Folktales Aloud

A good folktale triggers the imagination, connecting children to a wider world as well as increasing their vocabulary and comprehension skills. In this delightful and easy-to-use book, teacher and storyteller Del Negro gives librarians, teachers, and parents the keys to storytelling success. Including more than a dozen original adaptations of folktales from around the world, tailored specifically for library and classroom use, she Reviews storytelling basics such as selecting a tale and learning the story Offers tips for dealing with stage fright and reluctant listeners Presents a bibliography of recommended online and print resources, steering readers to more wonderful tales to tell For young listeners the folktale is a perfect gateway to the exciting worlds of culture and literature, and Del Negro’s book invites their engagement with proven techniques and original story scripts that can be used by experienced as well as beginning tellers.

Science tells us that young children develop best when they are read to. In this follow-up to Read to Your Baby Every Day, soothe your toddler with retellings of traditional folk tales, fairy tales and fables from around the world paired with images of Chloe Giordano’s charming hand-embroidered illustrations on cloth. Every tale is the perfect length to read aloud to your toddler before bedtime and carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us. Bond with your toddler and help them grow as you read to them these timeless stories: THE THREE WISHES, Scandinavia THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, Ancient Rome BRER RABBIT AND THE WELL, North America HOW THE BEAR LOST HIS TAIL, Iroquois THE MAGIC PEAR TREE, China WHY THE BANANAS BELONG TO THE MONKEY, Brazil THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE, Syria THE STONECUTTER, Japan THE RAINBOW SERPENT, Indigenous Australia THE CLEVER LITTLE TURTLE, Mexico THE SCRUFFY DUCKLING, Denmark THE LION AND THE THORN, Ancient Greece ANANSI AND THE TURTLE, Caribbean KING MIDAS, Ancient Greece A BAG FULL OF STORIES, Cambodia THE MICE AND THE ELEPHANTS, India SNOWFLAKE, THE SNOW CHILD, Russia WHY CATS CHASE MICE, Nigeria HOW THE WREN BECAME KING OF THE BIRDS, Ireland THE FEAST, Mali

For young listeners the folktale is a perfect gateway to the exciting worlds of culture and literature, and Del Negro’s book invites their engagement with proven techniques and original story scripts that can be used by experienced as well as beginning tellers.

Once upon a time, in a little village in India, there lived an old woman. Everyone in the village called her Grandma. One day, Grandma received a letter from her daughter, who lived on the other side of the jungle. "Please come and visit me," said the letter. "I haven't seen you in so long. I miss you." And so, Grandma begins a perilous journey to the far side of the jungle. Can she use her keen wit to escape the jungle animals and make it safely home? Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's sharp, rhythmic retelling of this Bengali folktale is complimented perfectly by Susy Pilgrim Waters's brightly colored, captivating illustrations. Grandma and the Great Gourd is a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013

When a fisherman finds a baby girl in his net, he and his wife are overjoyed. Their wish for a child has come true! But as the years go by, Merella, their beloved daughter, has a secret longing - a longing that will lead the fisherman and his wife to a heartrending decision. In this original folk story, acclaimed author Maxine Rose Schur presents a poetic fable, weaving themes of yearning, fate, and abiding love. Coupled with Milanka Reardon's exquisite illustrations, Child of the Sea delivers a lively, lyrical tale that confirms the universal need to belong and the liberating power of love.

The storytelling tradition has long been an important piece of Kentucky history and culture. Folktales, legends, tall tales, and ghost stories hold a special place in the imaginations of inventive storytellers and captive listeners. In Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies Kentucky storyteller Mary Hamilton narrates a range of stories with the voice and creativity only a master storyteller can evoke. Hamilton has perfected the art of entrancing an audience no matter the subject of her tales. Kentucky Folktales includes stories about Daniel Boone's ability to single-handedly kill a bear, a daughter who saves her father's land by outsmarting the king, and a girl who uses gingerbread to exact revenge on her evil stepmother, among many others. Hamilton ends each story with personal notes on important details of her storytelling craft, such as where she first heard the story, how it evolved through frequent re-tellings and reactions from audiences, and where the stories take place. Featuring tales and legends from all over the Bluegrass State, Kentucky Folktales captures the expression of Kentucky's storytelling tradition.

A vital resource for educators, this collection offers refl ections on and samples of units and lessons with an anti-racism orientation that promote inclusive educational practices for today’s increasingly diverse K–12 classrooms. Engaging with multicentric cultural knowledges and stories, the contributors—consisting of classroom teachers, community workers, and adult educators—present units and lesson plans that challenge the Eurocentricity of curriculum design while also having practical applicability within various North American curricular models. These curriculum designs make space for students’ lived experiences inside the classroom and amplify critical social values, such as community building, social justice, equity, fairness, resistance, and collective responsibility, thereby addressing the issue of youth disengagement and promoting productive inclusion. Rich with sample units and lessons that are grounded in African oral traditions, this ground-breaking resource features critical guiding questions, suggestions for ongoing and culminating classroom activities, templates and resources, and notes to the teacher. Centering African Proverbs, Indigenous Folktales, and Cultural Stories in Curriculum is an essential tool for practising teachers, professional learning providers, and students in education and teaching programs across Canada and the United States.