Compiled by Marcie Haloin, with input from Gaylynn Jameson, JoAnne Piccolo, and Kari Oosterveen.  Part of an appendix to:
Routman, Regie (2005) Writing Essentials: Raising Expectations and Results While Simplifying Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Genre

TRADITIONAL LITERATURE AND FOLKTALES

Definition

The songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people as handed down orally before they were ever written down.

Frequently Found
Elements

• Narrative story handed down within a culture.
• Stories were created by adults for the entertainment of other adults.
 • Stories frequently involve trickery.
• “Folktales are a legacy from anonymous artists of the past.” (Arbuthnot)

Picture Book Examples

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit as told by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Puffin Books, 1999.
Fairy Tales
Stories with fairies or other
magical creatures, usually
for children. A modern fairy
tale is written in a traditiona
style with the elements of folklore but with a contemporary twist.
• Stories include fantasy, make believe, and often magic.
• Stories often begin “Once upon a time . . . ” or “Long, long ago . . . ” .
• Characters include royalty or a kingdom setting.
• Stories end “ . . . happily ever after.”
• Incidents may come in threes.
• Characters or events may be found in sevens.
• Characters are clearly defined as good and evil.
• Good conquers evil.
• Magical devices such as wands, swords, or
horses assist the resolution of the story.
• Picture book “fractured” fairy tales are
published in abundance.
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Michael Emberley. New York: Little Brown, 2004.

Cinderella retold and illustrated by Ruth Sanderson.Boston: Little, Brown, 2002.

Armadilly Chili by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Will Terry.Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman and Co., 2004.
Tall Tales
Stories with a definite setting in fairly modern
times that exaggerate or are based on the traits of a person who may have actually existed.
• Stories are humorous with blatant  exaggerations.
 • Characters are swaggering heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance.
• Problems and solutions may involve trickery.
Paul Bunyan: Twentieth Anniversary Edition retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. New York: Morrow, reissue 2005.
Widdermaker by Pattie Schnetzler, pictures by Rick Sealock.Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2002.
Legends
Stories, sometimes of a national or folk hero, which have a basis in fact but also include imaginative material.
Legends often explain the reason for a natural occurrence.
• Native American legends are available in picture book format.
• Pour quoi stories explain why natural events occur.
The Story of Jumping Mouse: A Native American Legend retold and illustrated by John Steptoe. New York: Mulberry Books, 1984, updated 2004.
Myths
Legend or traditional narrative, often based in part on historical events, that reveal human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism.
• Creation myths depict the struggle to form the earth.
• Hero myths describe how people who begin life at a low status are elevated to high status through a good deed.
• Myths often pertain to the actions of the gods.
There’s a Monster in the Alphabet by James Rumford. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Fables
Narration demonstrating a useful truth, especially in which animals speak as humans.
• Fables are legendary.
• Fables are supernatural tales.
• Morals or lessons are revealed and stated at the end.
• Characters often have generic names such as Dog, Rooster, Boy.
• Fable adaptations are now being published.
Aesop’s Fables by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Sea Star Books, 2000.
The Ant or the Grasshopper? by Toni and Slade Morrison, pictures by Pascal Lemaitre. New York: Scribner, 2003.
Proverbs
A one-sentence utterance that holds the conventional wisdom of the ages.
 
A Word to the Wise and Other Proverbs selected by Johanna Hurwitz, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky. New York:Morrow Junior Books, 1994.