Through the Grapevine [Hardcover]

Martha Hamilton (Author), Mitch Weiss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2005 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

As recently as 100 years ago, the great majority of people living on this earth were learning things the old-fashioned way by word of mouth. In the last twenty-five years, the spoken grapevine has come back into its own because of the storytelling renaissance.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grades 3-6--All of these 31 stories appear, in some form, in more than one cultural tradition, which the authors point out and attempt to explain in their introduction. The selections are very short (no longer than two pages), easy to learn, and include tips for telling. While this approach may seem ideal for beginning storytellers, the stories are so truncated and oversimplified that they have no flavor or sense of place. Also, they include a great deal of today's colloquialisms, which may make them easier for novices to swallow, but will jar more sophisticated tellers and listeners.

Marlyn K. Roberts, formerly at Torrance Public Library, CA

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: August House (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874836255
• ISBN-13: 978-0874836257
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recommended pick for families as well as small groups, October 17, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Through the Grapevine (Paperback)

Through The Grapevine is a recommended pick for families as well as small groups: storytellers Hamilton and Weiss provide over thirty world tales geared to reading aloud - by kids. Kids are encouraged to add drama and personality to the stories, which represent over twenty countries and traditions around the world. An excellent guide for budding young drama students.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grapevine Will Impress, February 23, 2003

By 

"nannette-" (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Through the Grapevine (Hardcover)

This is my favorite of the Hamilton and Weiss books. Through the Grapevine... is one of our family favorites! My children find the stories appealing not just once, but many times over. They read, tell, and make puppet shows out of these tales.

These tales are perfect for a school storytelling festival. So often children can't find good tales to tell on their own. This is a great resource for teachers; assign one story to each child, to read and tell. Each child has an equal chance to create a really wonderful telling. Solid plots are offered as well as proper story form teaching children to have a beginning, middle, and end. They even offer a bit of coaching for each tale so teachers can learn what to look for and suggest. Kids can do it themselves with this format or as a team.

I first bought this book for myself. Good storytellers are always looking for great plots to expand and tell. Hamilton and Weiss even tell you to add your own voice or develop your own way of telling these stories. They explain what culture the tales come from and offer a great bibliographic resource.

The illustrations compliment the stories. Looking at the picture before each story can help children feel familiar with the tale before reading it. Judging the book by the cover made me want to dive right in.

I really use this book!