For Ages: 10-14 years

• Cherrell Shelley-Robinson
• Eintou Pearl Springer
• Jane Grell
• Jean F. Forbes
• Michelle M. Petty
• Mohamed Fazloor Yasin
• Myrna Manzanares
• Nellie Payne

Welcome to the world of the imagination and the fantastic in these ten stories where Good continues its age-old fight against Evil. These stories are highly entertaining, and, in the tradition of folktales, they also carry many moral messages. They show that those who are kind to others and those who protect nature and defend the weak are given worthy rewards, sometimes by magical means. On the other hand, those who are greedy, abusive, unkind and wish to harm nature receive deserved punishment. The overriding message is that a person's fortune is often determined by the quality of his or her character.

The cultures of both island and continental CARICOM countries are well represented in this collection. From folklore there are supernatural beings Tata Duende (The Strange Tale of Cucal Bal) or Tata Dohende (Tek Mi! Noh Tek Mi!); the Caribbean mermaid who lives in the river (Lazy Manny-oh!); and what would be a collection of folktales without a ghost story, as in Miss Angie

Key Features:

• Two audio CDs with four of the stories read by accomplished storytellers accompany the text.
• The language of the stories is mostly Standard English, but with phrases and idioms which represent the local languages of the countries of origin, for example, the patois spoken (or which used to be spoken) in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.
• The recording of the stories on the CDs will help children to appreciate the differences in speech in the countries of origin, as well as to appreciate the differences between the written and spoken word.
• The setting and the characters in the stories are typically Caribbean. There are many colourful characters, both human and magical.
• The stories give a glimpse of the culture and habits of the people in different countries of the English-speaking Caribbean.
• There is a glossary which explains words and phrases which might be unfamiliar to the reader.
• There is a section with suggested activities for use with students.