gill's story circle book list
these are the books on my (growing & groaning) story circle shelves...
IMPOrtANT!
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Story Circle's very first audio book! You can hear me read you the story of Finn McCool dressing up as a ginormous baby to escape his giant enemy.... Just under 18 mins of bedtime / car journey / calming down silly fun...
This is a GORGEOUS book. It was my birthday treat to myself this December and it's where our final Story Circle story comes from in 2018. Stories from all over the world, cheerful and warming, with unusually charming illustrations from a host of artists. This one is a definite keeper and a real joy.
You will not believe how much fun these things generate. There's a billion games and uses - for kids, adults, teams and more. I'll add some variations elsewhere on this page, but these are great quality and well worth it. (£9.
This is a BRILLIANT read! So glad I bought it.
With great illustrations, here's the place to find out all the best monsters, gods, weapons, world creation / world end myths and a load of stuff even I didn't know.
Totally suitable for 7+ and if you've younger ones and know me, have a flick through my copy to check (if you're honestly not just buying it for yourself....)
Bigger than the standard, lovely chunky wooden story dice & covered in images from fairy tale (secretly these are my favourites!)
It was a gift. From me. To me. It's great. One for grown ups or teens/young adults really interested in the non-fiction side of these fictions (or ARE they?!).
Cresswell covers dragons, big cats, Nessie(s), griffins, unicorns and yales. What are THEY? You'll have to read it to find out....
Packed with great pics (from the Starbucks logo to Arthur Rackham), it's a slim volume full of fascination.
Love this. (1) a brilliant gift for ANY child. (2) gender-free/neutral (3) a total "how to" for kids easily into early teens (and the only barrier after that is design style). (4) Its tone is marvellous. Basically, if you get this for Christmas, you may not see your child til New Year (and then be greeted by a novel or 6). It does some of the stuff we do - consider place, person, needs, context, barriers, the world of the story - Big Big Thumbs Up....
Dragons, Ogres and Wicked Witches
Exactly the kind of book I grew up with. Smashing illustrations (all colour!),stories you won't have heard before, from all over the world, and fun of well-rounded, confusingly odd people and beasts who are driven by odd motivations in strange places, and magic can appear at any moment. From Arabia, Sweden, Italy, France, Lithuania Scotland, Iceland, Slovenia, Bohemia - you get the idea - European folk and faerie: it's great.
Breverton's Phantasmagoria
Such a dipper-inner, it was on my Christmas list. No stories here, just info aplenty about mythical creatures, people, tales of secret treasure, flying beasties and all the rest. A real loo-side / train-reader's companion, but fascinating stuff to share with the kids in dull moments. Can't recommend this enough (like all of these!)
More for adults and older children, because of its length and sense print, but packed with fascinating stories about how the earth was created. A great source of inspiration and ideas!
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Got a young graphic novel/comic fan in the house? This is a superb way of telling the Arthurian myth - either reading out loud, or leaving older ones alone with it.
Funny pictures accompany the story (not unlike Mr Benn style if you know that!), and perfect length for a chapter a night.
Yes, Morgan's a bad big sister, and yes, Lancelot and Guinevere are quite fond of each other, but it's all beautifully age-appropriate. Can't recommend it highly enough!
Myths & Legends
A wonderful introduction to myths and legends from all over the world.
It arranges these very readable tales by theme (creation, gods/spirits, epics, magic, life & love and destruction & death) and has handy lists and factoids on archeological finds or all the magical possessions you can think of.
A real keeper!
The kingfisher book of myths & legends
Beautifully crafted stories from a master storyteller. It's a visually dense read for the under 8s, but older children can gallop through this alone. Otherwise, it's one for adults to read from. These are not jolly tales - he goes into the drama, with serious tone, so this is on the more grown-up end of the spectrum. But as with all of these books, it's a cracking inspiration and reminder - and something for the biggies to enjoy, too.
Grimm's household tales
Who can resist this one? Peake illustrations of Grimm's tales. You guessed it - it was a gift! The pictures are amazing and the stories utterly bizarre. They might be some of the strange things that gave you funny dreams when you were small - The Mouse, The bird & The Sausage? The Twelve Huntsmen? The Nose-Tree? Like I said, who can resist?
The kingfisher book of myths & legends
Beautifully crafted stories from a master storyteller. It's a visually dense read for the under 8s, but older children can gallop through this alone. Otherwise, it's one for adults to read from. These are not jolly tales - he goes into the drama, with serious tone, so this is on the more grown-up end of the spectrum. But as with all of these books, it's a cracking inspiration and reminder - and something for the biggies to enjoy, too.
Zeus grants stupid wishes
FULL OF SWEARWORDS! AND RUDENESS! Grown-ups only, keep on a high shelf with the spine hidden. But it's genius. Cory O'Brien has waded through a lot of mythology, smashed a load of dense literature and brought out the gleaming pumpkins of brilliant story-heaven in this very witt, profane, disgusting, foul-mouthed book. Clearly not to everyone's taste, perhaps, but I cannot recommend it enough.
Audio books
I'm investigating putting Story Circle onto Audible, esp as I hear from many parents how they'd love to be able to give their children these stories in the car or at bedtime. There's only one story available so far (see Fear Fi Fo Fum above!) but here's a code for a free audiobook from Audible when you do a free 30-day trial (& you get to keep the book). Click the image above if you've not done this already...
Collected folk tales
If you were a child of the early 70s Alan Garner might be a familiar name. Yes, he wrote The Owl Service and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. He's a right old British landscape folk writer. This British folk tale collection has a gleeful note from Philip Pullman on the back, which should tell you all you need to know!These are strange tales, so - adults, you know the drill - always check them out first!