Books with title Cajun Folktales

Nationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux grew up Cajun for true, surrounded by the stories, music, food, and culture of rural communities in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. A traditional storyteller who collects by word-of-mouth, Reneaux has developed her repertoire over years of collecting: on front porches, school playgrounds, and her beloved fishing trips, as well as at nursing homes, airports, and at neighborhood fais-dodos."Like any good raconteur," she says, "I have told the tales as I heard them, but added personal touches, twists, and turns as the stories grew to be a natural part of my own life. For me, these tales are not museum pieces whose time was and is no more. They are alive and vigorous, brimming with joie de vivre, the zest for life that is the essence of Cajun culture.For Ages Five to Adult

Winner of Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award & Selected as Outstanding by the Parent CouncilNationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux grew up Cajun for true, surrounded by the stories, music, food, and culture of rural communities in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Cajun Folktales serves up a spicy gumbo of more than twenty traditional Cajun animal stories, fairy tales, ghost stories, and humorous tales. A traditional storyteller who collects by word-of-mouth, Reneaux has developed her repertoire over years of collecting―on front porches, school playgrounds, and her beloved fishing trips. She has refined her work in performances nationwide, including the National Storytelling Festival, where she has appeared numerous times. These stories of Cajun treasure and lost jewels will teach readers the importance of resourcefulness, courage and responsibility. Publishers Weekly wrote, "While the tales of African Americans and Native Americans have been much anthologized, the vibrant oral folk tradition of the Cajun has been more or less neglected by American publishers. This excellent anthology by Reneaux helps plug that inexplicable gap. Reneaux, a noted storyteller and a Cajun herself, retells 27 tales she heard in childhood from relatives or has heard since from fellow Cajuns. Their folklore is as spicy and interesting as their famed food and reflects a variety of flavors and influences."

Nationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux includes animal stories, fairy tales, ghost stories, and humorous tales from her native Cajun culture. While children will giggle over the foolishness of Jean Sot, who jumps to the conclusion that the purpose of a new fence of telephone and electricity poles is to pen up giant cows, adults will recognize the all-too-human fear of anything new and different that lies at the heart of this tale. Among the 26 stories included here are such favorites as ....

"The drive to pass down stories from generation to generation is a trait that cultures across the world have in common. Some of these fascinating stories are called folktales, and many are still beloved hundreds of years after they were first told. Readers will learn the characteristics that folktales across cultures share. They'll discover that fables, fairy tales, and tall tales all fall within this category, and they'll learn famous examples of each--such as the Tortoise and the Hare, Paul Bunyan, and Cinderella --accompanied by appealing artwork"--

"The drive to pass down stories from generation to generation is a trait that cultures across the world have in common. Some of these fascinating stories are called folktales, and many are still beloved hundreds of years after they were first told. Readers will learn the characteristics that folktales across cultures share. They'll discover that fables, fairy tales, and tall tales all fall within this category, and they'll learn famous examples of each--such as the Tortoise and the Hare, Paul Bunyan, and Cinderella --accompanied by appealing artwork"--