South and North, East and West Editor: Michael Rosen. Pages: 96. Price: $19.95. Publisher: Candlewick Press

`Some of the stories are from countries you may hardly know, places that seem a little bit scary. But after you've heard these stories you won't feel the same way. You'll feel closer to your brothers and sisters all around the world," actress Whoopi Goldberg writes in her introduction to the book South and North, East and West.

This collection of 25 stories range from fairy tales of the Middle East to fables of Africa and of Indonesia; and from folk tales of Greece and Cyprus to ghost stories from Vietnam and Jamaica.

The thing I like about this book is how different the stories are from normal American stories. In these stories there is no set plot or rules to follow like in some American stories.

Unique flavor

Each story has its own unique flavor and captures the traditions, customs and beliefs of the people who originally told it. For example, The Greedy Father vividly describes the famine in southern Africa and tells about one man's struggle with the custom to keep the spirit of his ancestors in him.

Although Editor Michael Rosen selected stories that are make-believe, some of the imaginary creatures are very real. The authors' abilities to tell their stories make it seem like they've actually met their characters. This makes the creatures more than words on a piece of paper - they're really there.

Many of these odd characters take on human characteristics. For example, in the story Ears, Eyes, Legs and Arms, the characters show jealousy and selfishness. After each body part lends its talent during a hunting trip, the ears, eyes, legs and arms squabble over who gets the credit for the hunt's success:

"What do you want?" said the arms (to the ears and eyes). "The antelope's ours. We caught it. Go away."

"No, come off it," said the legs. "You would never have been able to grab it if it wasn't for us being fast enough to catch up with it."

"Never mind that," said the eyes. "I reckon the antelope's ours, because we were the ones who saw it. You wouldn't have known where to go if it wasn't for us."

"All right, All right," said the ears. "Who got the whole thing going? Us, of course. We heard the antelope, didn't we. You'd all be sitting around back there if it wasn't for us hearing it move."

While reading the book you feel as though you are really there listening to the natives tell the story. You can relate to their situations.

Benefits relief organization

Most of the stories in this book were collected by Oxfam, an organization that funds self-help development and disaster relief in 77 of the poorest countries in the world. All the money made by this book goes to Oxfam, which will help projects in Africa, Caribbean, Asia and Latin America.

This book was put together with much thought and effort, not only in gathering the stories, but also in the variety of stories. I'd suggest this book to any one from the age of 6 to 99. It is a delightful book.