Customer Reviews

Black Folktales

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4 star:		(3)
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The book I am reviewing is called Black Folktales, it is by Julius Lester and illustrated by Tom Feelings. This book falls under the category folktales and fairytales. Before I tell you more about the book let me say that the illustrations were amazing. Anyways, the book consisted of short stories about blacks in the south. There were stories about blacks on plantations and about god and how he created the world. Most of the stories were very good and interesting and most of them I enjoyed reading although there were a few mediocre stories mixed in too. The writers writing style I thought was very good. It definitely kept me entertained through out the whole book. There were some very funny stories in the book. there was one about a black man that was feared through out the land, and was supposed to die a couple of times but he kept escaping death, until St. Peter told god that this black man was supposed to have died thirty years ago. God immediately called the grim reaper who started complaining cause he hadn't gotten more the five minutes of sleep in the last two days. He started telling god that he needed some assistants, or else. Anyways I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

This is a good overview of Black Folklore for the novice of the genre, a teaching tool, or for people who just enjoy good stories.

Julius Lester, one of the few living public specialists of tales of this type, begins with a few African stories to show the root of this field. From there, he goes to stories of pre-and post slavery America.

He includes some time honored classics of Black Folklore. "High John The Conqueror," of a slave who outwits his master, was a favorite of my Dad that I have also seen elsewhere as "Big Sixteen" and "Old John" is a welcome addition to this set. In fact I used to regale my friends with this story when I was 12. Read it and you'll see why. Also, the "Bad man" legend of "Stagolee" spieces things up a bit (a forerunner of the type of tales found in gagster rap, minus the vulgarity) and the slave classic "People Who Could Fly," which was first known to be collected along the Charleston (SC) sea islands in the 1920s.

Unfortuantely, most of these tales are not told anymore except by professional storytellers. Additionally, many books that tended to contain such stories in the early 1900s when such tales were still often told were so laden with dialect (Joel Chandler Harris, Ambrose Gonzales, et. al.) that they are often incomprehenbsible to the modern reader. Many kudos to Mr. Lester for keeping this wonderful art form alive.

PS, Mr. Lester inquired of the source of the last story in the book. I recall reading it in Zora Neale Hurston's "Mules & Men" (1935). Hope this helps.

These tales--told in "street talk"--will be liked by some, not by others; are humorous to some, not to others. Ones most anyone would enjoy are: "Why Apes Look Like People," "Why Men Have to Work," "How the Snake Got His Rattles," and "High John the Conqueror."

(Traditional Literature: I/JH & up)

This book is great for the imgination! I have read this several times and have never been bored. The characters are amazing and the stories are wonderful.

The book is a rehash of stories that others have written. I would recommend African Folktales by Pantheon, far more authentic and first person. There are also collections by African American authors that have a deeper understanding of black culture than this author.