Book Corner
2006 Aesop Award Winners awarded by the AFS Children's Folklore Section

Synopses submitted by Jacqueline S. Thursby, Brigham Young University

Bruchac, Marge.  Malian’s Song.  Ill. William Maughan. Middlebury, VT: Vermont Folklife Center, 2006. ISBN: 0916718263

Bruchac, of Abenaki descent, creates a fictionalized retelling of an historical event, the English attack on an Abenaki village in 1759. Her story is based on an oral legend kept alive in the Abenaki family, the Obomsawins. The story is told by Malian, who is a child when the attack takes place. She passes her account of the successful Abenaki escape through four generations. The story was eventually recorded from Elvine Obomsawin by her granddaughter, Jeanne Brink, for the Vermont Folklife Center. The superbly detailed illustrations by Maughn provide a contrasting sense of Abenaki life at that time. An afterword, “The Facts Behind the Raid,” show the contrasting accounts from English and Abenaki sources. A brief bibliography offers further resources from six relevant books.

This book is an excellent example of folklore-based material, supported by research for both narrative and illustrations, thus reflecting the historical and cultural worldview of the abenaki and enhancing a reader’s understanding. Though it is offered as a children’s book, it is appropriate for adults as well.

Ragan, Kathleen, ed.  Outfoxing Fear: Folktales from Around the World.  New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. ISBN: 0393060365

In her carefully constructed, meticulously researched and powerful collection of sixty-four folktales exploring the theme of fear, editor Kathleen Ragan offers students, storytellers, and educators a valuable treasury of tales and comfort. Interspersed with personal commentary regarding the fears of her children and herself, Ragan organizes the tales from a myriad of cultures into fifteen subcategories such as “Serious Laughter,” “The Nature of Fear,” “The World we Travel Toward,” and “”Using Speculation Machines.” Jack Zipes, in his introduction, states that “paradoxically, it’s because folktales do not ‘teach’ us to overcome fear that they help us deal with fear.” This collection aids us in this journey of understanding and coping with our own fears.

She has gathered her stories from often lesser known resources adding authenticity in voice and culture to this compilation that spans, among others, the First Nation people of North America, several countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Annotated source notes and recommendations for further reading round out the collection.

Powell, Patricia Hruby.  Chál tó Yinílo’: Frog Brings Rain.  Flagstaff, AZ: Salina Bookshelf, 2006. ISBN: 1893354083

Patricia Powell, in collaboration with Navaho illustrator Kendrick Benally of the Red-running-into-the-water people and with Navajo translation by Peter A. Thomas, has created a visually exhilarating retelling of a seldom heard Navajo folktale, based on the 1967 written version by Frances Johnson Newcomb. When the world was new, a huge fire threatened the First People’s village. First Woman asks various animals to help, and many refuse. Robin tries and has her breast singed red (MacDonald motif A 2411.2.1.18) after which, no one else volunteers. So she asks Frog, who agrees, loads himself with water and is carried across the mountain by Crane. With the water, he is too heavy for Crane, so he drops some water on each side of the burning mountain creating rain (AT motif A1134). Forever after, Frog’s call summons the rain (AT motif A246.4.1.2).

The dual languages in this book make it unusual and increase its cultural authenticity as well as its accessibility to a wider variety of readers. The illustrations’ brilliant colors evoke the vibrancy of the desert southwest, and the folk art style showcases traditional Navajo culture (First Woman’s ponytail and Concho belt).

de Almeida, Livia, and Ana Portella.  Brazilian Folktales.  Ed. Margaret Read MacDonald. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. ISBN: 1563089300

Brazilian Folktales joins several other Libraries Unlimited titles in the World Folklore Series, and it contributes yet another well-researched and authentic collection to the series. A collaboration between a Brazilian journalist (de Almeida) a Brazilian librarian (Portella) and an American folklore/library scholar (MacDonald), this work is a marvelous window into Brazilian life and lore. It covers Amazon magical and animal tales, stories that have migrated from Africa and Europe tales of enchantment, trickster tales (about Pedro Malasartes), scary tales, stories involving Death, and finally as section on festivals and recipes to help readers understand the context in which these stories might be told. The Notes about the tales at the end of the book describe the various motifs present in the stories and discuss similar tales from other countries (tale variants).

The Introduction is particularly noteworthy, as it sets the broad context for understanding these stories as cultural emissaries. It briefly describes the country, culture and peoples of Brazil, and then offers an explanation of how various cultures have contributed to folklore and storytelling in Brazil. This book is a remarkable entrée to the magic and culture of this South American country.