Customer Reviews

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book rates way up there as a wonderful resource for anyone who is trying to raise children to have an appreciation for the cultures that make up our great country. As a home educator, I am always on the lookout for multi-cultural resources that provide a window into the backgrounds of others. Since the author writes from personal background experience, as well as research into the African-American folktales, I believe it is an excellent representation of stories that children would have grown up with in that culture. Besides, it's exciting, interesting, fun to read aloud, and has wonderful illustrations!

I read this book when I was in elementary school and fell in love with it. Virginia Hamilton really captures the essence of West African story telling and transfers that essence into American form. As an educator and historian, the lessons in this book has stayed with me for well over 18 yrs and I suspect the lessons will remain with me forever. I recommend that this book is on the shelves of every African American family.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I am 9 year old. I read the book in about 2 days, it was about African-American folk tales. The best story in the book was "if the people could fly".

I read this book when I was in elementary school. I am now in college, and it has stayed with me all of these years. I am currently involved in drawing up a cannon for my literature class, and this book of great and inspiring folklore will definitely be included!

This book is full of many intriguing sort stories. You can read them all at once, or maybe once a day. This book would be great for bedtime stories if you have kids.

Here's the breakdown:

Hook/Setting: Out of the many stories the setting is are good and you are drawn into the stories each time.

Character(s): This book has numerous characters from Bruh Rabbit to Jack to Bruh Alligator. These characters are as memorable as fairy tale characters such as Cinderella, Red Rose, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.

Events/Plot: This book is full of various plots and events, each one as good as the last.

Reader Excitablility/Overall Presentation: I liked that the way stories were worded because it was as if someone was telling the story to you directly. I recommend this book to fans of folktales and fairytales.

Review by N.C., 15-yrs old, [...]

I first heard of this book when I was in 5th grade (about 10-11 yrs. old)...I'm 28 now. My African-American teacher would read us stories from it. I remember enjoying the stories so much that I bought this book for my son about 2 yrs. ago. My son is almost 3 now & while he can't read yet, I know he will enjoy the stories as much as I have. This book comes with a CD & is narrated by the author & James Earl Jones...the narration was well done. I listened to the CD & I felt as if I had gone back in time. The narrators are so vivid & they really get your attention. The CD is definitely a plus & the book was well written. I really like that the stories have morals & life lessons that we can learn from. I recommend buying this version of the book because it comes with the CD. I also recommend this book for children 9 & up. This book would be a great addition to anyone's book collection. I hope my review is helpful.

This book is a trifecta:

1. You get to hear the author read her own writing. If you want to hear Virginia Hamilton and James Earl Jones adding their own special lyrical beauty to the reading of these stories, then purchase this version. Considering that Ms. Hamilton died in 2002, this CD is a must have.

I think it is important for children to hear the author reading their own work. So if you can't get to a book reading by the author, this is the next best thing. And you get to hear it over and over again.

2. The illustrations are magical, delicate, and powerful. Every child (but especially black and white) in this nation should hear the stories in this book. Before they know color issues, they should get to know the beauty and dignity of brown skin. To hear the dignity, power, and humanity of their own heritage or that of someone elses, before a world of anger taints them.

3. At the end of each story is a brief history of the story: it's origin, and variations, and other facts that help the story to become more real and personal, especially for a child who wants to know more about their heritage. This will inspire them to ask questions and (if they're older) do research as it caused me to do.

I read this to my daughter, Rachel, and she really enjoyed it. She smiled throughout the entire book. She loved the animal folktales about Bruh Rabbit, and Bruh Fox. She trembled with delight at the reading of the scary tales. As for her mother, my favorite was the title tale, The People Could Fly. It was magical!

Fascinating folktales from an African-American perspective, this work evokes memories of the strength of a people to find magic, wonder, and spirituality in a time when oppression was the norm. Miss Hamilton, along with illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, has produced a work of timeless importance. One of the few books that I can't keep on the shelves of my classroom, it is an essential for every teacher or person interested in exposing children to a wealth of literature.

As a storyteller and folklorist/historian, it saddens me that so few children today know anything about the joys of hearing a good tale from a wise elder. In Black America in particular, generations of children (including my father, thank God) had the wonderful tales of Brer Rabbit, Little 8 John, Raw head & Bloody Bones, Wiley & The Hairy Man, and the People Who Could Fly (title story) told to them as today's children are familiar with Kim Possible and the Proud Family.

I bought this for my beloved niece when she was eight and pretty soon, she began entertaining the children of the neighborhood with these tales just as I did after listening to my dad and I still do during storytelling gigs today.

Virginia Hamilton (RIP) did a masterful work in leaving this beautiful legacy to a generation where it is fast disappearing. She does a good job in interpreting the likes of Wiley the Hairy man, Raw Head and Bloody Bones (the PC crowd occasionally complains about this being too scary for kids as well as Brer Rabbit-let these crybaby fools go ahead with that sickening Barney the Dinosaur and the care bears). The edition that I bought for my neice was before the CD with Miss Hamilton and voicemaster James Earl Jones came out, but I have younger neices and nephews (and hopefully my own children in the future) that I will certainly look out for this for.

Another reason why this collection is in such need is that often, African-American parents (rightfully) complain about the lack of wholesome entertainment for their children in particular. Unfortunately, most parents of today were not exposed to these stories as I was and this often leads to well-intentioned but foolish recent activities such as the NAACP here in Charleston (SC) complaining about the lack of Black Santa Clauses in the local malls. As Miss Hamilton and those of us raised in the folklore tradition know, we have enough good things of our own culture to pass down to children than to worry of the color of Santa Claus.

Buy this, reconnect with your children, and enjoy.