Swamp Angel

Source: Isaacs, Anne. Swamp Angel. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1994.

Summary: In this take-off on the Paul Bunyan tall tales, there is "nothing to suggest" that a baby girl born almost as big as her mother would become the best woodswoman in Tennessee. However, Angelica, known as "Swamp Angel", makes a name for herself when she defeats the giant bear "Thundering Tarnation."

Cultural origins: American. Although this is an original tale, it is based off the American tall tales, particularly Paul Bunyan.

Audience: 3rd-5th grade. This story would be best appreciated by children who have had some exposure to tall tales before, and so would recognize the elements being used here. Older children would also be more likely to understand the humor of this story.

Adaptation notes: I would like to add more elements of the Paul Bunyan story, particularly origin stories of large landmarks.

The Luminous Pearl

Source: Torre, Betty L. The Luminous Pearl: a Chinese Folktale. New York: Orchard Books, 1990.

Summary: Mai Li, daughter of the Dragon King of the East Sea, is looking for a suitor to marry, but she rejects all the choices her father's advisors bring her. Finally, Admiral C. Horse tells her of a young man he saw while on an inspection tour, who is known to be honest and brave. Mai Li travels to find him, and finds two brothers. She gives them a test to discover which of them is both honest and brave: retrieving a luminous pearl that shines in the night from her father. As the brothers travel to the East Sea, they both come across a village that has been flooded, and both promise to return with the Dragon King's golden dipper to save them. Upon reaching the Dragon King, he allows them each to choose one item from his treasures. The first brother takes an enormous pearl, while the second takes the dipper to fulfill his promise, resigning himself not to marry the princess. After rescuing the village, he finds an oyster containing a black pearl, and takes it back to the princess. That night, it is the second brother's pearl that shines, and he wins the princess's hand.

Cultural origins: Chinese. The book describes itself as a Chinese folktale, and contains an adaptation note identifying another source of the tale.

Audience: 4th-6th grade. Like the other "princess" stories in this collection, this is a complicated story. It is unlikely that younger audiences would be able to follow the plot all the way through the story.

Adaptation notes: When I first read this story, I missed where the second brother got his pearl from. Therefore, when I tell this story, I would be sure to emphasize this part, as it clearly demonstrates that the pearl was his reward for honoring his promise to the village. I would also shorten the part where the princess rejects the suitors presented to her, as I did not think this was as important to the story.

How the Manx Cat Lost its Tail

Source: Stevens, Janet. How the Manx Cat Lost its Tail. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1990.

Summary: When Noah was loading the ark, he noticed the Manx cat was missing. He and his sons tried calling loudly for the cat, but it didn't come. Finally, Noah's wife called softly for the cat, and it came, but because it was late, the door shut on its tail, cutting it off. From then on, the Manx cat had no tail.

Cultural origins: British/European. Although the origin is never stated clearly, the Isle of Man is located in the Irish Sea.

Audience: Preschool-1st grade. This story is basic enough for very young listeners to understand. Although it may help if they are familiar with the story of Noah's Ark, it should not be necessary.

Adaptation notes: I would have the children help me "call" the cat, both loudly and softly. I would also ask the children for examples of the animals in each category (birds, forest animals, pets, etc) as they are described in the story.

The Legend of the Poinsettia

Source: dePaola, Tomie. The Legend of the Poinsettia. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1994.

Summary: Lucida's mother falls ill before she can finish the blanket she is making to cover the baby Jesus figure for the church's Christmas procession. Lucida tries to help finish the blanket, but winds up tangling the threads hopelessly. Distressed that she won't have anything to give to the baby Jesus, she is reassured by an old woman that the important thing is that the gift comes from her heart. Lucida picks a bouquet of weeds to present, but in the church, they become topped by red "stars." When she leaves the church, all the weeds have red stars, turning them into poinsettias.

Cultural origins: Mexican. The story includes an author's note describing this heritage, and the story includes several Spanish phrases.

Audience: 1st - 3rd grade. I would most likely tell this story at Christmastime to a Sunday school audience.

Adaptation notes: In telling this story, I would like to have a poinsettia handy to serve as an introduction to the story and also as a visual when the red stars appear. I might also pair this story with the song "The Little Drummer Boy," since they share thematic elements.

Chicken Licken

Source: Bishop, Gavin. Chicken Licken. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Summary: Chicken Licken thinks the sky is falling, and rushes off to warn the queen. Along the way, he is joined by various other poultry, until they meet up with Foxy Woxy. The fox offers to take them through a shortcut to the queen, which happens to be his lair. Once inside, he gobbles up all the birds except Chicken Licken, who escapes and runs home.

Cultural origins: Undetermined. It was not stated in my source, although the characters and setting suggest a western European origin.

Audience: Multiple. The version of the story presented in this source would be most appropriate for 2nd-4th grades, as the violent imagery at the end would likely frighten younger children. However, a revised ending would make this suitable for preschool-1st grades.

Adaptation notes:Even with an older audience, I would likely downplay the violence of the final scene, describing the animals as being eaten up rather than beheaded by the fox. I would probably keep the chicken's name as Chicken Licken, rather than the alternative Chicken Little, to maintain the rhyming scheme of names in the story.

The Princess and the Pumpkin

Source: Duff, Maggie. The Princess and the Pumpkin. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

Summary: After her golden comb, emerald band, and a lock of hair are stolen by birds, a young princess takes ill and refuses to laugh. The king and queen decree that anyone who can make her laugh again will live in comfort for the rest of their days. Finally, an old woman comes and tells the princess a story that makes her laugh and leads her to find her true love.

Cultural origins: Majorca. This origin is identified in the dust cover flyleaf for the book.

Audience: 4th-6th grade. Like the "Princess and the Beggar", this is a complicated story with a romantic ending.

Adaptation notes: I would use a very gruff voice for the dwarf to help distinguish him as the villain. I would also expand the prince's song and give it a melody.

The Princess and the Beggar

Source: O'Brien, Anne Sibley. The Princess and the Beggar: a Korean Folktale. New York: Scholastic, 1993.

Summary: The King's youngest daughter cried frequently, earning her the nickname "The Weeping Princess." One day, the king threatens that he will marry her off to the village idiot, Pabo Ondal, if she continues her weeping. When she turns 16 and is ready to be married, she holds him to his threat rather than be married in an arranged marriage. She teaches Ondal to read, write, and ride a horse, and he wins the king's hunting and poetry competitions.

Cultural origins: Korean. The book touts itself as a Korean folktale, and includes source notes from the oral tradition.

Audience: 3rd-5th grade. This story would probably be over the head of younger children, particularly with the idea of arranged marriage. It is also a fairly complicated story with multiple characters that develop over the course of the story.

Adaptation notes: In my own telling of this story, I would exaggerate the change in Ondal through my voice and mannerisms. I would also include more examples of the princess's weeping in order to demonstrate how she got her nickname.

The Mean Hyena

Source: Sierra, Judy. The Mean Hyena: A Folktale from Malawi. New York: Lodestar Books, 1997.

Summary: Fisi, the hyena, decides to play a trick on Kamba the tortoise and sticks him in a tree. While he is stuck, Kamba offers to paint the coats of the savanna animals, giving the zebra stripes, the leopard spots, and decorating the coats of other animals. Finally, Fisi decides he wants a new coat, too. However, Kamba paints Fisi's coat with tree gum, which then makes Fisi's coat sticky and dirty.

Cultural origins: African/Malawi. The book contains an author's note giving some background on the tale and the storytellers and scholars who contributed to the book.

Audience: Kindergarten-3rd grade. This tale could appeal to a wide range of ages, but in particular, I have found that these kind of "origins" stories are fascinating to early elementary school children.

Adaptation notes:I would probably leave out the names given to the animals in order to avoid mispronouncing them. I would also work on exaggerating the hyena's laugh at the end to sound more like an actual hyena's bark/laughter.

Tikkatoo's Journey

Source: Loverseed, Amanda. Tikkatoo's Journey: An Eskimo Folk Tale. London: Blackie, 1990.

Summary: When an ice spirit freezes his grandfather's heart, Tikkatoo volunteers to get a flame of fire from the sun to save him. However, he must first find his way to the sun. Along the way, he gets advice and help from an iceberg, the goddess of the sea, and the moon.

Cultural origins: Eskimo. The subtitle of the book is "an Eskimo folk tale," and the book is clearly set in the Eskimo culture.

Audience: Kindergarten-2nd grade. I think this story would work well with a variety of age groups, but is probably a bit simplistic for much older audiences. I think this particular age group would enjoy the overall arc of the story.

Adaptation notes: I would add different versions of Tikkatoo's voice for when he is underwater (such as running a finger over my lips) and other indicators of setting. I would also add a repeated phrase for each person Tikkatoo asks for help on his journey to keep the audience involved in the story.

The Seven Chinese Brothers

Source: Mahy, Margaret. The Seven Chinese Brothers. New York: Scholastic, 1990.

Summary: Hundreds of years ago, there were seven identical brothers, each with their own unique ability. One brother was taken prisoner by the emperor for being too strong after he rebuilt a hole in the Great Wall in one afternoon. The brothers continually switch places to avoid execution until finally, the seventh brother cries two rivers and washes away the emperor and his armies.

Cultural origins: Chinese. This book includes author's notes about the sources used to compile this version of the tale, as well as an editor's note about Emperor Ch'in Shih Huang, who serves as the chief antagonist.

Audience: 3rd-5th grade. This story is a bit more complicated than I would normally use with a younger audience, especially considering the continual switching of the identical brothers. I think younger children would quickly lose the plot.

Adaptation notes: In an effort to distinguish between the different brothers, I would attempt to use slightly different voices and mannerisms. I would also provide some background information about historical China and the Great Wall in order to set the scene.

The Legend of the Bluebonnet

Source: dePaola, Tomi. The Legend of the Bluebonnet: an Old Tale of Texas. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1983.

Summary: The spring rains have not yet come to awaken the earth and provide food for the Comanche people. They pray to the Great Spirits to ask what they must do to end the famine, and the shaman tells them that they must sacrifice their most valued possession and scatter the ashes to the four winds. One little girl sacrifices the doll that is all she has left of her family, who died in the famine. In the morning, the hills are covered with flowers as blue as the feathers that decorated her doll's hair.

Cultural origins: Comanche/Native American. The story includes an author's note about the research he did on the story and its various versions.

Audience: 1st-3rd graders. Although this is not a complicated story, the themes of famine, death, and sacrifice may be beyond younger audiences. This would be a good story to tell during a school unit on Native Americans or on different states, since the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas.

Adaptation notes: I would add more background information about the Comanche tribe and their customs, in order to give a broader understanding of the story.

Rose Red and the Bear Prince

Source: Andreasen, Dan. Rose Red and the Bear Prince: Retold from the Brothers Grimm. HarperCollins, 2000.

Summary: Rose Red loves all animals, so when a bear comes to her cottage door one cold, winter day, she invites him in and takes care of him. When spring comes, the bear leaves to find his riches that were stolen from him by a dwarf. Rose Red stumbles upon the dwarf three times, and each time frees him from his troubles, by cutting his hair, in exchange for one of the bear's treasures. When she cuts the last of his hair, the dwarf loses his powers, and the bear is returned to his true form, a human prince.

Cultural origins: German/European. This story was adapted from the Grimm Brothers' tale "Snow White and Rose Red."

Audience: 4-6th grade. This is a very complex story with many layers that younger audiences would be unlikely to remember. However, an older audience would appreciate the various fairy tale tropes (kindness to strangers, things in threes, etc.) as well as the romantic ending.

Adaptation notes: In my own version of the story, I would likely leave out Rose Red's widowed mother, as she does not play any part in the story beyond the bear prince's first appearance.

The North Wind and the Sun

Source: Wildsmith, Brian. The North Wind and the Sun. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Summary: The North Wind sees a man riding though town wearing a new cloak and brags that he could easily blow it off his back. The Sun challenges the North Wind to see which of them can remove the man's cloak. First, the North Wind blows as hard as he can, but the man just pulls the cloak more tightly around him. Then, the Sun gives off a gentle warmth, which makes the man too hot and he takes off his cloak to go swimming.

Cultural origins: Aesop's Fables. This story is quite clearly a fable, with a moral at the end of the story. Although the book attributes the fable to La Fontaine, other sources trace it to Aesop.

Audience: Pre-school - 1st grade. This is a fairly simple tale that younger children could understand. They might also enjoy the imagery of the different things that happen when the wind blows.

Adaptation notes: I would add audience participation by creating a "windstorm" when the North Wind blows. The audience would create the windstorm by blowing and making noise while I continued to tell the story over the noise. I would also tell this part relatively fast to simulate being blown around by the wind. Then, I would bring the volume down and slow the pace to create the feeling of warmth and peace brought by the sunshine.

The Cow on the Roof

Source: Maddern, Eric. The Cow on the Roof. London: Frances Lincoln, 2006.

Summary: Shon, tired of coming home every night to find his wife "fresh as a buttercup" while he is exhausted from his day in the field, suggests switching chores for a day. However, he discovers just how hard his wife's work is after ruining the butter, the ale, and the porridge and winding up stuck in the chimney.

Cultural origins: European. This version of the story is set in Wales, as evidenced by the names Shon and Sian (pronounced "Shorn" and "Sharn").

Audience: Kindergarten-2nd grade. This age group would take well to the animals' antics in distracting the man from his various tasks, as well as the repeated phrases throughout the story.

Adaptation notes: In my own telling of the story, I might change the character's names to make a larger distinction between the two for an oral telling. I would be sure to emphasize the repeated phrases - "turning and churning" and "gone is gone" - in order to encourage audience participation. I would also add arm motions for the butter churning and other tasks.

The Bremen Town Musicians

Sources
Hoskins, Bob. "The Bremen Town Musicians." Rabbit Ears World Tales Volume 5. Rabbit Ears Entertainment, 1997.
Puttapipat, Niroot. The Musicians of Bremen. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2005.
Rockwell, Anne. "The Bremen Town Musicians." The Old Woman and Her Pig and 10 Other Stories. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1979.
Sierra, Judy. "How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune." Can You Guess My Name?: Traditional Tales Around the World. New York: Clarion Books, 2002.
Wilhelm, Hans. The Bremen Town Musicians. New York: Scholastic, 1992.
Zwerger, Lisbeth. The Brothers Grimm: The Bremen Town Musicians. New York: Penguing Young Readers Group, 2007.

Summary: A donkey, dog, cat, and rooster run away from their masters after learning of plans to kill them. They decide to go to Bremen and become musicians. As night falls while they are on the road, they find a cabin occupied by robbers enjoying a feast. The animals scare off the robbers and take the feast and cabin for themselves for the night. When one of the robbers comes back while they are asleep, the animals defend their new home, sending the robber back to his cohorts with tales of monsters and ghosts. The animals decide they are happy where they are, and claim the cabin as their own.

Cultural origins: German. This tale is usually attributed to the Grimm brothers, and Bremen is a small town in northwestern Germany.

Audience: Middle-upper elementary. Due to the complexity of the story, I would probably use this with 3rd-5th graders in a library or school setting.

Adaptation notes: In the introduction to the story, I have added a note about the significance of Bremen and its role in the story. I would also add animal noises to identify the different characters as they are introduced and when they raid the cabin. I might also break the audience into groups to make the animal noises during the cabin raid in order to create a good cacophony.