Tell It Again!

January 1, 2000
Retellings of 18 children's stories along with activities to reinforce math, art, music, and cooking skills. The target audience is said to be "young children," but it is unclear whether that term refers to preschool, early elementary, or beyond. The retellings themselves are unimpressive. Attempts to truncate Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale" and "The Ugly Duckling" serve only to diminish the power and beauty of the original stories. The authors feel obliged to conclude each story with a moral "so that the storyteller can focus on the inherent value or truth' of a story." However, the logic behind some of these morals is questionable. The one for "The Lost Mitten with Tiny, Shiny Beads" (a version of the Ukrainian folktale) is said to be "Always make room for one more in your group." Given the fact that the mitten explodes because the animals try to squeeze everyone in, this is a puzzling conclusion. Raines's "Story Stretchers" series (Gryphon House) is far superior to this offering, and Margaret Read MacDonald's The Storyteller's Start-up Book (August House, 1993) is a better choice for beginning tellers.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.