Folk Literature Week

Onions and Garlic: An Old Tale, retold by Eric A. Kimmel
 In my experience with reading folk tales, they are either a hit or a miss--and this book was a miss. I felt rather underwhelmed as I read such a random tale. The premis of the story centered around Getzel, the son of a merchant. Though his father loved him most of all his sons, he referred to him as "Getzel the fool," because he was too soft and trusting of his buyers--qualities that were rather undesirable in this job field. In a quest to prove his worth as a merchant, Getzel set sail with a load of onions. But before he could reach the market, a powerful storm carried his ship to an unknown island, where diamonds littered the beachy shore. When he finally found people on the island, Getzel could only offer them onions and diamonds in exchange for food and shelter. Because diamonds were so common and onions had never been seen before, these people offered Getzel a ship full of diamonds in exchange for his onions. When he returned home and told his family about his adventures, they decided to travel back to the island to sell the locals garlic--a "delicacy" they surely could not resist. But rather than leaving the island with another boatful of diamonds, they were sent back with sacks of onions. What? Is there some kind of weird underlying message I'm missing? Despite the point that I did not like the story itself, I found the illustrations to be rather dull. I would not consider incorporating any element of this book into a classroom--unless I used it as an example of a "bad" folktale.

Sirko and the Wolf, adapted by Eric A. Kimmel
This picture book was a little bit better. It read more like a traditional folktale, answering the lifelong question as to why dogs howl when they hear the howl of a wolf. The illustrations were vivid, the story was simplistic and entertaining, and I liked how it was set in the Ukraine. There doesn't seem to be much attention on that country, so I think the slightest reference of mention of it (even if it's in a folktale picture book) might also generate some discussion about the country and its geography. I also believe the illustrations depicted accurate the characters' physical appearance accurately, and in a social studies class, I could see using the pictures of their clothes and foods to generate discussion about the Ukrainian culture. This book didn't knock my socks off, but I thought the story was "cute," and that some aspects of it could be useful in a classroom.

Longer Collection: The Sword and the Grail, retold by Constance Hieatt
Now that I have read a third, but longer, folktale, I think I have come to the conclusion that I am simply not a fan of them. This realization comes as a surprise to me, though, since I always thought I would like folk literature. Then again, maybe I just happened to pick out three books that were not my cup of tea. This third book, The Sword and the Grail, told the story of a Perceval, a naive young man, secluded from the rest of the world by his overprotective mother, who stumbles across a few knights in the woods. These knights ask him if he has seen two other knights and their captive maiden. But Perceval, entranced by these strange men and their foreign attire, is too consumed in trying to make sense of these mysterious men. He later confronts his mother about his encounter with the knights and informs her that he is going to King Arthur's castle to talk to him about becoming a knight himself. Though his mother pleads with him not to desert her, Perceval decides that becoming a knight is the nobel thing to do. Long story short, because Perceval was kept from society his entire life, he is rather awkward and intolerant when he reaches the kingdom. Sure, this aspect was slightly humorous. Who doesn't love an awkward guy who mistakes a woman's bed for the House of God?
Despite Perceval's limited knowledge of the outside world, he is able to rescue the maiden, defeat the knights who captures her, and becomes a hero. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that he is the key to unlocking the misery of the kingdom, because he is the rightful heir to the throne and rightful owner of the Holy Grail. And everything and everyone lived happily ever after. Literally, this is the last sentence of the book: "And never again did the land over which he ruled become withered and dry; even in the wintertime there were always more green things growing there than anywhere else in Britain, and it seemed a land especially blessed" (p. 82). Now, I understand that this is typically how folktales conclude, but I'm just not buying it. I don't like cliche and happy endings that I can predict before I even open a book, but I suppose these endings come with the territory and it's something I have to accept/expect.


"Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom", by Debbie Reese
When Native Americans are often misrepresented in school textbooks, pop culture, and in the media, it is crucial that we, as educators, make critical and informed choices when we incorporate Native American literature. Folktales especially can reveal insightful information about a tribe's culture, religious beliefs, rituals, and everyday experience. Incorporating these folktales into the classroom will help expand a student's understanding of Native Americans and counteract predetermined/stereotyped ideas about them. Additionally, there may be a student who identifies himself/herself with a tribe, or has Native American ancestry, who would benefit from seeing his/her heritage in the classroom and in literature.