HIT: ELEM folktales

["Sandra E. Stephens" <stepsan@UDEL.EDU>]

Thanks to the following people for their helpful responses:  Linda
Greengrass, Maryellen Paull, Beth Clucas, Diane Guiett, Audrey
Daigneault, Catherine Balkin, Jane Washburn, Char Krahling, Jen, Joan
Kimball, Jeanne Wingate, Mary Ann Albertine, Jill Feine, Carolyn
Hackworth, Sue Sheil, and Casma Huie.  I deleted addresses to save space.

Sandy Stephens
stepsan@udel.edu

Some of my favorite "Asian" folktales are:

Two of Everything retold by Lily Toy Hong
The Empty Pot retold by Demi
Screen of Frogs retold by Sheila Hamanaka
The Emperor and the Kite retold by Jane Yolen
Yeh Shen : a Cinderella Story From China retold by Ai-Ling Louie
Momotaro, the Peach Boy retold by Linda Shute
The Jade Stone retold by Caryn Yacowitz

Kids here
really enjoy "How Raven Brought Light to People." A good one for 2-3
grades.  It's an adaptation of a Tlingit Indian legend & just happens to
have been written by a friend of mine,  Ann Dixon.  Her newest book,
"Sleeping Lady" received a starred review in SLJ.

You may want to check out Odds Bodkin's audio collection of stories from
around the world.  To get a brochure of the Storytelling Library, call
1/800/554-1333.

There is a great one called "Roly Poly Rice Ball".  Go to your local
library and ask for the book The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject,
Title and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children, by Margaret
MacDonals, 1983, Detroit, MI: Neal-Schuman.

Use Margaret Reed MacDonald's Storyteller's Sourcebook.
Childrens Press has a long list of multicultural folktales produced by
Harriet Rhomer  from Children's Press Books in San Francisco.
There are over 900 different versions of Cinderella.

I think you should take a look at Deborah Nourse Lattimore's books,
which include The Dragon's Robe, The Prince and the Golden Ax, The Sailor Who
Captured the Sea, The Winged Cat, Why There is No Arguing in Heaven, and her
latest book, Arabian Nights.  I hope your kids like them.


Your query gave me the perfect opportunity to talk about one of my favorite
books from our fall list.  I know I'm biased, but I think you and your
students
would really enjoy The Loyal Cat by Lensey Namioka, illustrated by Aki
Sogabe.
This is a beatifully illustrated picture book based on a story Lensey's
husband's uncle (a priest at the"cat temple" in Japan) told her.

My third graders really liked "Wombat Stew" by Mem Fox when they were
studying Australia last year.  It includes lots of native animals and foods.

 There is a wonderful
collection of folktales that I just purchased (haven't even been able to sit
down to read it yet!) called _Favorite Folktales from Around the World_
edited
by Jane Yolen that may be of some help to you.

Meantime, here are four of my very favorite Asian tales.  All are picture
books for K-3 (and sometimes older, esp. the Demi):

The Badger and the Magic Fan by Tony Johnston, illus. by Tomie de Paola.
     Badger steals a magic fan and ends up soundly tricked himself. Japanese.

The Empty Pot by Demi.
     Boy becomes emperor's successor when he is the only one who doesn't lie
about growing a flower from a sterilized seed.  Chinese.

The Man Who Tricked a Ghost by Yep.
     Humorous.  Ghost is tricked into revealing his greatest fear.  Chinese?

Two of Everything by Hong.
     Man has his hands full when his wife falls into his magic pot that
doubles everything.  Humorous.  Good for math concepts.  Chinese.

I enjoyed _The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship_ (from Russia);
Yeh-Shen (Chinese Cinderella);and  Lon Po Po (Japanese Red Riding Hood)
I hope the nationalities are right!

lon po po by ed young
tale of the seven mice by ed young
tale of the mandarin ducks by k. patersen(sp?)

I do a second grade folktale unit for the whole year.  A great one for
introducing the concept of folktales is Anderson's gory story about the
chickens "Its PErfectly True (Goble), and A story, A story, by Gail
Haley.  We
have
also used the Singing Snake (Australian), and Two of Everything
(chinese), Lon Po Po (Chinese), Rapunzel, The Three Sillies (england).

Two very powerful Central American stories I particularly like to use with
this age group are How We Came to the Fifth World and The Invisible Hunters.
They have the added bonus of being written in both English and Spanish. Of
course you can use numerous versions of Cinderella from many different
cultures and compare them.

Three Strong Women: A Tall Tale from Japan by Claus Stamm; Two of Everything
by Lily Toy Hong (China); and The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone
(India); The Enchanted Umbrella by Odette Meyers (France); and Matreshka by
Becky Ayres (Soviet Union).

Try Rum Pum Pum ... can't remember who retold it, but it is from India
and is
great. You can sing the refrain to the Little Drummer Boy song.

Another good one is Lon Po Po (China or Japan)
The Jumping Mouse (American Indian)
The Talking Eggs (Southern US)
Our King Has Horns (Eastern Europe, I think)

Boy of the Three Year Nap by Snyder, Samurai's Daughter by San Souci, The
Fourth Question by Wang, How the Ox Star fell from Heaven by Wang, Seven
Chinese Brother by Mahy

The Tale of Meshka the Kvetch by Carol Chapman
The Anansi tales (one by McDermott is good)
Abiyoyo (tape by Pete Seeger)
Elephants Wrestling Match by Judy Sierra
The Fortune Teller by Lloyd Alexander
The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie DePaola