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The Greenwood Library of World Folktales [Four Volumes] Stories from the Great Collections
Thomas A. Green
Volume 1
Africa, The Middle East, Australia, and Oceania
Volume 2
Asia
Volume 3
Europe
Volume 4
North and South America
Book Code: GR3783
ISBN: 0-313-33783-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-33783-3
1928 pages, n/a
Greenwood Press
Publication: 2/28/2008
List Price: $299.95 (UK Sterling Price: £170.00)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Subjects: Reviews:
  • International in scope, this set offers four volumes that each focus on folktales from a broad geographic region: Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and Oceania; Asia; Europe; and North and South America....Including classics like Cinderella, Hansel and Grete, and Jack, the Giant-Killer, this collection entertains while providing insight into the cultural and literary traditions of the diverse cultures represented. Useful for students and researchers as well as general readers; highly recommended for academic and public libraries.
    —Library Journal     June 15, 2008
  • A set preface, volume introductions, and headnotes (brief ethnographic, historical, comparative, or stylistic points) for each tale immensely increase the Library's usefulness. The editor has tried to avoid Western-centric bias, especially in categorizing (tales are grouped by culture or geopolitical divisions)....[T]here is a good blend of subgenres, of the familiar and the rare, and the sacred and the secular, from hundreds of ethnic groups. The Encyclopedia, too, has a global scope, and ranges from antiquity to the present in its 670 entries. It covers commercial films, music, and young adult novels, as well as motifs, writers, tale types, and ethnic groups. An introduction contextualizes fairy tale studies and provides an extensive bibliography (a subset of the closing 64-pages offering). Cross references appear in boldface throughout....Both sets, with their occasional black and white illustrations, will be accessible and useful to sophisticated newcomers to the genre.
    —School Library Journal     August 2008
  • This valuable collection of folktales provides an engaging introduction to cultural themes and stories from around the globe....A comprehensive index at the end of each volume allows readers to compare stories that have similar motifs (such as the trickster figure) across countries, regions, and time periods, this index is one of the most helpful features of the set....This set is an invaluable resource for high-school or beginning college students who are researching in the fields of literature or cultural studies.
    —ARBA Online     August 2008
  • [A]n excellent tool for teaching the use of one of the world's most ubiquitous literary art forms. This collection is suitable for audiences in high school, public and academic libraries.
    —Lawrence Looks at Books     July 2008
Description: From the Amazon to the Arctic, the world is teeming with diverse cultures. There's no better way for students to learn about the world's cultural diversity than through its folktales. Some of these tales have been told for centuries, while others have emerged only in recent times. These tales are the foundations of the world's traditions, literature, and popular culture and are fundamental to daily life. The most comprehensive work of its kind, this set gives students and general readers a guided tour of the world's folktales. Each volume of the set is devoted to a particular broad geographic region:

Volume 1: Africa, The Middle East, Australia and Oceania

Volume 2: Asia

Volume 3: Europe

Volume 4: North and South America

Each volume includes an introductory essay, and the tales within each book are gathered in sections devoted to particular cultural groups or regions. The tales are accompanied by explanatory headnotes, and the set provides regional bibliographies as well as a selected, general bibliography.
Among the tales covered are:

  • Baboon Disguises Himself and Becomes a Farmer
  • Cinderella
  • The Crocodile and the Dog
  • The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull
  • The Fisherman and the Jinn
  • The Green Lady
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • How the Twins Visited the Sun
  • Jack and the Fire Dragaman
  • Jack the Giant-Killer
  • Lata and Sinota
  • Pele's Long Sleep
  • Rabbit Steals Fire
  • The Red Calf
  • Tale of a Lantern
  • Thor in Peril
  • The Tortoise with a Beautiful Daughter
  • The Wallaroo and the Willy-Wagtail
  • The Witch and the New Born Infant
  • And many more.

    Accessible, informative, and entertaining, this book will help literature students learn how to analyze texts and understand the traditions at the heart of many of the world's literary masterpieces. It will also help social studies students learn about the world's cultures and respect ethnic diversity.

    FEATURES AND BENEFITS:

  • Volumes are devoted to particular geographic regions.
  • Tales are clustered in sections devoted to particular cultural groups within broad regions.
  • Introductory essays discuss the tales and traditions of different areas.
  • Tales are accompanied by explanatory headnotes.
  • The set includes regional bibliographies and a selected, general bibliography of resources suitable for student research.
  • Supports the literature curriculum by helping students analyze texts and understand the tales fundamental to many literary works.
  • Supports the social studies curriculum by helping students learn about different cultures.
  • Promotes respect for cultural and ethnic diversity.
    • LC Card Number: 2007041323
    LCC Class: GR74
    Dewey Class: 398
    PDF Catalogs:
    Greenwood Spring Reference 2008.pdf
    Greenwood School and Public Library Reference Spring 2008.pdf
    Academic Library Fall 2008.pdf
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