Burmese Children's Favorite Stories - Pascal Khoo Thwe

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Author: Pascal Khoo Thwe

Illustrator: Maeve Bates
Genre: Children's Folktale Anthology
Rating: 4.5 stars

A soul-satisfying collection of Burmese folklore.

I have always loved folktales and have read local lore from many countries. But this was my first time reading stories from Burma (now called Myanmar) and what a delight it has been!

This anthology begins with the author’s note about how his parents and grandparents would tell him stories. I treasured his words so much; they took me down nostalgia road with memories of my own childhood.

The eight stories in this book have a variety of protagonists, both human and animal. But their themes are the same as found in every lore – right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, brain vs. brawn. Children are bound to enjoy these stories due to the variety and range. Not a single tale resembles any other, so you get eight distinct experiences. I love how the stories (especially the ones with human characters) stayed true to the Burmese culture.

Though this is the first book I have read with Burmese stories, a couple of the tales were familiar to me but through other characters. For instance, I have read a variant of the story titled “Let Her Take the Shadow” as a Nasruddin Hodja story in a comic book. It goes to show how so many folktales travel around the world. Yet we don’t acknowledge the shared bond between all of us across this globe.

The language is quite easy to understand for younger kids as well, so this would work as a wonderful bedtime read as well as for group cultural reads in schools.

There are some lovely water-colour style illustrations on every page and they are charming.

I relished this beautiful collection and would recommend it wholeheartedly to every little reader. It is a sweet and fun read that balances entertainment with moral values.

My thanks to Tuttle Publishing and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Burmese Children's Favorite Stories: Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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