Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

In addition to her acclaimed performances on film—including her Academy Award-winning role in Roman Holiday—Audrey Hepburn was also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, an organization dedicated to the lives of children. As one of her final projects for young listeners, Hepburn left the world a treasure of exquisitely told fairy tales. This recording features Mary Sheldon's fresh adaptations of "Sleeping Beauty", "Tom Thumb", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Laidronette, Empress of the Pagodes."

Jataka Tales is a compilation of stories from an ancient collection of famous legends about the former lives of the Buddha on his long road to enlightenment. Suggestive of Aesop, these beloved fables are fragments of epics and hero tales arising from deep in the collective Indian past. They present challenging circumstances for humans and animals alike, events which elicit courage and the capacity to love. Centered in one of the world's oldest cities on the Ganges River, these delightful stories tell of dramatic adventures resolved by nonviolent, compassionate means.

Tales like "How the Leopard Got His Spots" and "How the Camel Got His Hump" answer questions only children would ask and answers them in a way only children would believe. Rudyard Kipling very much intended Just So Stories to be read aloud — and no one does it better than Carl Reiner, who brings each original story to life. A superbly amusing and entertaining experience, Kipling's Just So Stories is a children's literature classic that will delight both young and old alike. Stories in this collection are:

The evil Duke of cold Coffin Castle fancies he has frozen time by stopping all of the clocks. He is fearful that one day a Prince may come and win away the hand of his niece, beautiful Princess Saralinda—the only warm hand in the castle. Several suitors have tried to court the Princess, but the Duke assigns them impossible tasks to thwart that fate. A few days before Saralinda's twenty-first birthday, a mysterious prince arrives to complete a seemingly impossible task and free Saralinda from the clutches of her uncle.

Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer who made up special stories for children filled with sweetness and tenderness, as well as lessons about life. Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author and poet best remembered for his fairy tales with lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity. In this pairing of classics, Dudley Moore reads "The Happy Prince"— Oscar Wilde's tale of charity and loyalty—and David Dukes reads Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," a fable about a toy soldier's love for a paper ballerina.

Treasury of Classic Children's Stories is a delightful collection narrated by beloved entertainment icons. Bedtime and playtime will never be the same again as families gather to listen to classic tales brought to life by award-winning performers. Audrey Hepburn performs story adaptations by Mary Sheldon; John Ritter tells the story of Jack and the Beanstalk; Sharon Stone delivers an off-the-wall rendition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—as retold by Richard Hack—and Orson Welles performs the all-time favorite The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde.

A naughty white kitten, Sagwa, comes from a long line of royal Chinese cats. Her mischief changes the spirit of a cruel magistrate and helps shape the future for her ancestors. This beautiful story illustrates why Siamese cats are really Chinese cats and why their faces, ears, paws, and tails turn darker as they grow up.

> The Wonderful O tells of a man named Black who despised the letter "O". He deleted it from his language and omitted it from his words. Opals, moonstones, owls and oaks could not possibly be his items of choice. He preferred emeralds, rubies, sapphires and maps. At least they had no "O". Soon he wanted his entire village to omit the letter "O". But the villagers found words they would not do without HOPE, LOVE, VALOR, and the most important one of all.