American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories

A showcase of familiar favorites and lesser-known gems from America's literary treasures. Capturing the zest and homespun charm of America's early years, the stories featured in this collection reflect the independent spirit that is distinctly good ol' USA.

Grade 4-8-An impressive collection of 12 stories representing the development of the American fairy tale from 1819 to 1922. Leaving behind the gloomy atmosphere and more formal language of their European counterparts, these literary selections reflect the landscape, egalitarian philosophy, and forward-looking optimism of America. Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" is firmly placed in the Kaatskill Mountains, while Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Feathertop" is filled with New England superstitions. The contentment of ordinary life is emphasized in Horace E. Scudder's "The Rich Man's Place" and Laura E. Richards's "The Golden Windows." The heroine of Louisa May Alcott's "Rosy's Journey" is solidly self-reliant, and the protagonists in Howard Pyle's "The Apple of Contentment" and Ruth Plumly Thompson's "The Princess Who Could Not Dance" are cheerful and independent. L. Frank Baum's "The Glass Dog" and Carl Sandburg's "How They Broke Away to Go to the Rootabaga Country" portray inventiveness and the pioneer spirit. Sandburg's tale, as well as M.S.B.'s "What They Did Not Do on the Birthday of Jacob Abbott B., Familiarly Called Snibbuggledyboozledom," employ a unique American idiom with their zany words and phrases. Independent readers may find the archaic writing of some of these selections difficult to deal with; others are quite readable. Each story is introduced by information about the author; sources are included. McCurdy's skillfully executed black-and-white woodcuts, both full-page scenes and vignettes, illustrate each tale. This volume provides a rich read-aloud for families who like quality literature, and will also be of interest to children's-literature students and folklorists.
Judith L. Miller, formerly at Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, IN
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

once upon a time in america While fairy tales are usually associated with European sources like the Brothers Grimm, American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories, edited by Neil Philip, preface by Alison Lurie, illus. by Michael McCurdy, defines a unique heritage on this side of the Atlantic. The selections include both familiar and little-known tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum and, as the title suggests, Washington Irving and Carl Sandburg. McCurdy's dramatic black-and-white woodcut prints add an eerie edge to the distinctive stories, which are a cut above the more usual, normalizing fairy tale retellings. Headnotes for each story provide brief biographies of the authors.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the pair behind Singing America (1995), a gathering of a century's worth of stories that defy well-known European fairy tale conventions. In an impassioned afterword, Philip writes, ``One of the defining themes of the American fairy tale is this sense that ordinary life is something the fairy tale hero must learn to value and enjoy, rather than something from which he must escape.'' He includes works by writers such as L. Frank Baum, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott, as well as lesser-knowns (Ruth Plumly Thompson and the anonymous M.S.B., among them), who penetrated the heart of American culture by creating characters who relied on inner strength and discovery rather than other-worldly magic. Glass slippers, castles, and class differences aside, Washington Irving, Howard Pyle, and Carl Sandburg remythologized the traditional stories by asserting that the challenge and bounty of America provided more than enough setting and inspiration. Whether readers recall these stories from English classes or discover them anew, they will see in the texts the promise and potential of an untarnished America. McCurdy's precise black-and- white woodcuts perfectly capture the idiomatic spirit of stories from Kansas to Kalamazoo to Rootabaga Country, and help Philip make the case for the genre that other collections have danced around without naming, the American fairy tale. With a preface by Alison Lurie. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 6^-8, younger for reading aloud. A patriotic-looking jacket with blue stars and red stripes adorns this collection of 12 stories drawn from an American literary tradition that includes such characters as bee-men, goose-girls, kings, fairies, and wizards. Editor Philip provides an introductory essay about the "American fairy tale" and briefly introduces each selection. Children might tend to mistake this for a history text and avoid it, but teachers and parents will appreciate the variety of stories and the roundup of famous writers, including Hawthorne, Sandburg, Alcott, and Baum. McCurdy's woodcut illustrations give the stories a sense of the past yet still allow plenty of room for fantasy. The tales will make pleasant read-alouds, but a few contain language or allusions that now seem racist or sexist; for example, Hawthorne's Feathertop wears "the Black Man's wardrobe," which is equated to the devil's clothes. Source notes and related readings are appended. Karen Morgan