Books like The Bremen-Town Musicians
By Ilse Plume
For the kid who roots for the old, the overlooked, and the underestimated, this is a story about being told you're past your prime and setting off anyway. Warm, plucky, and cozy, with a gentle undercurrent of courage.
A bear cub finds a piano in the forest and, drawn back again and again, teaches himself to play beautiful music — then must choose between city fame and the friends who love him at home.
A tiny snail longing to see the world hitches a ride on a humpback whale's tail, and together they sail to icebergs and volcanoes — until the whale gets stranded and needs the smallest friend to save her.
A small boy is invited to tea at the palace and always asks the same question — may he bring a friend? — and each time, a surprising animal guest shows up beautifully behaved.
A boy strolls down Market Street from A to Z, buying a gift from each shopkeeper — who are dressed head-to-toe in exactly what they sell, from gloves to oranges to wigs.
A young hero condemned by a jealous king must earn the trust of the legendary winged horse Pegasus, then ride him into battle against the fire-breathing Chimera.
An imaginary friend waits and waits to be chosen by a child, and when no one picks him, he does the unimaginable — he leaves his island to find his perfect match himself.
A little girl waits eagerly for a new hat from her favorite aunt, but when it arrives plain and ordinary, she sets out to make it beautiful herself.
When every girl at the Paris boarding school falls sick on Christmas Eve, the smallest and bravest one stays well enough to take charge — and finds unexpected help from a magical rug-selling merchant.
A boardinghouse girl in nineteenth-century Paris spots a quiet stranger walking on air across the courtyard and begs him to teach her — not knowing he's a once-famous wire-walker now gripped by fear.
A lion wanders into the library one day, and since there aren't any rules against lions, he stays — quiet-footed, story-hour pillow, rule-follower — until an emergency forces him to break the one rule that matters.
A Black girl named Clover is told it isn't safe to cross the fence separating her side of town from the white side where Anna lives — so the two girls find a way to be together anyway, by sitting on top of it.
A girl in a swimsuit and flippers copies a graceful flamingo's every move, and through twists, turns, and one big flop, the two find their way to a dance in perfect harmony.
