These wonderful world tales are all selected from the highly acclaimed 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell, a storytelling resource used by teachers around the globe. In this collection intended for home use, the focus is on tales for children ages 4 to 6. The stories may be read, told, and retold, and then explored with the whole family. They offer a rich vein of world heritage, giving your family a doorway into the wonderful world of traditional tales. Storyteller Chris Smith presents traditional oral stories from a variety of historical, cultural, and world sources, featuring: Stories retold, based on traditional tales and related in the voice of a storyteller; Tales that are short, simple, and easy to learn; Stories that parents can read and tell and children can then tell themselves; Stories for bedtime, family occasions, car journeys, and get-togethers; Oral storytelling for home to build children's confidence in their own voices. The author includes story sources and storytelling resources. "What is meant by storytelling? In this volume the stories are intended to be told by an adult to a child or children, told jointly with the children joining in in various ways, or told independently by the child to an adult or to other children in the family. The main idea is to retell them from memory in the storyteller's own words, rather than read them out word-for-word, although the stories can also be read if you wish.

" (from the introduction).