Indigenous peoples -- North America -- Folklore, Indigenous peoples -- Legends 

"This anthology of North American myths, legends and tales falls into four parts: stories of the American Indians and Eskimos; stories of the Black Americans; stories brought by immigrants from Europe; and Tall Tales. The stories of the American Indians form the largest section. They developed a poetic and imaginative mythology to explain the natural world, and included here are stories of the origin of the sun and moon, of fresh water, of fire. Animals with human characteristics often appear in Indian stories and this is true too of Black American tales. This anthology includes, among others, an unfamiliar version of the well-known Tar Baby story and 'How Ole Woodpecker got Ole Rabbit's Conjure Bag', a comic warning against meddling with magic. The tales which the European immigrants brought from their own countries acquired an American tone but without fundamental change; Snow-white can easily be recognised in 'A Stepchild that was treated Might Bad'. The Tall Tales developed in the nineteenth century, as the frontiersman and the industrial worker found relief from the harshness of their lives in stories that were a blend of joke and fantasy, about comic heroes of incredible strength and skill, like Davy Crockett and Pecos Bill. The anthology has been compiled by Virginia Haviland, who is in charge of the chlildren's books section of the Library of Congress, and a folklore specialist. She has had room for only a fraction of the riches of American folklore, but she has made a point of choosing versions which are both enjoyable to read and true to the original nature of the tales."--Book jacket. 

214 pages : illustrations.