I'm trying to find a book I read and loved when I was younger! It was a short anthology (i think it was short, at least; the version I had was paperback, less than an inch thick, and for children. i'm not sure if it mentioned "collection" or "anthology" in the title--i don't think it did, though i could be wrong). It was definitely published pre-2003, most likely in the '90s, though it might have been a reprint. I don't remember any full-page illustrations, though, though there might have been.I read it at home, so it was likely brought in Barnes and Nobles?I remember a few stories from it! - One was about a bean, a straw, and a piece of coal escaping a woman trying to make soup. They used the straw to cross a stream(?) and the bean got across safety, but the coal burned up the straw, and they fell in, and then the bean split its side laughing. He was later sewn up.  - The chapter image for this was of a bean, I believe, next to a coal and a straw. or just a plain green bean.- There was another story about raindrops but I remember little about it other than the picture above the name, which was of a blue raindrop or of three blue raindrops. in the folktale, they might have been bragging about which was the best raindrop.- Another was about Sedna/Sanna-- from what I remember about the version chosen was that . . . things happened, and then she was gripping her father's boat as he cut off her fingers, which turned into whales and seals?- There was My Lord Bag of Rice! The illustration for that one might have been full-pages- the giant centipede was blues and greens. The protagonist spat on his arrow to kill it- I think there was also a tale about a raven with a big of wind, or swallowing the sun that helped the run rise.- There was the story of a smith-- he had been maimed by a king, and forced to make objects for him. He killed the king's two sons, and turned their bones and eyes into things-- a skull for the goblet, teeth for a brooch (or necklace). He fashioned wings to escape, and before he did, he arrived at the king's castle and announced what he had done to the king's sons, and how they still used their bones. He then flew away. (his name might have been Volundr-- I found the actual myth that it was! it might have been translated as Wayland, but I don't think it was)- the last story I remember is about two princesses, both sister. The elder had dark hair and was cruel, the latter golden-haired and kind. The elder drowned the younger one day, and her body was found by someone, who turned her bones into a harp and her hair into the strings (I'm pretty sure there was a line about turning her fingerbones into tuning pegs, but I might have made that up). The harp made the most beautiful songs, but when it was brought to the castle, the murdered sister's voice came out, telling what had happened to her sister. (the story is known as the Cruel Sister, Twa Sisters, Binnorie, or the Wind and the Rain)I know there were more, but those are the only ones I can remember at this moment!
The acclaimed illustrator has selected twenty-two fairy tales from all around the world. Includes the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Edna O'Brien, Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Alderson, and traditional tales. The acclaimed illustrator has selected twenty-two fairy tales from all around the world. Includes the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Edna O'Brien, Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Alderson, and traditional tales. ...more