Thistledown Tales

Four new picture books. On Amazon soon.

Old tales. New tricks.

Funny rhyming picture books for children aged 4 to 8. Each one takes a story you already know and gives it a twist for children growing up today: screens, sweets, chores and the playground.

No lectures. Nobody gets told off. The good idea simply wins, and everyone gets a line to shout.

Meet the books

Why they work at bedtime

A line to shout together

Every story has a line that comes back again and again, so even the smallest listener can join in.

Stories you already know

The Emperor's New Clothes, The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf: told again with a new trick that fits the world your children live in.

Something to talk about

At the back of each book: the old tale it came from, and a few easy questions to talk about together when the story is over.

The books

Old Tales, New Tricks. Every book is a Thistledown Tale. 32 pages, full colour, square paperback and Kindle.

The cover of The Girl Who Looked Up, a Thistledown Tale by Albert Joseph

Book 1 · ages 4 to 8 · retells The Emperor's New Clothes

The Girl Who Looked Up

Everyone in Thistledown looks down. Except Pip.

Everybody in town has a Glow, a little light they cannot stop looking at. Pip is the only one without.

So when the town clock loses its hands, the baker's dog floats off in his basket and the mayor's hat disappears, only one person sees where they went.

Shout it together: “But Pip looked up.”

Coming soon to Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle.

A page from The Girl Who Looked Up: In Thistledown, in Thistledown, the people all walked looking down. For everybody had a Glow: a little light that said, "Hello!" But Pip looked up.A page from The Girl Who Looked Up: And oh, the sky! A cloud shaped like a whale swam by. The moon was out in broad daylight, and something flapped, just out of sight. But Pip looked up.A page from The Girl Who Looked Up: A basket flew above the roofs, and in it, who? "It's Crumpet! Look! He's in the sky!" But everybody hurried by. But Pip looked up.
The cover of The Third Pig's Secret, a Thistledown Tale by Albert Joseph

Book 2 · ages 4 to 8 · retells The Three Little Pigs

The Third Pig's Secret

You know the wolf. You know the huff. But what was the third pig's secret?

Straw: gone in one blow. Sticks: gone in two. But the house of bricks just looks at him.

So the wolf creeps up to the window to find out what the third pig has that the others do not. A spell? A magic brick?

Shout it together: “Huff, puff, huff, puff, huff, puff, BLOW!”

Coming soon to Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle.

A page from The Third Pig's Secret: I am the wolf. Hello! Hello! You know my trick. You've seen me blow. Join in with me. It goes like so: Huff, puff, huff, puff, huff, puff, BLOW!A page from The Third Pig's Secret: One blow. It flew off like a hat. The first pig ran. And that was that.A page from The Third Pig's Secret: What did she have, this pig? A spell? A magic brick? I couldn't tell. I had to know. So, soft and slow, I crept up to her window. Oh.
The cover of The Crew Inside You, a Thistledown Tale by Albert Joseph

Book 3 · ages 4 to 8 · retells The Belly and the Members

The Crew Inside You

The tongue said yuck. The crew said yes.

Inside Nell there is a ship, and on the ship there is a tiny, busy crew: Lookouts, the Engine Team, the Rope Gang. They would do anything for their Captain.

But the Captain only ever listens to the Tongue, who stands at the hatch shouting "YUCK!" And Race Day is on Saturday.

Shout it together: “The tongue said yuck. The crew said yes.”

Coming soon to Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle.

A page from The Crew Inside You: Inside you, hidden out of view, there lives a tiny, busy crew. Your body is the ship they steer through every day and every year.A page from The Crew Inside You: In came some carrots. "YUCK!" Tongue cried. "Hooray!" the Lookouts cheered inside. "We'll shine our telescopes tonight and see the seagulls in full flight!" The tongue said yuck. The crew said yes.A page from The Crew Inside You: But then came more. And more. A sack! "MORE!" yelled the Tongue. The crew yelled back: "Enough! Enough! We're full! That's plenty!" "MORE!" yelled the Tongue. "Another twenty!" The tongue said more. The crew said whoa.
The cover of The Boy Who Cried Bully, a Thistledown Tale by Albert Joseph

Book 4 · ages 5 to 8 · retells The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Boy Who Cried Bully

Not a bully. Just a biscuit.

Barnaby has found a word that makes every grown-up come running. So he uses it. For the last biscuit. For losing at chess. For rain.

Then something happens that is not a biscuit and not the weather. It is real, and it hurts. A friend sees. A teacher runs. And Barnaby learns the difference between small words and big ones.

Shout it together: “Not a bully. Just a biscuit.”

Coming soon to Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle.

A page from The Boy Who Cried Bully: When Barnaby played Wolf, the hall stood up and clapped. He loved it all: the cheers, the eyes, the big hooray. But claps don't last. They went away.A page from The Boy Who Cried Bully: At snack time one jam biscuit lay. Ava took it. Straight away Barnaby went very red. "A BULLY took my snack!" he said. Not a bully. Just a biscuit.A page from The Boy Who Cried Bully: On Tuesday Tom played chess, and won. (Tom mostly does. He finds it fun.) "A BULLY took my queen!" he roared. Two grown-ups came and checked the board. Not a bully. Just a chess game.

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About Albert Joseph

Albert Joseph writes funny rhyming stories for reading aloud. Each one starts with a tale that has been told for hundreds of years and asks what it would look like today.