Happily Ever After: Sharing Folk Literature With ... (ISBN 0872075109)

TWU Professional Review:
Young, Terrell A. 2004. Happily Ever After: Sharing Folk Literature With Elementary and Middle School Students. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc. Terrell A. Young has collected into a single volume a full treatment of the folk literature, or traditional literature, genre. This wonderful collection is focused at providing a basic understanding to and providing the tools for educators to enlighten students and for folklore enthusiasts to instruct the next generation. The book's user-friendly sections are divided into an overview of folk literature, folk literature subgenres, folk literature of many different cultures, and its application in classrooms and language arts programs. Young's book would make an excellent resource for teacher/educator in-services, district-wide staff development, and a personal reference for K-8 educators and administrators. Although Happily Ever After can be used as a textbook, its main design is to "extend... (student) literacy and love of reading". Terrell concludes his preface by emphasizing that this project's intent is to "introduce readers to the richness of many different cultures' folk literature, and offer ideas for how to use the stories in the classroom to pique students' imaginations." In section one, Young provides a general overview of what folk literature is, its classroom benefits, its subgenres and common motifs. The next section explores the subgenres of folk literature in five well-written chapters: Folk Tales, Fables, Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales. Each chapter includes classroom activities, ideas on how to teach the genre, and resources. Section three offers a very diverse sampling of folk literature across many cultures, including African, Asian, Jewish, European, Middle Eastern, South Asian (Subcontinent India), and Native American. Exploring Latino Culture Through Folk Tales, chapter 11, includes an outstanding classroom activities section which includes multimedia, puppets, and story mapping. These and other teaching activities from this chapter could be applied to other chapters dealing with cultures. The final section covers the popularity of Cinderella and her variants, collecting folklore and connecting to its benefits, how to use classroom drama and folk tales (includes ideas for ESL teachers), transforming fairy tales, and how fairy tale variants (such as different versions of Rumpelstilskin) can have application in a modern classroom. This compilation leaves few questions unanswered concerning folk literature and its benefits to education. From its roots in oral story telling to how to teach folk literature to how educators view folk tales in curriculum; the book's contributors cover all the bases. This collaborative group includes professors, professional storytellers, editors, school-media specialists, and folklorists, so educators can feel confident in the accuracy of the information. Library Media Specialists will discover the best folk literature resources for collection development. Educators will find information on using variants to enrich lessons and extend knowledge across curriculum. Also, educators will appreciate how incorporating transformed fairy tales into writing lessons will encourage high-order thinking skills in students. The ample amount of student activities, with samples included, is a blessing to educators who want new ideas or administrators who must present a workshop. With all this incredible amount of information readily available in one collection, I cannot stress enough that every elementary and middle school campus should have one Happily Ever After book available for its educators. Little Red Riding Hood, Anansi, Aesop's Fables, Paul Bunyan, Snow White, Cinderella; who would have though childhood stories could have influenced education and the global community in such profound and timeless ways. If a reader should ever doubt the power of these stories, just remember the following: A parent once asked Albert Einstein how to create genius within his child. Einstein's purported reply was "Read fairy tales to him."