Folktales for Grown-ups

This is a wonderful collection of 46 short folktales that share the themes of doing the right thing, surviving by cleverness and kindness and always maintaining a good sense of humor. They come from Poland, Central Asia, Iran, Morocco and many other places where Jews have settled. They are excellent choices for reading aloud or telling to a group.

This is a study of the literary transformation of European folklore into cautionary and exemplary tales for children by such writers as the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. Examining these fairy tales from a feminist point of view the author brings a new perspective to the familiar tales.

Mules and Men is the first great collection of black America's folk world. In the 1930's, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her native village of Eatonville, Florida to record the oral histories, sermons and songs, dating back to the time of slavery, which she remembered hearing as a child. In her quest, she found herself and her history throughout these highly metaphorical folk-tales, big old lies, and the lyrical language of song. With this collection, Zora Neale Hurston has come to reveal and preserve a beautiful and important part of American culture.Zora Neale Hurston (1901-1960) was a novelist, folklorist, anthropologist and playwright whose fictional and factual accounts of black heritage are unparalleled. She is also the author of Tell My Horse, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Dust Tracks on a Road, and Mule Bone.

What ever happened to the seven dwarfs after Snow White ditched them? What was life like for the giant above the beanstalk? Readers need wonder no more. Authors include Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Michael Cadnum, Nancy Farmer, Tanith Lee, Garth Nix, and Patricia A. McKillip.