HIT: Elem 398.2s

[Barb Engvall <engvallb@wolfenet.com>]

Thanks to Michele, Anne, Joan, Flit, Joni, Glenda, Laura, Marcia, and
Joanne for their collective wisdom to help me get a handle on all those
various versions of stories. Their responses are below my original
question so you can make up your own mind what to do, but distinguishing
between a parody and a retelling from another culture seems to be a good
way to decide which goes where. I do think I will keep Andersen in the 398.2s.

ORIGINAL QUESTION:
There was a recent discussion about Dewey and the logic of putting fairy
tales, etc. into 'non-fiction'. I used to tell the children that these
were stories without authors that came from the storytelling tradition.
This has been somewhat incorrect though, since I also include Aesop and
Hans Christian Andersen stories in the 398.2s. After recently reading a
version of Aesop's _Hare and the Tortoise_ I have modified it to saying
that these are stories in which no one owns the words, so any one can
write their own version, unlike _Where the wild things are_, for
instance, which is solely Maurice Sendak's words.

Now comes the question of how far do we go to put these versions in the
398.2s? Do we include _The True story of the three little pigs as told
by A.Wolf_ and _The three little wolves and the big bad pig_ when these
seem to have taken much greater freedom from the traditional stories?
What about _M.C. Turtle and the Hip Hop Hare_? It apparently comes with
CIP for fiction, but it is really Hare and Tortoise?! (yeah, interrobang!)

RESPONSES:
I think it helps to distinguish between folk tale variants and folk tale
parodies.

When the tale is a variant of the story retold by another folk culture,
such as the many Cinderella stories that come from the folk lore of
different countries around the world, the tale belongs in the 398's.
Examples of Cinderella variants: The Egyptian Cinderella by Climo, The
Talking Eggs by San Souci, The Rough-Face Girl by Martin.

On the other hand there are a lot of parodies (spoofs, take-offs) ---
modern Cinderellas created by known authors. The parodies should go in
either Easy picture books, like Cinder-Elly by Francis Minters, Sidney
Rella and the Glass Sneaker by Bernice Myers and, for another folktale,
Snow White in New York by Fiona French (which is a hilarious take-off, by
the way). And put the parody in Fiction if it is a "chapter book", like
Ella Enchanted by Gail Levine.

By my definitions above, all three of your titles, True Story...., Big Bad
Pig, and Hip Hop Hare, would be parodies and would belong in Easy Fiction
Picture Books.

As for Aesop and Andersen:  I believe Aesop is always put in 398 because he
told fables from the folk, not ones he made up.  Andersen's stories are
generally put in fiction rather than 398 because they are literary fairy
tales, tales using the form, but not out of the folk.  Actually, I think
some of Andersen's are based on folktales and some are made up by him out
of whole cloth, so some may be classed in fiction and others in
non-fiction. Fiction is the place for other literary fairy stories such as
Kipling's Just So Stories or Oscar Wilde's Selfish Giant or Thurber's Many
Moons.
--------
I don't feel takeoffs of the fairy tales belong in 398. I recently purchased
Bigfoot Cinderella which is obviously a Northwest setting takeoff. Cataloging
had it in 398 but I changed to Easy collection.
I think the classic example is the Strega Nona stories by Tomie De Paola where
Strega Nona is in traditional tales, but Big Anthony and the magic ring and
all the other stories Tomie De Paola did after which were from his
imagination,  are in the easy collection. I may be a bit of a purist,
but an
author's retelling spinoff like Stella and Roy, True story of the 3 pigs,
Three little wolves ..., Sleeping Ugly et all are delightful, but do not
belong in 398 section.
----------
Modernizations, ie. "Cinder Elly" and "fractured fairy tales", such as the
ones by Jon Sciezska and others are works of fiction.  Varients from other
cultures are usually classified in 398.2
---------
Aesop I believe still belongs in 398.2s, as he was most likely not the
author of these stories, but the reteller.  Andersen should be moved,
but I
doubt any of us are going to do it, because we expect fairy tales to be in
398.2 even if they are literary.  As for the 3 Little Wolves, etc. I would
keep them in 398.2 as variations of the original folktale, so that all are
"together."  I doubt if Trivas et al would have had their ideas if not for
the original folktale, anyway.  And as you said, "do what works best for
your kids, teachers, and you."
----------
Unless you are looking to make a name for yourself as one heck of a
cataloger, you do what works best for yourself, your teachers, and your kids.
I don't have the personal experience to make that kind of remark, but
that is
what my professor last semester told all of us in my cataloging class.  Good
luck!
----------
Do what is best for you, the teachers and your kids.  I find a lot of books
in the 398.2 section in my elementary library when we don't even let kids
browse those sections until third grade.  They can browse Easy, but not
Dewey.  If I had started all this (or when I have time to redo) I'd put more
into Easy and let into 398.2
----------
 I put Andersen's stories in Fiction or Easy Fiction since they are
literary fairy tales as opposed to those from the oral tradition, i.e.,
Andersen created them from his own imagination.  Aesop's are in the 398.2's
because Aesop didn't write them down.  I put the 3 pig versions you
mentioned in fiction because they stray very far from the originals.
Steven Kellogg's version of the Three Pigs and Chicken Little also go in
easy because they are not the traditional folklore.  Anyway, that's the way
I do it.
----------
Dewey's system is not "non-fiction".  It is a system of organizing all
books into topics.  Fiction was pulled out and designated a separate
collection for the convenience of not shelving it in the 800's where is
it is cataloged to be.

Folk and Fairy tales are there as a part of culture.  This is the social
science area.  Catalogers have argued the placement of "new fairytales"
for years.  Andersen's fairy tales have been moved back and forth more
than once.

If a title does not meet the criteria for inclusion in one area, it
should be placed where it "fits" best.  If the CIP says 398, but it
looks more like a fiction picture book and, in your professional
opinion, your patrons would be better served to locate it in the picture
book area, then move it.  I have some books that have been cataloged "F"
that I see as being more like a picture story.  We do not separate
picture books from  longer and less illustrated picture stories, so I am
not sure if I should move them.  Students that read chapter books do not
usually look for picture stories in large-size bindings in the fiction
section.  It's another one of the in-between, not quite one, and really
not the other problems.

Decide what works for you and your kids.   Everybody has to learn to
deal with shades of gray.  There are no absolutes in cataloging. --gg

-----------
My explanation has always been that these folktales are
part of our history and we can use them to explore our past.
The Cinderella story is a fine example -- how it has
changed over time and place.

Some modern retellings continue to fit into the 398.2's
as they are simply a continuation of the same process.

When a story is delibrately altered, however, I place
it in fiction (eg True Story of the Three Littles...).
Some can be hard to call. And as you suggest, cataloging
is meant to be done in a manner that best meets the
needs of the indiviual library. There is no LAW as
such :) Only recommendations..
-------------

Barb Engvall
Library Media Specialist
John Campbell Elementary School
Selah, WA   98941

engvallb@wolfenet.com

Check out the Washington Library Media Association web site: http://www.wlma.org
Or the Selah School District web site: http://www.selah.wednet.edu

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