Written by Penny Byrne & Kiera Melville
Illustrated by Liz Wackett

Highly
Recommended ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Published by	Independent Publishing Network 30 Oct. 2025
Genre	Children's books, Fairytales, Legends
Pages	44
ISBN-10	1836889046
ISBN-13	978-1836889045
For readers aged 6 - 12 years

Following on from my earlier post about buying books for my grandchildren at the St Helier Christmas Market, this is my review of the second of the books purchased from the author Penny Byrne's stall.

This book is called A World of Folktales & Legends and has lots of short easy-to-read stories for the confident younger reader.

The blurb:

A World of Folktales & Legends

A delightful selection of legends and myths, fables and folktales collected from cultures and nations around the world and brought to life with stunning illustrations that will delight readers young and old.

Titles include Jersey's own 'Dancing Cows' and the well-known Portuguese Miracle of Nazaré', as well as the Polish 'Wawel Dragon', Germany's 'Gnomes of Cologne' and the Romanian 'Salt in your Food'.

An anthology celebrating the truly international nature of Jersey.

Children's Picture Book Fairytales Children's Books

My thoughts:

image of a page from the book showing the story of the dancing cows in both English and Jersais

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book before giving it to my grandaughter! I thought it was interesting and well-researched. I particularly liked that each story is told in English followed by a version given in the original language. The author says this is to show the 'truly international nature of Jersey' but I like to think that it would also encourage and inspire children learning other languages or whose first language is not English. I loved reading the French and German texts and testing my MFL skills.

I was initially concerned that the book was a little too advanced for a six-year-old, but knew that with her love of legends and fairytales that she would eventually 'grow into it'. I need not have worried. My granddaughter grabbed it with glee and thumbed through the pages, reading the titles one by one until she came to Mulan when she positively squealed with delight!

I highly recommend this book for young readers, and I have to say that I really enjoyed reading it myself.

Purchase from:

Amazon UK Waterstones Foyles Hatchards

Penny Byrne Author

Author Bio – Penny Byrne
Penny Byrne is a children’s author inspired by the history and the beauty the wonderful island of Jersey CI. Locally she works with the Government of Jersey, charities, organisations and schools to create books that are fun to read, gorgeous to look at and in many cases that teach children (and adults) about Jersey. Penny offers talks, books readings and workshops to Primary Schools across the Island, including covering the topics of the Stone Age, the Occupation and the Corn Riots.

Author Bio – Penny Byrne

Penny Byrne is a children’s author inspired by the history and the beauty the wonderful island of Jersey CI.

Locally she works with the Government of Jersey, charities, organisations and schools to create books that are fun to read, gorgeous to look at and in many cases that teach children (and adults) about Jersey.

Penny offers talks, books readings and workshops to Primary Schools across the Island, including covering the topics of the Stone Age, the Occupation and the Corn Riots.