crystal_reading's review against another edition
2.0
1925 Newbery Award
These tales from the southern part of South America were interesting at times, but tedious sometimes too. One of the recurring themes was be careful what you wish for because you might get it. "The dream man...did his evil work by granting men their wishes. for you must know that no man knows the things that is best for him and his welfare, and many are apt to see some little things as desirable, the which in time work out for their own undoing." p. 185
I really enjoyed The Tale that Cost a Dollar - and was worth more. It was about a witch who had kept a boy and a girl trapped in her home never seeing anyone.
The stories were certainly colorful.
These tales from the southern part of South America were interesting at times, but tedious sometimes too. One of the recurring themes was be careful what you wish for because you might get it. "The dream man...did his evil work by granting men their wishes. for you must know that no man knows the things that is best for him and his welfare, and many are apt to see some little things as desirable, the which in time work out for their own undoing." p. 185
I really enjoyed The Tale that Cost a Dollar - and was worth more. It was about a witch who had kept a boy and a girl trapped in her home never seeing anyone.
The stories were certainly colorful.
kellysmaust's review against another edition
1.0
Supposedly, Charles J. Finger gathered these folktales in his journeys through South America. Clearly, the people he met there had a good laugh coming up with the most boring tales imaginable and seeing how long this clueless gringo would sit and listen to them.
plaidpladd's review against another edition
1.0
This was so, so boring. Weirdly, considering I really like folktales, usually. It's hard to imagine a child ever enjoying this. I don't know what the 1920s Newberry committee was doing.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
And the Newbery read/re-read continues. This is another early one. We used to take our kids to storytellers. So I've some familiarity with Anansi and Coyote tales. These are a bit different from those in that they are apparently from South and Central America. One of the challenges with these stories is that what works in the oral tradition doesn't necessarily work as well in the written. And where one of these stories might be a treat, nineteen of these stories are an annoyance. And an inconsistent annoyance, because a few were okay, and some left me wanting more. But even more were just tedious. Not an especially fun read. And yet would probably work as a single story though without pictures. 2.5 of 5.
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
4.5
I've read quite a few collections of folk and fairy tales for children and this may be one of the best. I don't know enough about the folk tales of South America to be able to judge how much Finger changed, but it felt like he was very respectful of the cultures as he retold the stories. I wish there had been an introduction or afterword to give this a little context, though. The jacket flap says something about how he traveled collecting stories, but I wanted a little more information about how he gathered these tales. A really great collection overall.
k_lee_reads_it's review against another edition
2.0
These are folk tales from South America. Some are fairly interesting and well written. Some just aren't. At least it is easy to read.
bookwisp86's review against another edition
3.0
I remember reading this as a child and loving it but now it just comes off as boring. Sometimes its better to leave books in the past.
heyt's review
3.0
I enjoyed this in large part because the stories within are from a folk tradition I'm not familiar with. Every story brought something new that I hadn't seen before. I will say though that the framing narrative was a bit inconsistent throughout though. It's set up as an adventurer recounting tales they've heard in their travels but some stories had introductory passages and other did not. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the framing had been more consistent. All in all it was a good look into traditions I hadn't seen and I found the stories to be lively and interesting.
emdoux's review against another edition
Read: Tale of Three Tails, Magic Dog, Killing of Cabrakan, Hummingbird and the Flower, Calabash Man
lemon_drop's review
3.0
What the Grimm Brothers did for Northern Europe, this author does for South America. Here there be magic, and heroes brave, evil stepmothers, talking animals and many a maiden fair. I had to Inter Library Loan it, because this one's out of print and hard to find. I also had to read it over several days, a few tales at a time...