GIANTS!
Stories from Around the World
by Paul Robert Walker & illustrated by James Bernardin
A collection of seven tales, from the familiar (``Jack and the Beanstalk'' from England and ``The Cyclops'' from Greece) to the obscure (``Kana the Stretching Wonder'' from Hawaii and ``The Cannibal's Wonderful Bird'' from South Africa). Each story starts with a full-page robustly realistic painting and ends with careful notes from Walker (Big Men, Big Country, also illustrated by Bernardin, 1993, etc.) about history and variants. A detailed bibliography of sources is included at the back. These well-told stories will please just about everyone: The large format works for story hours, the selection hits some multicultural notes, the interesting variations and source notes aid researchers. (Folklore. 8-12)