Bedtime fireside reading doesn’t get better than this: a beautifully bound, exquisitely illustrated book, brimming with stories of the tried-and-true “Once upon a time” variety, each the perfect length for a read-aloud.
A World Full of Nature Stories is thoughtfully grouped into categories such as “Sun, Moon and Stars”, “Flowers, Fruit and Seed”, “Lake, River, Ocean”.
The author has a deft touch, rendering these retellings into seamless, graceful prose you’ll enjoy speaking aloud. The stories - magical, fantastical, guaranteed to inspire and make imaginations thrum - are prefaced with their origins (country and continent) and together compose an impressively international round-up.
Our very own Aotearoa is represented with the Māori creation story where Ranginui, the Sky Father, is separated from Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, by their sons. Some of the stories are well-known classics, such as England’s Jack and the Beanstalk, Portugal’s Stone Soup, and Germany’s The Little Fir Tree, but the vast majority were new to me. I can imagine so many whānau treasuring this treasury - it’s the type of book you’ll want to pass down the generations as a family heirloom.
Reviewer: Stacey Anyan
Allen & Unwin, $27.99