American Children's Folklore

by Simon J. Bronner

Concentrating on lore gathered since World War II, Bronner shows the resilience of children's folklore--how it has incorporated social change and regional differences while remaining very similar... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874830680
• ISBN13: 9780874830682
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Children as they really are... and we were

Although definitely not politically correct, this book peers into the world of children, their rhymes, their games, their jokes, and just about everything else that makes up childhood. What makes this book particularly interesting is the social, cultural, and psychological analysis given for each type of joke, rhyme, etc. If it is a gross rhyme the author notes when these became the most popular, the age groups it is most popular with and why. If it is a nonsense joke like elephant jokes then he notes when they were most popular and how they could have represented society changing to deal with civil rights. The book also includes various counting rhymes, games, toys, and other activities that are part of a child's world. For a nostalgic trip back to the days of childhood or a serious study of childhood social structures American Children's Folklore is a recommended read.

"Must have" classroom resource for all elementary teachers!

As a school teacher I find that children from grades one through five love and repeat the rhymes, jokes and stories in this book.