World Folklore and Folklife is available either as a stand-alone product or fully integrated with Daily Life through History (Basic or Premium). Substantial discounts apply to those who add World Folklore and Folklife to an existing subscription, or who take out a new subscription to more than one product. Contact your Greenwood Sales Representative, or sign up here for a trial.

World Folklore and Folklife provides an exciting new gateway to social history and social studies. Tracing the origins and development of all aspects of traditional cultures around the world, World Folklore and Folklife bridges the gap between past and present and offers a fresh slant on such core curriculum topics as:

  • Literature
  • Social and religious practices
  • History
  • Art
  • Music
  • Languages

Supporting the curriculum in the areas of world cultures, history, arts, literature, and language, World Folklore and Folklife is the only electronic resource broad enough to provide both folk material and the textual content needed to understand it.

What does World Folklore and Folklife cover?

  • Myths
  • Foodways
  • Campus legends
  • Proverbs and sayings
  • Music
  • Urban legends
  • Comparative religions
  • Folk and fairy tales
  • Medical folklore
  • Literature and
  • All the ingredients of everyday life

Every group in every culture creates its own folklore traditions and these provide an unparalleled approach to understanding the fears, hopes, loves, wants, taboos, and beliefs of that culture.

Organized by subject and region/country, World Folklore and Folklife allows users to research topics from scary stories to gender roles with ease. Thousands of folktales have been specially indexed to be searchable by subject and tale type, region or country.

Content features include:

  • Over 40 Greenwood and Libraries Unlimited volumes, valued at $3,500 if purchased separately
  • Influential multi-volume reference works: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife; The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore; The Greenwood Library of American Folktales
  • Titles in the Folklore Handbooks series: Myths, Proverbs, Campus Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales
  • Thousands of folk and fairy tales, from the Brothers Grimm to contemporary tales
  • The complete Hans Christian Andersen stories
  • Vetted Web links to hundreds of multi-media sites, video and audio files, maps, images
  • Teacher resources and lesson plans, fully correlated to State and NCSS standards

A Note About the Content:
Folklore is the voice of the people. At least since the time of the Grimms, many people have considered some traditional material—tales, jokes, song lyrics—inappropriate for children. World Folklore and Folklife has chosen to take a scholarly approach and not censor the authentic materials it gathers; and parents and educators might consider reviewing specific content before sharing it with young people.