Have you ever played the game “Telephone,” where one person whispers a message and it travels around the circle until it comes back sounding completely different? Stories work the same way. As they’re passed from person to person—and from place to place—they stretch, twist, and grow into new versions. The stories in this book show just how powerful that “story grapevine” can be. Many of these tales have been traveling for hundreds of years. Some appear in different countries all over the world, each with its own special twist. All of them are fun to read aloud, and even more fun to tell in your own voice.

Anyone who teaches, lead, or speaks in public has had the experience of needing to fill short...

People everywhere tell stories. It’s something humans just do. We share stories that make us laugh, make us think, or simply sound wonderful when spoken aloud. Stories seem to pop up wherever people gather, and some are so powerful and meaningful that they travel far beyond the place where they were first told.

Maybe it’s a king who spills a drop of honey and refuses to clean it up—until that tiny mess grows into a giant problem. Maybe it’s some sandpipers and whales who start a silly argument that nearly destroys the place they all call home. Or maybe it’s a man who thinks a weapon will make him powerful, or a troop of monkeys who follow their leader into water that’s far too deep.

Moai is the Polynesian word for statue. Many archaeologist, linguists, and anthropologists from all...

The Nasca Lines were created nearly 2,000 years ago by the people who lived on the southern coast of...

In this exciting adventure, you'll encounter mighty canoes crashing over ocean waves, regal hawks...

What do you remember about your grandma? Let My Caribbean Grandma transport you on a delightful...

Do you know how many ways there are to enjoy delicious dumplings? Join ten families from different...

Kanzi's family has moved from Egypt to America, and on her first day in a new school, what she wants...

Amy loves to make bao with her family. But it takes skill to make the bao taste and look delicious.

A young boy, recently arrived from Korea, finds a glorious plum tree in his new backyard. It reminds...

The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar...

Lou Bulosan-Nelson has the ultimate summer DIY project. She's going to build her own "tiny house,"...

Manuela had imagined that killing a manatee would be like killing a very big fish, just more...

Third-grader EllRay, a "shrimpy, goof-up kid," discovers magic all around him when he and his...

On a day when Max doesn't feel like talking to anyone, a strong breeze shakes two heavy twigs to the...

Join Ellray Jakes on his journey through third grade in this new "Lively series"—Publishers Weekly

Like so many people during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Marshall Loman's dad has lost his job...

When a boy goes to the market to buy food and comes home with an old wok instead, his parents wonder what they'll eat for dinner.

Bobby isn't like his dad—a former pro football player who is now a stay-at-home father—and the two...

Modern-day kids uncover the story of their ancestor Everett Turner, a young man who was "born into...

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain describes in rhythmic, read-along verse how Ki-pat a resourceful...

In an original yarn of the Louisiana bayou, McKissack honors the tradition of bragging about the one...