NOODLEHEADS
The following list accompanies the stories in the Noodleheads chapter to be found in the Allyn &
Bacon Anthology of Traditional Literature edited by Judith V. Lechner, Allyn & Bacon, 2003.
“Goha and the King”
There are not many children’s books in English that include stories of Goha. At least one
collection, however, is devoted entirely to Goha and some collections include stories about him:
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Johnson-Davies, Dennis. Goha. Hoopoe Books, 1993.
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Zagloul, Ahmed and Zane Zagloul. The Black Prince and Other Egyptian Folk tales.
Illustrated by Beverly Armstrong. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1971.
“Gratitude”
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Diakité, Baba Wague. The Hunterman and the Crocodile: A West African Folk Tale.
Scholastic, 1997.
“The Talking Skull”
Another retelling can be found in:
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Todd, Loreto. Tortoise the Trickster and Other Folktales from Cameroon. Illustrated by
Geoffrey Whittam. New York: Schocken Books. 1979.
Sixteen stories about the African American slave trickster John during and right after slavery
ended is retold for children in:
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Sanfield, Steve. High John the Conqueror. Illustrated by John Ward. Orchard, 1989.
“An Exaggeration”
Japanese American writer and illustrator Allen Say created a picture book using many of the
nonsense elements found in this story:
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Say, Allen. Once Under the Cherry Blossom Tree; An Old Japanese Tale. Harper &
Row, 1974.
“The Golden Fan and the Silver Fan”
A picture book version of a magic fan used to gain riches by making a nose grow at an
opportune moment has been retold by Tony Johnston:
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Johnston, Tony. The Badger and the Magic Fan : A Japanese Folktale. Illustrated by
Tomie dePaola. G.P. Putnam's, 1990.
“Get Up and Bar the Door”
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A number of children’s collections include variants of this story:
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Downing, Charles. Tales of the Hodja. Illustrated by William Papas. Walck, 1965.
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Ginsburg, Mirra. The Lazies: Tales of the People of Russia. Illustrated by Marian
Parry. Macmillan, 1973.
•
Mehdevi, Anne Sinclair. Persian Folk and Fairy Tales. Illustrated by Paul E. Kennedy.
Knopf, 1970.
“Lazy Jack”
The following versions for children, however, are in Richard Chase’s lighthearted tradition:
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Chase, Richard. The Jack Tales. Illustrated by Berkeley Williams. Boston: HoughtonMifflin, 1943, 1971.
•
Doherty, Berlie. The Famous Adventures of Jack. 2001. Doherty uses a frame story and
a contemporary setting to give Jack new vitality.
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Jack’s First Job [sound recording] Told by Don Davis. August House, 1993;
audiocassette. 56 minutes. Includes the Lazy Jack story as “Jack’s First Job.”
“Teeny Tiny”
There are quite a few picture book version of this story. The following are just a few:
•
Calmenson, Stephanie. The Teeny Tiny Teacher. Scholastic, 1998. Calmenson places
the story in a contemporary setting and heightens the humor through her illustrations of
the teeny tiny classroom, teeny tiny children, and the teeny tiny teacher, who like the
teeny tiny woman of this story, finally takes matters into her own teeny tiny hands.
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Galdone, Paul. The Teeny Tiny Woman: A Ghost Story. Clarion Books, 1984.
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Robins, Arthur. The Teeny Tiny Woman: A Traditional Tale. Cambridge, Ma. :
Candlewick Press, 1998. Humorously spooky illustrations.
•
Ziefert, Harriet. The Teeny Tiny Woman. Illustrated by Laura Rader. New York :
Viking, 1995. This is an easy to read version and less spooky than most.
“The Wise Men of Gotham”
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Carrick, Malcolm. Wise Men of Gotham. Viking, 1975. This illustrated book includes
twelve of the tales about the Wise Men of Gotham.
“Bastianelo and the Three Fools”
Several picture book and illustrated versions of this tale type are available for children:
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Brian, Alderson. The Brothers Grimm Popular Folk-tales. Illustrated by Michael
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Forman. Doubleday, 1978 “Clever Elsie” is retold in most collections of Grimm Fairy
Tales, including this one.
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Hewitt, Kathryn. The Three Sillies. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
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Rockwell, Anne The Three Sillies and 10 Other Stories to Read Aloud. Harper and Row,
1986 c1979.
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Kellogg, Steven. The Three Sillies. Candlewick Press, 1999.
“Hans in Luck”
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Davis, Don. Jack’s First Job [sound recording] August House, 1993, an Appalachian
version of this Grimm tale.
The following is a picture book version!
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Galdone, Paul. Hans in Luck. retold from the Brothers Grimm. Parents Magazine Press,
1979.
“Paul Bunyan”
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Emberley, Barbara. Story of Paul Bunyan. Woodcuts by Ed Emberley. Half Moon
Books, 1994.
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Kellogg, Steven. Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale. Morrow, 1984.
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Rounds, Glen. Ol’ Paul: The Mighty Logger, Being a True Account of the Exploits and
Inventions of the Great Paul Bunyan. Holiday House, 1949, 1976, 93 p. , This is still a
good read for older children who might both enjoy the story and gain practice with the
tall tale storytelling style.
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Woods, Audrey. The Bunyans. Illustrated by David Shannon. Blue Sky Press/Scholastic,
1996. Woods continues the story by relating Paul’s wedding and family life.
“Wiley and the Hairy Man”
“Wiley and the Hairy Man” has been edited and made available in illustrated story collections
and picture books:
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Bang, Molly. Wiley and the Hairy Man: An American Folktale, Macmillan, 1976. This is
an easy reader.
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Hamilton, Virginia. The People Could Fly. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, Knopf,
1985. Hamilton updates the dialect.
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Haviland, Virginia. North American Legends, Collins, 1979.
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Sierra, Judy. Wiley and the Hairy Man. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney, Lodestar, 1996.
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“Juan Bobo”
Recent picture book versions of Juan Bobo are:
•
Bernier-Grand, Carmen T. Juan Bobo: Four Folktales From Puerto Rico. Illustrated by
Ernesto Ramos Nieves. HarperCollins, 1994. This is an easy reader.
•
Montes, Marisa. Juan Bobo Goes to Work: A Puerto Rican Folktale. Illustrated by Joe
Cepeda. HarperCollins, 2000.
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Pitre, Felix. Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale, Illustrated by Christy
Hale, Dutton, 1993.
“Dance of the Animals”
A picture book edition of this story was illustrated by Paul Galdone:
•
Belpré, Pura. Dance of the Animals: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale. Illustrated by Paul
Galdone. New York, F. Warne, 1972.
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