Among the professions that have the ability to influence children
for all of life, few rise to the level of school librarian. I was fortunate to
have two of the best librarians ever during my time in elementary school. The
first, and most memorable for me, was Mr. Tom Trott. Every week our class would
file down to the library and hear Mr. Trott read stories to us. And boy did he
have stories to read! Among the books he read to us, two of the most popular
were Grandfather Tales and Jack Tales.
There was always a waiting list for these two books, and I don’t know that I
ever got to check out either of them more than once. Oh, but the stories were
wonderful. They were folktales full of magic and giants and spooky things. So recently,
I thought I would snag a copy of each to read to my kids.
Here is my review: Wow! Folklorist Richard Chase traveled around
Southwest Virginia and North
Carolina and collected stories from real people he
met in small towns. He collected several versions of each tale, and then retold
them for these two books.
Jack Tales are stories that all
feature a boy named Jack as the protagonist. Jack kills giants, outwits wicked
kings, rides lions, and even captures Death in an old sack.
Grandfather
Tales are all various other tales from the area with a frame story of
Mr. Chase visiting a family on Old Christmas Eve, and hearing the stories along
with a few old Appalachian customs. Grandfather Tales also
includes the story Chunk o’ Meat which has stuck with my all these years and
which I
have told to my kids more than once before getting these books.
Some of the stories are recognizable variants of old fairy
tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, the Valiant Tailor, and other familiar stories
are seen through generations of retelling in the Appalachian
mountains. Other tales are uniquely American and have a very rural
Appalachian flavor. In addition to the stories, the author has meticulous notes
on where and from whom each story was collected. For those who are interested
in the academic study of folklore, he also lists similar stories from various other
countries and catalogues every story according to its Aarne-Thompson number.
The author cautions his readers that these tales are
intended to be told, not read. Keeping them in a book is a sure way to kill
them. They must be told and retold. In keeping with his advice, I did the same
thing with my children, reading the stories first for myself and then telling
them out loud in my own style. It was pretty easy for me, as I’m from Southwest
Virginia myself and didn’t have to fake the accent.
If you are a fan of fairy tales or folk tales, then get your
hands on a copy of these books and experience folktales from a southern
American perspective.
Jack Tales by Richard Chase 5/5 stars
Grandfather Tales by Richard Chase 5/5
stars
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