Scottish Books of Culture and Fairy Tales.

Each month when we start to learn about a new country, we make a trip to the local library and see what we can find for books. As much as we love the internet for searching out some of our facts and I especially love it for the recipes, there is still something that can't erase the feeling of a book in the hands. I also have been trying to share some of our finds with you, as you can see to the right of this page, there is a list of books that we like. I have been sharing some with you as we go, too. This month, I want to share two books. Each is part of a series. One is a series that we have used several times, the other was a new and exciting discovery. 

Eliana (with her goofy grin) and Aiden with the books.  

The first book is the one that Aiden is holding. It is part of a series called "Cultures of The World." We have borrowed a few of these from the library and you may recognize it from our Peruvian celebration photos, though I didn't feature it, it was displayed during our dinner and I included it in the photographs. On the back of the book is a long list of all of the books in this collection, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. This is a collection that I would love to own.


These books cover so many topics: Geography, Economy, Government, Religion, Environment, Language, Festivals, Arts, Foods and more. It is really easy to pick the topics that you want to focus on and enjoy some really nice photos and a few historical works of art. 


If you are learning about a different country with your littles, I highly recommend starting with this series. I would say that the age range is from seven and up. Eliana is four and while she likes to look at the pictures, the facts aren't fun enough to keep her interested, though I do try to present some of them in a fun way for her. 


The next book is part of another series that I just discovered on this most recent trip to the library. This series is of Fairy Tales. Fairy tales from around the world. This one is called "Favorite Fairy Tales Told In Scotland." The others follow the same name ie: "Favorite Fairy tales Told In Greece, Japan, etc." They are retold by Virginia Haviland. I was so excited to find this, and I was kind of bummed to have missed it in the past. 

 There are six short stories (fairy tales) in the book and they tell of fairies who are stirring up trouble, a giant sea serpent, and even a runaway bannock. These books are relatively old with the most recent copyrights being in 1963. The age of the books almost made it more fun, and the art work looked to be sketched with colored pencils. 


We are enjoying giggles from reading of mischievous fairies and foods that run away to avoid being eaten. We also are enjoying learning of all of the folk and fairy tales that are a big part of Scottish culture and history. 


Last week we made some crafts inspired by the folk and fairy tales, and I shared them with you all, if you missed it, you can see it here. 


Have you read any books from either of these series before? How about unearthed a true treasure while at a local library? 


We're working on another fun project here, I am getting excited to share it with you, but we're not quite finished with it yet, so you'll have to wait until next week to see it!