Super great kids' stories from story tellers around the world by Kim Normanton, curator

Springing from the award-winning podcast of the same name, this collection of traditional tales and folk stories from around the world is nothing short of read aloud perfection. Each story starts with a solid hook, engages the reader throughout with carefully-curated suspense and just enough detail and then finishes things off neatly and usually with a reader appeal that encourages thoughtful conversation or contemplation about the onus to continue the oral storytelling tradition. As Normanton said: "Telling traditional tales has been a neglected art, but there's growing interest in celebrating diverse cultures, and a raised awareness about the need to improve our children's speaking skills". These stories have rich language and encourage retelling and reinvention.

Normanton is an early-years expert and radio producer and has compiled this book from the podcast stories told by a diverse array of expert storytellers from around the world. These are expert, celebrated oral storytellers, which makes both the podcast and the written versions, incredibly punchy stories purpose built for reading aloud. The Year 1 and 2 students that I have tested these stories out on are desperately hungry for more, sit enthralled and hang on each and every word and even enjoy the tidbits of factual information about the origins and cultural history of each story. 

Organised into 5 continent sections, each continent has about 6 stories from various countries. Some are funny, some are magical, many are moralistic, some are creation or origin stories and all are well-told. Beautiful illustrations accompany each tale and they are all of a similar length, making for about a five- to ten-minute read. There is a follow-up book scheduled for publication in 2027. Information about the storytellers and the podcast are available here.

Themes: Traditional tales.

Nicole Nelson