This comprehensive retelling of the great body of British folktales includes 55 stories and ballads chosen to represent all of the major types of folk tales. Ghost stories, hero tales, tales of trials and conflict, brave princes, tricksters, fairies, and goblins. The many characters and plots of folk literature have their place in this volume.

Contents Include:

• Sea Woman 
• The Piper and the Pooka 
• The Frog Prince 
• Three Heads of the Well 
• A Village of Fools 
• The Slumber King 
• Dathera Dad 
• Tom Tit Tot 
• King of the Cats 
• Her 
• The Black Bull of Norway 
• The False Knight on the Road 
• Samuel's Ghost 
• The Dark Horseman 
• Mossycoat 
• The Green Children 
• The Small-Tooth Dog 
• Jack and the Beanstalk 
• Sir John Barleycorn 
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears 
• Slam and the Ghosts 
• The Last of the Picts 
• Monday, Tuesday 
• Mare's Eggs 
• The History of Tom Thumb 
• Fear and Fly 
• The Oldest of Them All 
• The Dauntless Girl 
• Dick Whittington 
• The Changeling 
• The Cruel Mother 
• The Fine Field of Flax 
• The Farmer and the Boggart 
• Fair Gruagach 
• Billy 
• Magpies in the Crabtree 
• The Shepherd's Tale 
• The Pedlar of Swaffham 
• Hughbo 
• Tam Lin 
• The Cow That Ate the Piper 
• Fairy Ointment 
• Poll 
• The Mule 
• Old Echo 
• Charger 
• The Riddler 
• Yellow Lily 
• The Baker's Daughter 
• The Wildman 
• Boo! 
• The Lambton Worm 
• The Wise Men of Gotham 
• The Three Blows 
• Butterfly Soul

Crossley-Holland combines traditional telling with modern or unusual reframing of stories to provide a valuable new resource for storytellers, folk tale lovers, and listeners, young and old. In "Sea-Woman," for example, the sea-woman's story is told to a young girl on "an empty, oyster-and-pearl afternoon," by a curious shell which she holds to her ear. The use of language is marvelous, for example, describing the Picts as having "feet so broad that when it rained they could put them up over their heads and use them as umbrellas." A pronunciation guide (although it is not comprehensive) and an appendix giving scholarly sources and author's comments adds to the value of this highly recommended collection.