Narrative forms have the potential to inspire, sustain and heal us, and traditional folktales have a special healing magic for children. Witch and monster stories like Baba Yaga and Heckedy Peg show how to get through the dark woods of life and suggest that there are helpful beings along the way. The Elves and the Shoemaker illustrates the practice of generosity. Talking Eggs, a traditional Louisiana Creole Cinderella tale, demonstrates the eventual triumph of good over evil. In the Uncle Remus stories, underdogs like tar baby and the rabbit outfox the scary fox himself. Native American coyote tales offer tales of connectedness with the natural world. In our stress-filled lives, these stories provide steadying information and wisdom.
For folktales from Asia, search the wealth of the PaperTigers website, or go directly to interviews with authors like Debjani Chatterjee and Demi, who have written stories based on folktales. For faves of Asian kids, here’s a review of a collection of folktale retellings. And for Hispanic folktales, check out Tales Our Arbuelitas Told.
PaperTigers welcomes your feedback about this important form of literature for the child within each of us.
As a social worker at a family resource center in Mendocino County, California, I have been using folk takes as a means for helping “at risk” children develop resiliency as they navigate some tough life circumstances. We have used some of the stories that Charlotte has listed in a class that we call “Story Play”. We have created an aesthetically inviting, emotionally safe setting where children in groups of about 8, come together to hear stories, dress in costumes and act out the stories. Our acting is more a sense of play rather than performance. The children have also written their own stories. One child, recently returned to his family from foster care, directed his story about a baby bird who is returned to the nest. We also use visual art and crafts as a means of internalizing the stories.
Thanks for this fascinting account, DorothyGayle. There’s a reason that these stories are timeless; they speak to such deep human concerns. It’s great that you’ve found such a creative–and healing–way to share them with children.