April Release of Ancient and Epic Tales by Heather Forest Completes Award-Winning “Tales from Around the World” Trilogy of Multicultural Folktales for Kids
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) March 29, 2016 -- On April 7th, August House is thrilled to release the long-awaited final installment of the “Tales from Around the World” trilogy: Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World, written by award-winning author and storyteller Heather Forest. Ancient and Epic Tales explores multicultural folktales for kids through pivotal episodes from classic stories like Gilgamesh, Beowulf, The Odyssey, The Ramayana, Mwindo, The Kojiki, The Pyramid Texts, The Popol Vuh, and more.
Heather Forest explained that she carefully curated and crafted the stories in Ancient and Epic Tales so that each story would “stand alone as a tell-able piece” while still providing “the flavor of the bigger pieces.” Her effort makes it easier for children to enjoy the enormity and grandeur of the original epics in “bite-sized stories” that can be read in a single sitting.
In this final installment of the “Tales From Around the World” trilogy, Heather Forest made a concentrated effort to explore a wide range of multicultural folktales for kids. She emphasized that in Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World, she wanted to provide “a wider breath of material than just the western cannon of tales centered in the Middle East, the ‘Cradle’ of Civilization.” As a result, this collection of multicultural folktales for kids includes not only adaptations of episodes from popular stories like King Solomon, Aesop, and Sir Gawain, but also introduces episodes of lesser known yet important epic tales from Northern Wei China, Japanese mythology, Mayan Mesoamerica, the Orinoco River Basin, Aboriginal Australia, Soninke West Africa, Nyango Central Africa, and more. Forest noted, “I pushed into areas where I had not really been before. I went on a global romp. I must say that this was a grand adventure. It's a sweeping collection and I hope people enjoy it.”
This unique anthology of folktales for kids also includes an appendix with notes on the origin of each story and the history of these multicultural epics. Heather Forest emphasized that she created the supplemental material “to help people understand where each story fits into our global, multicultural landscape, and also how it made its way into literature.” The Notes and Bibliography section provides valuable learning resources for teachers, librarians, and parents who want to place these stories in a global context and make them more culturally meaningful for children.
Ancient and Epic Tales is preceded by Wonder Tales from Around the World (1995) and Wisdom Tales from Around the World (2005), also by Heather Forest. Both books have received numerous citations and honors. School Library Journal commended Heather Forest’s craft of multicultural folktales for kids in Wisdom Tales, pointing out that “Forest retells folktales, proverbs, and parables in a thoughtful and satisfying style that amuses as it deftly imparts lessons for living.”
In celebration of the April release of Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World, August House will be running the following series of ongoing festivities through the month of April:
1. A promotional giveaway of five copies of Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World through the August House Facebook page
http://www.fb.com/augusthouseinc
2. Downloadable sample stories from Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World, available through the August House website
http://www.augusthouse.com/#!ancient-and-epic-tales/c1xa1
3. Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World and a Heather Forest interview feature in its April Newsletter
http://www.augusthouse.com/#!newsletter-signup/c4m8
4. A promotional giveaway of five copies of Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the through a partnership with Teachingbooks.com http://www.teachingbooks.net
Ancient and Epic Tales From Around the World is available for purchase in hardback (ISBN 978-1941460351) and paperback (ISBN 978-1939160874) through Amazon (http://amzn.to/1RoiIcU), as well as though other booksellers.
Steve Floyd, August House, +1 (404) 442-4425, [email protected]
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