Beneath the Moon: Fairy Tales, Myths, and Divine Stories from Around the World

Fairy tales are the basis of all storytelling for young readers. They don’t just introduce us to concepts like narrative, morals, heroes, and villains, but to genres like fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, and horror. Rapunzel, The Snow Queen, and Jack and the Beanstalk are some of the most universal fairy tales in the world. But they’re only the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath the Moon should be on every parents’ shelf. It scours the globe for fairy tale myths and stories from all over the world, encompassing Asian, European, African, and American (North, South, and Native American) traditions in a beautiful melange of wonder and life lessons from across the centuries.

Each story is accompanied by a full-page artistic rendering of the main thrust of the tale, be it a key character, a crucial moment, or a single image that properly summarizes the entire work. And you could sell this book on the artwork alone. Vivid, beautiful, and mythic all at once, the art feels like it represents the culture of each story while retaining a marvelous, elusive, universal feel.

Beneath the Moon builds a new mythos for all of us, shaped by every culture. It’s wonderful stuff.