The stories are expertly narrated by a group of actors, with the outstanding voice definitely being Kathleen Wilhoite, whom many would recognize from television and movies. Her enthusiastic take on “The Boatman's Daughter,” which is based on the Mike Fink legends, is funny and sparkles with energy and wit.

The stories overall are sweet, interesting, and have nice morals to them. It's the kind of literature that any parent would feel comfortable with for his / her child.

I, however, do have some questions.

"A Sense of Theft" is a fascinating story of a woman who is accused by a baker of stealing from him because she enjoys the smell of his goods. He takes her to court demanding payment. According to the information printed on the CD insert, this is a Japanese story. Yet the makers of this CD have chosen to place it in an "imaginary Jewish shtetl in Eastern Europe." Why? The only reason I could come up with is that their reader did a better Yiddish accent than Japanese. I find fault with this because it lessens the worldwide idea of the CD, making the majority of the stories Western in origin. I don't get their reasoning for doing this.

A delightful exception to this is the story of "Anansi and Turtle's Feast," which is based on the spider god of Africa - Anansi - getting his comeuppance from the lowly turtle. The story is a delight and maintains its cultural heritage.

Then we go back to the bastardization of myths, by changing the "Searching for Fear" story from its delightful Turkish roots into an American story. Again, I don't get why the adjustment was made.

I enjoyed the CD. I think it's a lovely and sweet batch of stories. I adored the Japanese frogs from Kyoto and Osaka. I though the Scottish fisherman story, "The Selkie Bride," was sweet and sad. However, I do not understand changing the settings of some of the stories, making them into something more "Western" in thought and culture.

I'm disappointed in the makers of the CD for this. Though the children will never notice, because they will be unlikely to read the insert, it lessens their exposure to other cultures and ultimately causes them to lose the magic of where the tales originated.