ketika gue baca, hmm kayaknya ini dongeng orang Bali. Yah, mungkin karena Indonesia emang dikenal sama orang - orang di belahan dunia lain itu ya pulau Balinya. Penceritaannya sendiri semuanya menarik dan juga interaktif. Pembaca seakan dibuat terbuai dengan narasi Napoli tapi juga bisa menceritakan kembali isi dongeng ini sama orang lain dengan cara mereka sendiri. Ini yang diinginkan Napoli juga di awal bukunya, untuk membuat buku ini tidak hanya sekedar kumpulan cerita rakyat biasa tapi juga bisa diceritakan entah itu ke anak - anak atau orang tersayang dengan cara yang menyenangkan.
Buku yang menurut gue wajib banget dikoleksi terlepas dari kamu suka sama cerita rakyat atau tidak. Bahkan buku ini juga bisa jadi referensi lho, karena di akhir buku, Napoli juga memberikan referensi darimana dongeng - dongeng di buku ini diceritakan kembali. Pun ga cuma dongeng, karena banyak juga trivia - trivia menarik ala natgeo yang disematkan di dalam penceritaan dongeng. Buku yang sangat gue rekomendasikan!!
Anak suka dibacakan dongeng sebelum tidur? Buku ini bisa banget jadi pilihan apalagi dongeng-dongengnya dari seluruh penjuru dunia. Sama seperti buku Mitologi Yunani/Norse/Mesir dan Kisah 1001 Malam, Donna Jo Napoli kali ini menceritakan kembali dongeng - dongeng yang tentunya dilengkapi dengan ilustrasi unik dari Christina Ballit. Pemilihan dongengnya pun cukup kaya dan banyak dongeng yang baru gue tahu dari buku ini. Sebelum menceritakan dongeng, ada pembuka dari Napoli yang menurut gue juga sarat informasi utamanya dalam membedakan asal muasal dongeng dan mitologi. Dimana kalau mitologi lebih fokus ke menjelaskan asal mula atau sebab akibat sebuat fenomena alam, maka dongeng biasanya menceritakan hal - hal yang memuat pesan moral.
Dongeng (atau cerita rakyat) di buku ini bermula dari benua Eropa, untuk kemudian melaju ke Afrika, Asia, Amerika, Antartika dan bahkan dongeng dari kepulauan oceania. Yang bikin seneng, ada juga dongeng dari Indonesia walau ketika gue baca, hmm kayaknya ini dongeng orang Bali. Yah, mungkin karena Indonesia emang dikenal sama orang - orang di belahan dunia lain itu ya pulau Balinya. Penceritaannya sendiri semuanya menarik dan juga interaktif. Pembaca seakan dibuat terbuai dengan narasi Napoli tapi juga bisa menceritakan kembali isi dongeng ini sama orang lain dengan cara mereka sendiri. Ini yang diinginkan Napoli juga di awal bukunya, untuk membuat buku ini tidak hanya sekedar kumpulan cerita rakyat biasa tapi juga bisa diceritakan entah itu ke anak - anak atau orang tersayang dengan cara yang menyenangkan.
Buku yang menurut gue wajib banget dikoleksi terlepas dari kamu suka sama cerita rakyat atau tidak. Bahkan buku ini juga bisa jadi referensi lho, karena di akhir buku, Napoli juga memberikan referensi darimana dongeng - dongeng di buku ini diceritakan kembali. Pun ga cuma dongeng, karena banyak juga trivia - trivia menarik ala natgeo yang disematkan di dalam penceritaan dongeng. Buku yang sangat gue rekomendasikan!!
January 16, 2022
I'm so sorry to see Treasury of Magical Tales From Around the World has so few reviews, because it's a very nice collection of stories truly from around the world - Italy, England, Hungary, Morocco, Angola, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Kurdistan, Turkey, Jewish Diaspora, Russia, Chukchi, Korea, Japan, China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Sioux, Cheyenne, Inuit. The illustrations are very attractive, and the book includes a story map for the kids, and a bibliography for the parents looking for more stories.
April 23, 2023
This anthology of folktales introduces a host of magical characters in twenty-nine lesser-known stories from arounds the world, including “The Mundopuma” (Ecuador), “Bunbuku the Teakettle” (Japan), and “Princess Golden Flower” (Thailand). Each of Donna Jo Napoli’s well-told tales includes a sidebar with contextual information and is embellished by Christina Balit’s colorful, stylized artwork. (Gr 3 Up)
December 4, 2021
Audiobook was a joy. My 8 year old and I listened to it together
August 18, 2022
If I could give this book a 10, I would. The stories truly are magical and the Christina Balit illustrations are amazing. This is a book I am going to want to buy.
November 1, 2022
Many unique stories. Tells what part of the world the story originated. Includes a cultural tidbit to help understand the tale's perspective.
Most stories are short.
Most stories are short.
April 30, 2024
I think that this book is fascinating!
May 31, 2022
I love the Treasury series from National Geographic because it gives such a beautiful glimpse into whatever the topic of the book is. This one focused on tales from around the world and included stories from 29 places, “from the Arctic to Africa to Asia to Australia to Europe to the Americas.” This book is THE book of magical tales you want on your book shelf for your kids/students as it removes the Eurocentrism of fairy tales and takes readers on a journey through stories all over the world. And it is written by Donna Jo Napoli, so you know it is beautifully crafted! (And there was a review that said the audiobook was good; I now want to go listen to it!)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews