Water Myths

When eight-year-old Kirstie brings home a strange egg from the Scottish shore, her family never expects it to hatch. But the next day, Kirstie discovers a baby sea monster swimming in her bathtub! Part horse, part toad, part turtle and part crocodile, he's the oddest-looking creature Kirstie's family has ever seen. Only Kirstie's grandfather knows what the beastie really is: a Water Horse! This lovable creature is the perfect pet. The only trouble is, he can't stop growing.

What magical beings inhabit Earth’s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. Here are seven tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Vividly imagined and written, they transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that the water of life would save him. Each one set out in turn. The two older ones, setting out in hopes of being the heir, were rude to a dwarf on the way and became trapped in ravines. When the youngest son went the dwarf asked where he was going, and he told him. The dwarf told him it was in a castle, and gave him an iron wand to open the gates and two loaves to feed to the lions inside. Then he had to get the water before the clock struck 12 when the gates would shut again.

In the bustling streets of Persia, Emperor Kosrouschah wanders in disguise and overhears three sisters dreaming out loud—one craving the royal baker, another the chief cook, and the youngest daring to wish for the emperor himself… and children touched by wonder: hair of gold and silver, tears like pearls, a smile like a rose.

Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle - their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle - and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic. Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets.

Of course, you must know what a microscope is, that round magnifying glass which makes everything look hundreds of times larger than it really is. If you take it and hold it close to your eye and look at a single drop of ditchwater, you'll see thousands of strange little creatures, such as you couldn't imagine living in a drop of water. But they are really there. They look almost like a plateful of shrimp, all jumping and crowding against each other, and they are so ferocious they tear off each other's arm and legs; yet in their own way they are happy and merry.

When Jessie found a secret door in her grandmother's garden, she was amazed to find it led to the magical world of the Realm. She's had plenty of adventures since that day, but there's always more excitement!

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, and present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. This title is part of Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 2, published by Dreamscape Media. LLC.

子どものころに聞いたあのお話しを、オーディオブックでお楽しみください。

Liway woont in de Filippijnen op het eiland Mindanao. Haar oma is een van de belangrijkste leiders van de Lumad, een inheemse bevolkingsgroep. Zij strijdt voor het behoud van het grondgebied van haar stam. Liway is dol op haar oma, maar ziet ook dat ze zich veel zorgen maakt.