Thirty-Three Multicultural Tales to Tell (American Storytelling)
Grade 3 Up-This collection of stories from around the world ranges from the serious to the humorous, and from the relatively familiar ("The Magic Pot" from China and the Grimms' "Clever Gretel") to the lesser-known ("The Goat and the Rock" from Tibet). DeSpain has included something for everyone-trickster stories about Coyote and Anansi, Creation stories, and tales of fools. Each selection is short (two to three pages) and is accompanied by a full-page, black-and-white, pen-and-ink illustration. The language is simple and direct, which makes the book a good source for beginning storytellers. The use of the same simple style from one tale to another tends to blur cultural distinctions, however, so that a story from Korea sounds much the same as one from North America. Notes give sources and some suggestions about how to tell the stories, but there is little information about cultural context. The country of origin is included, except in the case of Africa; those selections are identified simply as being from that continent. Average fare for large folk-tale collections.Susan Giffard, Midtown Ethical Culture School, New York CityCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.