Product Description

"The well-known author retells 24 black American folk tales in sure

storytelling voice: animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary

tales, and slave tales of freedom. All are beautifully readable. With the added

attraction of 40 wonderfully expressive paintings by the Dillons, this

collection should be snapped up."--(starred) School Library Journal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148544 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01-04
• Released on: 1993-01-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780679843368
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Virginia Hamilton, Newbery Medal winner and recipient of the National Book Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, teams up with two-time Caldecott Medal winners, Leo and Diane Dillon, in this classic collection of American black folktales, winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. By turns droll, grisly, and spine-tingling, the 24 stories celebrate the indomitable human spirit, surviving under the most crushing circumstances of slavery. Traditionally, storytelling has helped people to push through sorrow and pain, especially when the stories are saturated with magic, mysticism, and fantasy. Bruh Rabbit, He Lion, Tar Baby, and other animals populate many of the stories. In others, John, the traditional trickster hero, outwits the slave owner time after time to win his freedom.

Included with this very special edition is a CD featuring the commanding voices of Hamilton and actor James Earl Jones. Eleven selections, including "The Peculiar Such Thing," "John and the Devil's Daughter," "A Wolf and Little Daughter," and "The People Could Fly," bring to life the rhythm and lyrical energy of Hamilton's text. Leo and Diane Dillon's strikingly beautiful black and white illustrations continue to mesmerize and haunt the reader. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
This widely lauded anthology boasts stunning black-and-white artwork and stirringly told stories with such evocative titles as "The Beautiful Girl of the Moon Tower" and "Wiley, His Mama, and the Hairy Man." All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7 The well-known author here retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice. In four groupings she presents seven animal tales (including a tar-baby variant); six fanciful ones (including "Wiley, His Mama, and the Hairy Man" and a tale of which Harper's Gunniwulf Dutton, 1967 is a variant); five supernatural tales (including variants of the Tailypo, John and the Deviland a wild cautionary tale, "Little Eight John"); and finally, six slave tales of freedom, closing with the moving title story. Depending on the sources, some of the tales use a modified dialect for flavor; one told with quite a few words of Gullah dialect has a glossary. All are beautifully readable. The book has a bibliography, and comments follow each tale, including one personal note of a family account involving one of her grandfathers. Two other collections of black folk tales, Courlander's Terrapin's Pot of Sense (Holt, 1957; o.p.) and Faulkner's The Days When the Animals Talked (Follett, 1977; o.p.) are both out of print. With the added attraction of 40 bordered full- and half-page illustrations by the Dillonswonderfully expressive paintings reproduced in black and whitethis collection should be snapped up. Ruth M. McConnell, San Antonio Public Library
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

wonderful
This book rates way up there as a wonderful resource for anyone who is trying to raise children to have an appreciation for the cultures that make up our great country. As a home educator, I am always on the lookout for multi-cultural resources that provide a window into the backgrounds of others. Since the author writes from personal background experience, as well as research into the African-American folktales, I believe it is an excellent representation of stories that children would have grown up with in that culture. Besides, it's exciting, interesting, fun to read aloud, and has wonderful illustrations!

A Must-have for every American home
Fascinating folktales from an African-American perspective, this work evokes memories of the strength of a people to find magic, wonder, and spirituality in a time when oppression was the norm. Miss Hamilton, along with illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, has produced a work of timeless importance. One of the few books that I can't keep on the shelves of my classroom, it is an essential for every teacher or person interested in exposing children to a wealth of literature.

This is a good book for kids that are 9 - 12 year old.
I really enjoyed reading this book, I am 9 year old. I read the book in about 2 days, it was about African-American folk tales. The best story in the book was "if the people could fly".