Eric A. Kimmel

A clever spider tricks Elephant and some other animals into thinking the melon in which he is hiding can talk.

Relates how the Jade Emperor chose twelve animals to represent the years in his calendar. Also discusses the Chinese calendar, zodiac, the qualities associated with each animal, and what animal rules the year in which the reader was born.

Anansi the Spider uses a strange moss-covered rock in the forest to trick all the other animals, until Little Bush Deer decides he needs to learn a lesson.

A simple, brief retelling of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem about the heroic efforts of Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, to save the people of Heorot Hall from the terrible monster, Grendel.

When a terrible witch vows to eat her for supper, a little girl escapes with the help of a towel and comb given to her by the witch's cat.

On the first night of Hanukkah, Old Bear wanders into Bubba Brayna's house and receives a delicious helping of potato latkes when she mistakes him for the rabbi. Includes a recipe for latkes.

A poor woodcutter discovers the hidden treasures of a band of robbers, survives great danger, and brings riches to his whole family.

During the Mexican Revolution, when a troop of hungry soldiers comes to a town where all the food has been hidden, they charm the townspeople into helping make a soup from water and a cactus thorn. Retelling of a European folktale.

Stranded on an iceberg on his way to America, Simon remembers his mother's parting words and lights the first candle on his menorah while praying for a miracle, which soon arrives in the form of a friendly polar bear.