"One story always leads to the next," says DeSpain in his preface. And he should know. For nearly a generation and a half, DeSpain has been traversing the country telling stories to teachers, librarians, and especially to children of all ages. Nine of his all-time favorite stories are included here:
A Russian soldier inherits a musty old book that changes his life.
An orphan girl finds that her beauty can be a curse and begins to feel that life is just one test after another.
old Irishman meets his match in a very little fellow.
In Spain, a girl discovers enchanted ways to be helpful around the house—and is rewarded beyond her dreams.
Stories from the Cherokee people, Japan, Germany, and Holland give this book DeSpain's trademark round-the-world feel. The stories are short enough to read at bedtime and fascinating enough for a third-grader to read independently.
REVIEWS
The Story Bag
"This is the seventh volume of Pleasant DeSpain's "Books of Nine Lives" series. DeSpain has long been a favorite of kids, teachers and storytellers for retelling and publishing well-known and well-loved stories from many cultures in a kid-friendly, easy-read format. Now he has taken those tales from his other volumes, added some new ones, and repackaged them in several slim books, each containing nine stories on a central theme. The books themselves are small in size, easily taken along in a backpack or tote, inviting casual reading and sharing. The stories range from four to six pages, just right for a bite-sized story experience. This collection contains stories from Holland, Germany, Russia, Norway, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Denmark and the Cree Nation. All of the stories have magic, spells and enchantments of some sort, and all have a moral (not heavy-handed, but present all the same). Leprechauns, elves, magic spinners, demons, star boys, storm spirits, angels and dwarfs inhabit these enchanting tales. Pen-and-ink illustrations by Don Bell are just right."
