Traditional Literature

The Juniper Tree, and Other Tales from Grimm - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm


Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. The Juniper Tree, and Other Tales from Grimm. Translated by Lore Segal, New York, Farrar, Straus And Giroux, 1976.

This is a collection of Grimm fairy tales. There are approximately 13 stories in the volume, each with an illustration.  It's about 168 pages long. This book is genuinely difficult to read! It is filled with words that are out of date (I wasn't sure what a sexton was until I looked it up) and I couldn't find myself finishing a story without some effort. One of the most difficult parts of the story was that a new piece of dialogue didn't start a new line. Because of this, it was hard to keep up with who was speaking. The writing style of the book suggests that it is for an adult storyteller to tell to children. There are illustrations throughout the book at a rate of one per story. Each of the illustrations is beautifully and creatively drawn by Maurice Sendak of Where The Wild Things Are. While wonderful, the pictures themselves do not enhance the story, rather just act as decoration. 

The People Could Fly - Virginia Hamilton


Hamilton, Virginia. The People Could Fly. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.


This is a collection of Black American folk tales. There are 24 stories and an introduction is included. There are 173 pages in the volume. Each story is separated by various topics such as animal tales, supernatural tales, and tales of slaves running to freedom to name a few. Each of the stories is written in the dialect spoken such as Gullah or AAVE. There are several illustrations in the book and they do help move the story along. Given the way this book is written, I would say that this is a book written for an adult storyteller to tell to a child since it is written as if it's transcribing a story. 

Comments

  1. Jen CMay 31, 2024 at 6:26 AM

    Brief, but informative. Begin to connect your observations and opinions to evidence--what part of the book made you think that? Also, word count isn't usually addressed in the body of a review (some add it to the bib info) unless there is something striking about it. The average picture book is 32 pages. If you review one that is 60, that worth noting.

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