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Expect four folktales alongside cultural context: each story is followed by an account of its festival and how it is celebrated. The collection connects legendary events with customs including boat-racing, water-splashing and festival dancing.

The book moves through an alphabet of mythical and legendary creatures, bringing together familiar monsters, lesser-known figures and the origins of the Frankenstein story.

A campout investigation turns Jenna’s interest in a local monster legend into a creepy mystery. The story centres on whether the creature is real, with friends joining her search.

A set of imaginative traditional tales connects unusual characters and events with six African countries, offering a story-led introduction to places beyond the familiar.

A playful mix of classical tales and cultural facts, with stories presented in inventive forms rather than one uniform style.

Expect a blend of vampire lore and factual material, rather than a clearly identified continuous story. Dracula is included, alongside historical and cultural references to famous vampire stories.

This is a Cambodian Cinderella retelling centred on Angkat’s endurance of family-caused wrongs and her effort to regain her rightful place.

This fantasy centres on Princess Curious's adventures and her friendship with Celtic faeries who arrive as stowaways. Its premise brings together an invented First Nations tribe and faerie figures.

A Finnish legendary world supplies the setting for a tale about a magical object of great value and the heroes who seek to possess it.

A science-and-adventure account that follows an investigation of golden-coloured moon bears, with Southeast Asian settings and local perspectives alongside scientific inquiry.

A many-voiced anthology of trickster tales, drawing on folklore and contemporary fantastic fiction. Its appeal may lie in comparing how different writers approach the figure.

This is a supernatural story about a girl returning to school and confronting an impossible-seeming bond with a boy she believes is dead. A famous local legend, friendship and Abbey's efforts to move on all shape the premise.

A traditional story with a Faust-like bargain at its centre may suit a reader interested in folklore and stories about consequential choices.

This is a wartime fantasy in which folklore and the afterlife intersect with the lives of two teenagers. Friendship and belonging are named as central concerns.

A biographical account of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, tracing their lives and their efforts to collect and publish German fairy tales and legends. The book also considers the social, political and historical influences on their lives and stories.

This is a varied collection of traditional tales, bringing together human relationships and folkloric figures such as giants and trolls.

A lively myth-inspired adventure begins with a mission to bring scriptures from India to China. Monkey’s magical abilities and the joining of Pigsy and Sandy set up a group quest.

Expect a participatory collection rather than a continuous story: rhymes are paired with finger gestures, illustrations and occasional counting, tickling or laughter. Its main appeal is doing the words together, not following a sustained plot.

A culturally rooted fantasy adventure combining Filipino mythology, humour, friendship and a quest involving a stolen soul key. It places grief and family longing alongside supernatural peril, while presenting courage, empathy, gratitude and teamwork as important values.

A lively, internationally wide-ranging introduction to ghost traditions, this book moves quickly between short entries, personal accounts and atmospheric artwork. Its tone is often playful, though some images and stories are more unsettling.

This offers an atmospheric supernatural mystery centred on sisterhood, disappearance and identity, with folklore, dread and unsettling transformations. It may appeal to readers who enjoy dark fairy tales and sustained suspense.

A spooky, folklore-rich mystery about returning to a ruined abbey and trying to repair an old wrong. Expect atmosphere, supernatural creatures, friendship and questions about preserving the past.

A family travel adventure blends historical learning with folklore. Readers follow the Johnson children through historic coastal places, while Bobby faces danger and the children also take part in a crabbing trip despite knowing they should not.

This appears to offer supernatural fantasy associated with teenage girls and folklore-inspired elements.

A folklore-infused fantasy about a cursed princess undertaking dangerous trials to save her brothers. Its strongest threads are family loyalty, courage, sacrifice and repairing harm, while its trials include physical danger, death and bereavement.

A playful ensemble drama turns five animal tales into acted stories, then shifts towards a more personal final episode. Its distinctive appeal is imaginative performance alongside friendship and self-understanding.

A richly imagined quest about grief, loyalty and finding meaning in a strange new world. Talking animals, folklore, riddles and snowbound landscapes create wonder, while the busy plot may reward patient reading.

This is a dark, suspenseful Viking voyage to Vinland, blending historical detail, mythology, magic and monsters. Peer and Hilde face deceptive adults, secrets and danger, while the story explores truth, responsibility, maturity, love, loss and longing.

This is a fast-moving survival adventure rooted in Welsh landscapes and folklore. Its emotional centre is a sibling group dealing with danger, responsibility and questions of belonging while trying to protect one another.

A fast-moving supernatural mystery about a teenager searching for her missing mother, then uncovering concealed family history and a strange inheritance. It offers suspense, folklore, friendship and a seaside setting, with the pace reportedly slowing after the opening.

Expect atmospheric Cornish tales where folklore, ghosts and magic meet farms, the sea and family life. The collection includes linked stories, including one about William, whose disability brings exclusion and cruelty from others.

This is a brisk, storybook-style fantasy that combines a magical quest with a developing romance. Its main interest lies less in elaborate world-building than in Tristran’s changing understanding of desire, devotion and adulthood.

A dark, atmospheric thriller combining a competitive K-pop setting with unresolved friendship, grief and supernatural dread. Its strongest appeal is likely the gradual shift from celebrity drama into psychological and body horror.

This is a creepy, atmospheric adventure for readers who enjoy forests, folklore, faerie magic and monsters. Its central appeal appears to be suspenseful discovery, with Pippa investigating what is watching from the trees.

A fantasy adventure rooted in Cornwall, where a holiday exploration leads Susan to a secret dragon. Expect folklore, conversation with an unusual creature and a blend of local landscape with magic.

A determined girl enters a spirit world to protect her brother, recover what has been taken from her and address an enchantment threatening human and spirit communities. Folklore, gods and political conflict drive the fantasy adventure.

A gentle Chilean folktale about finding companionship, caring for someone who is not yours to keep, and living through separation. Its sea imagery and illustrations may invite close, unhurried attention.

Expect a fast-moving, twisty mystery shaped by creepy folklore, family conflict and uncertainty about what Ava can trust. Its strongest features are atmosphere, suspense and clues that invite readers to solve the case alongside her.

This offers immersive folklore, a slow-building relationship and a heroine confronting shame about her magic. It may suit readers who enjoy gothic atmosphere, complex myth-making and emotionally difficult fantasy rather than a light fairy-tale retelling.

A dark, atmospheric fantasy for readers who enjoy folklore, mystery and psychological unease. Alice’s search for her mother carries questions about trust, belonging and who has the right to shape a story.

Expect a richly illustrated, surreal story rather than a straightforward cosy tale. The Greenling brings abundance and connection, yet its arrival and departure carry an ominous, folkloric atmosphere.

This offers an atmospheric fantasy adventure rooted in Irish folklore, while following a family adjusting to a move. Expect mysteries, mythical possibilities, sibling and cousin relationships, and a child drawn towards danger.

A colourful introduction to legendary creatures from around the world, combining brief factual profiles with illustrations, maps and references to the traditions that shaped each story. It offers a browsable starting point for exploring mythology, folklore and the links between legends and real-world observations.

Expect an energetic fantasy quest combining Caribbean-inspired folklore, spirits, gemstones and magical battles with a warm friendship story. The central characters face fear, grief, abandonment and morally difficult decisions while trying to protect their island.

This offers a lively introduction to Welsh folklore through brief, retold stories with magical, humorous and emotionally resonant elements. It may particularly suit shared reading or readers curious about Wales, names and traditional tales.