Best Folktale
This Heian period Japanese folktale recounts the discovery of Kaguya, a moon princess hidden within a bamboo stalk. The story’s notable detail lies in its exquisite prose and exploration of themes like identity and isolation. It is primarily for readers interested in classic Japanese literature, par...
Kirikou and the Sorceress is a 1998 animated film directed by Michel Ocelot. The story adapts a traditional West African folktale, celebrated for its beautiful animation and incorporation of authentic music from Youssou N'Dour. It’s an engaging adventure suitable for children and families interested...
Urashima Taro is the fisherman at the center of a Japanese folktale about supernatural travel and the passage of time. After helping a turtle, he is taken beneath the sea to the Dragon Palace, where he is entertained by Princess Otohime; when he returns home, he discovers that generations or centuri...
Vasilisa the Beautiful is a character from a traditional Russian fairy tale famously collected by the ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev in the nineteenth century. In the narrative, Vasilisa relies on a magical doll given to her by her late mother to survive a series of dangerous tasks assigned by the...
Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest is a 2006 animated fantasy film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. It follows Azur, a fair-haired European boy, and Asmar, the son of his North African nurse, who are raised together before becoming rivals in a quest to free the Djinn Fairy. The story draws on ar...
Issun-bōshi, or the "One-Inch Boy," is the protagonist of a classic Japanese folktale notable for being born only one sun (roughly three centimeters) tall. In the story, he travels to Kyoto using a soup bowl as a boat and a chopstick as an oar, eventually defeating an ogre with a sewing needle. Afte...
