We think of folktales as stories for the young, but around the world many tales are told of wily, resourceful, and courageous older people.

Award-winning folklorist and storyteller Jane Yolen—described in Newsweek as the "Hans Christian Andersen of America"--has collected seventy-five stories from the world's storehouse of folklore to inspire and amuse elders and youngsters of all ages.

Ranging from short, pithy parables to longer folktales and origin myths, these stories prove you're never too old to find love, play tricks, teach a lesson, learn from others, and even cheat death.

A welcome antidote to our youth-obsessed culture, Gray Heroes celebrates the riches of wisdom that only experience can furnish. Collected by an internationally known author of children's books and editor of Favorite Folktales from Around the World, this treasury of elder tales will prove an irresistible and long-lasting source of humor, inspiration, and wisdom. Locus A wide-ranging collection...provides a number of new and unfamiliar tales along with the expected chestnuts....among the most important of [Yolen's] anthologies to date.