Curious about Traditional Literature

 

Image Source: Simon & Schuster

Campoy, F. Isabel and Alma Flor Ada. Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection. Illustrated by Felipe Dávalos, Viví Escrivá, Susan Guevara and Leyla Torres. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006. 128 pages. LP: $19.99, ISBN13: 9780689825835. Ages 5-10.

"Through stories people share their dreams, their hopes, and the lessons they learn from life, and also their celebration of the imagination and the ingenuity of a well-told tale." Campoy and Ada welcome the reader to their collection of stories, Tales Our Abuelitas Told, with this quote about the universal charms of a well-told tale. Their compilation of stories is purposefully built around the many influences of Hispanic culture: Spain and its myriad conquerers and influencers, the subsequent colonization of the indigenous peoples of America by the Spaniards, the continual fusion of cultures as Spaniards and first nations peoples intermarried, and the further enrichment of Hispanic culture from Africans forced into enslavement. These multiple influences created multiple versions of stories that flourished and took on the uniqueness of the countries in which they were told. In this collection, the authors choose 12 stories to retell. They place each into a country-specific context, site sources extensively, and give personal accounts of how they relate to the tales. In addition, the many illustrators bring each of the stories alive through their distinctive art styles.

In "Martina Martínez and Pérez the Mouse," a story originally popular in Spain and retold in the Puerto Rican oral tradition by Ada, the illustrator Dávalos' style recalls folk art and cartoons. This humorous approach is well-suited to the absurdity of the tale:

Image Source: author's

Martina attracts several suitors, rejecting them gently in a repetitive fashion that young children will enjoy chanting along with. When she finally marries the mouse, Ratón Pérez, they are very happy until he falls into the large and delicious soup pot while she is away. Several animals sacrifice their beaks, tails, etc. to acknowledge Martina's subsequent sorrow, but it is the woman healer who actually is practical and chooses to save the mouse husband.

While adult storytellers will appreciate the introductory Welcome and the extensive, context-setting paragraphs following each story, rich with source notes, the stories themselves will appeal directly to young audiences. Their language, humor, rhythms and repetitions are captivating, helping the text flow easily from page to an oral retelling. These are indeed well-told tales.

Hamilton, Virginia. The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. 178 pages. LP: $24.99,  ISBN 9780394869254. Ages 10 and up.

Image Source: Alfred A. Knopf

Virginia Hamilton makes the purpose of her story collection, The People Could Fly, clear from her Introduction: "These tales were created out of sorrow. But the hearts and minds of the black people who formed them, expanded them, and passed them on to us were full of love and hope. We must look on the tales as a celebration of the human spirit."

These stories stand in joyful defiance of America's chattel slavery and the racist institutions that coexisted with and were created after slavery ended. Hamilton organizes 24 stories under headings such as "Animal Tales," "Supernatural Tales," and "Tales of Freedom." She stays as close to the phonetic dialect of the stories as possible, working to honor their authentic roots as oral retellings, urging the reader to share them out loud. She concludes each story with a discussion of its origins, relating it to traditional African literature and/or the stories told in the Americas.

For example, in the section "Carrying the Running-Aways and other Slave Tales of Freedom," Hamilton retells "The Talking Cooter." Jim meets a turtle who can not only talk, but sing and play the fiddle. The turtle complains that Jim talks too much and needs to "Run along and find your freedom place." But it's exactly this talking that frees Jim, who makes a bargain with the slaveowner that the turtle really does exist, and when Jim is proven correct, he is set free.

Image source: author's

While my version of The People Could Fly has only the black and white illustrations, Leo and Diane Dillons' art work still shines and complements the text. They have an almost surrealistic style that conveys the emotion and humanity of their subjects such as with Jim listening to the cooter in the above picture. They use symbolism in their art as well, as evidenced by the bird flying away to freedom in the background. These stories, these illustrations--together they achieve Hamilton's purpose of celebrating the lives of Black Americans' ancestors and their crucial contributions to our country.