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A few months ago, I found out that someone I know second-hand was downsizing his books collection and getting rid of more than a hundred folk-and-fairy-tale books. So obviously I took the lot off his hands. Something like half of them I took away to the thrift store immediately because they were clearly poor-quality (culturally appropriative "retellings" by a white person of stories not from their cultural background, for example) or because I already owned a copy. But that still leaves a large pile of books! I don't want them to just molder unread on my shelves forever, so I'm making a stab at reading through all of them, or at least making a start at all of them before deciding if they're worth keeping or not. So here's a first look at three books from the collection I'm keeping. More forthcoming in future reviews, hopefully!
Tales the Elders Told: Ojibway Legends, by Basil H Johnston
A nice little collection of stories, put together by someone who is himself Ojibwe. Enjoyable and quick read. Mostly animal stories, and a number of them are the sort of story explaining why something is the way it is. Originally published by the ROM back in the 80's apparently, which is interesting! I didn't know that was the sort of thing they did. Oyate (which is "a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed with honesty and integrity") thinks well of this book, which is nice to hear.
Tales from the Igloo, edited & translated by Maurice Metayer
One of those collections of stories which are traditional to a specific people group but with an editor who is not from that culture, which can be so variable in reliability. This one, which is from the 1970's, says the right things in the preface about being as faithful as possible in translating the stories recorded from the Inuit tellers, but also the foreword and preface contain that uncomfortable mix of trying-really-hard-to-not-be-racist-while-being-obviously-racist. So. Not 100% sure how much I trust this book, but it's definitely at least making an effort? At any rate, I'm interested in how, in this collection, I was so rarely able to predict whether characters would end the story alive or dead, punished or victorious.
Black Folktales, by Julius Lester
This is a book of African American folk stories clearly written by a black person for a primarily black audience, and I respect that. It kind of gentles you in but by halfway into the book it is not messing around with its powerful language and imagery around white-black relations. This is not the kind of folktale book that gets paternalistically handed to white children to teach them about the ~quaint~ ways of other folks. But the author talks in the introduction about how this collection isn't just for black people, it's for everyone, and I appreciate him welcoming me in to hear his stories too.
Tales the Elders Told: Ojibway Legends, by Basil H Johnston
A nice little collection of stories, put together by someone who is himself Ojibwe. Enjoyable and quick read. Mostly animal stories, and a number of them are the sort of story explaining why something is the way it is. Originally published by the ROM back in the 80's apparently, which is interesting! I didn't know that was the sort of thing they did. Oyate (which is "a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed with honesty and integrity") thinks well of this book, which is nice to hear.
Tales from the Igloo, edited & translated by Maurice Metayer
One of those collections of stories which are traditional to a specific people group but with an editor who is not from that culture, which can be so variable in reliability. This one, which is from the 1970's, says the right things in the preface about being as faithful as possible in translating the stories recorded from the Inuit tellers, but also the foreword and preface contain that uncomfortable mix of trying-really-hard-to-not-be-racist-while-being-obviously-racist. So. Not 100% sure how much I trust this book, but it's definitely at least making an effort? At any rate, I'm interested in how, in this collection, I was so rarely able to predict whether characters would end the story alive or dead, punished or victorious.
Black Folktales, by Julius Lester
This is a book of African American folk stories clearly written by a black person for a primarily black audience, and I respect that. It kind of gentles you in but by halfway into the book it is not messing around with its powerful language and imagery around white-black relations. This is not the kind of folktale book that gets paternalistically handed to white children to teach them about the ~quaint~ ways of other folks. But the author talks in the introduction about how this collection isn't just for black people, it's for everyone, and I appreciate him welcoming me in to hear his stories too.
