KDL Recommends

A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit.
Lexile Level: 770
Guided Reading Level: N

A Mexican folk tale which explains why the weather vane has a little rooster on one end that spins around to let us know which way the wind is blowing.
Lexile Level: 680

A retelling of the traditional Persian tale in which Settareh, neglected and abused by her stepmother and stepsisters, finds her life transformed with the help of a little blue jug.
Lexile Level: 760

A Native American legend about a young boy and his magical pony.
Lexile Level: 610

A strange little man helps the miller’s daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child.

A magic red-fish and a beautiful golden sandal play their own special parts in bringing happiness to one young, motherless girl, in a Middle Eastern version of the Cinderella fable.
Lexile Level: 870

Glowing, full-color watercolor illustrations capture the essence of the ancient Chinese tale, which predates the familiar Western story of Cinderella.
Lexile Level: 840

A treasure trove of forty-three religious, wisdom, riddle, and trickster Jewish folktales are retold with simplicity and grace, making them perfect for performing and reading aloud.

In an African American version of the traditional tale, Leola disobeys her grandmother to explore the Pine Hollow Woods, only to be frightened by Ol’ Mister Weasel, and to seek shelter at the Honeybears’ deserted inn.
Lexile Level: 800

Although she is mocked and mistreated by her two older sisters, an Indian maiden wins a mighty invisible warrior for her husband with her kind and honest heart.
Lexile Level: 640

A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman and is duly rewarded.
Lexile Level: 940

After the frog turns into a prince, he and the Princess do not live happily ever after and the Prince decides to look for a witch to help him remedy the situation.
Lexile Level: 600

The wolf gives his own outlandish version of what really happened when he tangled with the three little pigs.
Lexile Level: 570

Mufaro’s two beautiful daughters, one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife.
Lexile Level: 720

Coyote arranges the stars in the shapes of his animal friends.
Lexile Level: 780
Guided Reading Level: M

This Eastern variation on the Grimm tale follows the misadventures of three children, left alone by their mother and visited by a wolf posing as their grandmother or Po Po.
Lexile Level: 670
Guided Reading Level: S