NURSERY TALES AROUND THE WORLD, by Judy Sierra

Quick Facts:
- collection of diverse folk stories
- 128 pages

Nursery Tales Around the World, selected and retold by Judy Sierra, is a collection of traditionally oral folktales from around the world, organized by theme and/or storyline. Sierra explains in the introduction that her focus when making the selections for this collection was on stories strong in rhythm, rhyme and/or repetition, as they are "tailored to children's developing memory and imagination and to their unique way of viewing the world." (Nursery Tales Around the World, xi)

Thus, by design, these are stories that reward those who read them aloud. One section particularly demonstrative of this is the "Runaway Cookies" section. In the Norwegian folktale "The Pancake", the following exchange takes place as children watch their mother making a pancake:

"Oh, give me a bit of pancake, Mother dear," said one of the children.
"Oh, darling Mother," said the second child.
"Oh, darling, good Mother," said the third.
"Oh, darling, good, nice Mother," said the fourth.
"Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice Mother," said the fifth.
"Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice, clever Mother," said the sixth.
"Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice, clever, sweet Mother," said the seventh."
- Nursery Tales Around the World, page 11

Not only does this passage play with rhythm and repetition, but each child's addition of a new adjective reflects a child's growing awareness of language. Children discovering the power of adjectives will likely find this passage quite funny, and identify with the speakers' implication that they will be chosen for the prize if they choose the best adjective to contribute. Sierra introduces each section with a short author's note about the stories included. In the note accompanying the "Chain Tales" section, she specifically cautions parents to resist the temptation to skip the repetition in the stories, as "young children love it, and will soon begin repeating the chains along with you." (Nursery Tales Around the World, page 57)

I was concerned, at first, that having traditional stories for each of the five identified story types would ultimately mean that the book contained only five truly distinct stories, that the story type would be more distinctive than the tales themselves. Though Sierra groups stories with a clear thematic link, her selections are distinct enough to stand out from the others in their grouping. For example, within the "Incredible Appetites" section, she includes first what is essentially a poem ("I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"), then a tale that revolves around a father and a son ("The Boy Who Tried to Fool His Father"), and finally a story about a cat so arrogant he can't stop eating ("The Cat and the Parrot"). Each of these involves extraordinary feats of consumption that grow more incredible as the tale goes on, but each is also very distinct from the others, keeping the reader from feeling as though they are reading the same story over and over. For young readers, this is likely a strength of the book, as it helps them identify story patterns.

Sierra identifies at the start of each story its country of origin, and Stefano Vitale's illustrations help give evoke the culture of each contributing culture while still giving the book as a whole a "folk tradition" feel.  Compare, for example, the following illustrations that appear at the start of "The Boy Who Tried to Fool his Father" (Zaire) and "The Cat and the Parrot" (India):

"The Cat and the Parrot"

"The Boy Who Tried to Fool His Father"

"The Boy Who Tried to Fool His Father" is from Zaire, Africa, and Vitale's use of muted colors and a wall-carving style evokes art from Zaire (see left image below). Meanwhile, the rich red, greens and purples of "The Cat and the Parrot" suggest traditional Indian artwork:

Painting of Hindu deity Ganesh.

Carved mask from Zaire, Africa

Sierra includes both a bibliography and a note on her sources for and retelling of each tale. Where she chose to retell parts of a story, she notes that her choices in retelling were primarily prompted by poor transcriptions of oral tellings or "awkward" rewrites of the tale that detracted from the storytelling.

Nursery Tales Around the World is a well-researched, well-written, and well-organized collection of both familiar and new folk tales that will entertain both children and adults.

But do yourself (and Judy Sierra!) a favor: read them aloud. Keep their oral tradition alive.