Finn MacCoul and His Fearless Wife A Giant Tale of a Tale from Ireland by Robert Byrd

 I own Tomie dePaola's version of this legend. 

The giant Finn MacCoul lives with his wife Oonagh on Knockmany Hill. As a chieftan of the Fianna, the Irish people respect him. While building a bridge to Scotland, Finn encounters a fierce Scots giant, Cucullin. Cucullin's plan is to "make paste of" Finn. Thankfully, Oonagh creates a clever plan to subdue Cucullin.

I love the big vibrant the illustrations.  

Read also Fin M'Coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie dePaola to compare. 

Consideration: Fairies and magic are the source of strength and aid in this story.

-Borrowed from the library.

Lucky Duck by Greg Pizzoli*

 Susan, the duck, is not having a good day. After each incident, she exclaims how she is unlucky. Then a wolf rings a doorbell and tells her she has won a soup pot. Throughout the day, he continues to drop in with more items that she has "won". The reader will be cringing at the duck's naivety! Just when the reader thinks he has predicted Susan's fate, the day really does transform into her lucky day!

Pair with My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza (I like My Lucky Day better.)

*Highly recommend.

Perfect for beginning/transitional readers.

-Borrowed from the library.

The Christmas Feast by Nathalie Dargent illustrated by Magali Le Huche*

 Originally published in France, Le Festin de Noel

Fox steals a turkey to contribute to the Christmas feast wolf, weasel and he are planning. To his surprise, the turkey is quite demanding and transforms their burrow . . .for many years.

Humorous! My favorite illustration is the one right before the end pages.

Pair with My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza.

-Borrowed from the library.

The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

I own Tops and Bottoms by this sister duo.  It is one of my favorite picture books! 
I enjoyed the opportunity to experience another fun tale featuring Bear and Hare.  Fox joins the story, trying to trick Bear.
Bear has once again fallen into a lazy routine, letting his farm become unproductive.  To jolt him out of his stupor, Fox gives him a "donkey egg", instructing him to keep it warm, safe and happy. 
Children will laugh at Bear taking care of the "egg" and be delighted at the story's conclusion.  Parents and teachers will appreciate how the authors incorporate math in a few "Did You Know?" text boxes.
-Borrowed from the library.

Zomo the Rabbit by Gerald McDermott*

A Trickster Tale from West Africa
Rabbit visits the Sky God, asking him for wisdom.  The Sky God sends him on a mission to complete three impossible tasks in order to obtain wisdom.
Funny and memorable!
My eight year old read this book to himself as part of our study of Ancient Africa.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.

Mr. Maxwell's Mouse by Frank Asch and Devin Asch*

I originally checked out this book because several sites/people recommended it as a mentor text for persuasive writing.  Although the mouse is persuasive in this story, this book serves as a mentor text for word choice and varying sentence lengths.
I can't wait to share it with my sons and fifth grade students!
Mentor text-persuasive writing, word choice, expanding vocabulary, varying sentence length
**Highly, highly recommend,
-Borrowed from the library (although I may want to buy it!).

Bearskin by Howard Pyle illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman*

When the king stops by a miller's home for the night, his wise man foretells that someday the king's daughter would marry the miller's son.  The king buys the baby from the miller to prevent this from occurring but his efforts are thwarted.
My boys loved listening to this story which includes cleverness, dragons, and magic.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
Ms. Hyman's illustrations are beautiful.  I like how her characters are from different races.

The Dancing Turtle by Pleasant DeSpain illustrated by David Boston*

"A Folktale from Brazil"
The turtle plays lovely music on her flute and then goes into a dance.  After dancing so exuberantly,  she tucks herself into her shell and sleeps.  Unbeknownst to her, a man has been watching her and while she sleeps, he grabs her and takes her home so he can make turtle soup.  He warns his children to leave her in her cage as he goes to work in the fields the next day.
Can turtle use her cleverness and gifts to outsmart the children and the man?  Or will she meet her demise in  . . turtle soup?!
I liked how the illustrator included a large assortment of animals in the background of each page.  I would have liked if a small illustration of each animal with a brief description would have been included in the back.
*Highly recommend.
Someone recently gave this book to the boys.

Jump On Over! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and His Family by Joel Chandler Harris adapted by Van Dyke Parks illustrated by Barry Moser

Five stories about Hominy Grove during the drought where Brer Rabbit continually outsmarts Brer Wolf, Brer Fox and Brer Bear.

This collection was my least favorite out of the ones we checked out of the library.

Warning/points to discuss: lying, tobacco plugs/chewing tobacco referenced often in the stories, in the last story Brer Fox willingly sold his wife and children for cornmeal.  He also treated his wife unkindly.
Borrowed from the library.

The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit retold by David Borgenicht illustrated by Don Daily*

After reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Thorton Burgess, my boys were reminiscing about a ride at Disney World that told the stories of Brer Rabbit.  So we checked out three books containing the classic tales collected by Joel Chandler Harris.
I like this one the best because of the illustrations.
Seven humorous stories will delight readers.
*Highly recommend.
Point to discuss/warning: These are trickster tales so the characters are not always honest.

Traveling Tom and the Leprechaun by Teresa Bateman illustrated by Melisande Potter

All the unmarried men try to win Princess Kathleen's hand in marriage but are unsuccessful.  She sets up a challenge: capture a leprechaun's pot of gold and she would marry the man.
Tom, a traveling minstrel, accepts the challenge and wins.  But in the end he is not quite sure if he is the victorious one as he watches the leprechaun embrace the freedom he once had!!

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute

I loved the illustrations-facial expressions especially.
Tom happens upon a leprechaun and thinks that he will be set for life with the leprechaun's riches.  The leprechaun has the last laugh, of course!!
Funny!
The author shares the history of the story, leprechauns,  and of Ireland in the back.

Iktomi Loses His Eyes by Paul Goble

Iktomi spies a man commanding his eyes to go different places and then return to their sockets.  The catch one can only do the trick four times a day; after that a terrible thing will happen. Of course, Iktomi, does not heed the warning and must pay the consequences.
Iktomi is quite arrogant and not a likable main character !
There are six other Iktomi "misadventures" which take place on the Plains.

Turtle's Race with Beaver by Joseph Bruchac and James Bruchac illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey

After winter turtle wakes up and swims up to the top of her pond to find it transform.  A beaver has built a dam and lodge in "her" pond and an argument ensues to determine who owns the pond.  To settle argument,  they decide to race each other.
A satisfying ending!
A traditional Seneca story