FAQs: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT RETELLING TRADITIONAL TALES FOR CHILDREN

Q: What's a folk tale? Come to think of it, what's a fairy tale, fable, legend, myth, tall tale?

A: All folk literature originates in an oral tradition. Sometimes it is oral to this day (as in many Native American tales). Sometimes the stories were written down as long as a thousand or more years ago (as in Hindu or Buddhist traditions) but have many variations in oral form.
Fairy tales are magical tales involving supernatural beings, also sometimes called "household tales." In Europe, before Charles Perreault and "Conte de Ma Mere l'Oyee" these stories were orally told. Now they have passed into a written tradition, and their influence is seen in original work produced by writers of fiction to this day.

Animal tales are of several kinds -- trickster tales; fables (with a moral or lesson, like Aesop, or the Buddhist Jataka stories); and pour quoi or origin tales explaining why something came to be. Actually not all pour quoi tales are animal tales, but many are.
Myths are usually part of a sacred tradition, although note that in many traditional societies it is impossible to disentangle the sacred from the mundane.

Tall tales are usually humorous, vast reservoirs of exaggeration, and usually about legendary figures or real places. Legends, of course, are tales told as fact, set in the tangible world, but with many wonderful events and characters who do not clearly people that world.

Q: How do I go about looking for stories to retell?

A: There are many sources. Primary sources are storytellers, and of course it is permissible to retell a story you might originally have heard as a child, told from within your cultural circles. Secondary sources include works already retold for purposes of scholarship, or retold for an audience different from one you have in mind. Leads to secondary sources can often be found through indexes, the most well-known of which is the Stith Thompson Motif-index of Folk Literature. This is exhaustive, but not all-inclusive, and focuses mainly on tales derived from European traditions, or those that made their way into Europe (e.g. from Persia, India, China). Margaret MacDonald's "Storyteller's Sourcebook" (1982) is a source index of stories in folklore collections for children. A good secondary source that might provide leads to stories from non-European traditions are the area studies departments of Universities (e.g. American Studies, East Asian Studies, etc). Run some keyword searches at a university library (many are online) and you will find lists of works by folklorists, anthropologists and ethnographers. These books will contain further lists of the sources their authors used. Keep following this track and you'll come up with some jewels! I have gotten many through Interlibrary loan at my small-town public library, at nominal cost.

Q: How do I know a story is in the public domain?

A: The date is one clue. Often material published 100 years ago is not covered by copyright, so you might not need permission to use and adapt it. But to be sure, you should do your best to contact the source (publisher of the book or journal you found the story in) to get this in writing from them. e.g. Dover (many of whose publications are in the public domain) published a Buddhist story I wanted to use, so I wrote to them about it. The author of the book died some years ago, but Dover gave me the name of the executor of his estate. I ended up with a letter from him saying he'd be happy to have me use the story. He was very gracious, gave me some additional information, and wrote me a lovely letter afterwards saying he had given my book to his grandchildren.

Q: What are the rules on citing sources?

A: They used to be quite loose, the thinking being that it was undesirable to clutter up a children's book with complex bibliographical material. That thinking has changed dramatically over the last 20 years or so, especially as the 1980s saw a number of folktales retold for children that were so bowdlerized the original tales were unrecognizable. With no sources, the adult consumer of this book has no way of authenticating the material. I recommend you always cite sources, whether they are print, oral or even electronic. A small print list in the back, using the Chicago Manual of Style format for bibliographies, will do.

Q: Will this story make a picture book?

A: That depends. Not all folk tales are appropriate for young children, so that is one consideration. Another is whether the story you are contemplating has substance enough for a picture book, i.e. is there enough plot or character, or is this (dreaded editorial judgment) slight? Sometimes you can pull off a small collection in picture book format if the stories have a common theme or place of origin.

Q: Can I change a traditional story?

A: Here you are treading on what I consider dangerous ground. You need to examine closely your reasons for changing the story, and make sure you do not in any way trivialize it in the process. I have seen sacred tales in which the religious or spiritual aspect has been expunged in the retelling, and that, to my mind, is unconscionable. Sometimes we are dealing with the last remnants of a world tradition here, and we need to know that and use this power with care. Having said that, here's my rule: if you change it, make sure you detail any changes in your notes, and explain why you made them. The exception to this is telling fractured fairy tales, because the assumption is everyone knows the original story (Perreault took care of that, in 1697)!

Q: Do I need to get permission to retell or adapt a story?

A: Yes, unless the material is in the public domain. Sometimes you will have to pay for that permission. I have drawn up a standard permissions contract that I mail out when I need to get permission, and it covers things like the purpose of use, nature of adaptation, terms of use, etc. I've been refused permission once, been charged a bundle once and was able to haggle it down to something I could afford, and made the acquaintance of some fascinating people in the process. It is important to clarify that you need permission to adapt and not reprint (a different beast altogether).

Q: What age group should I target in retelling my story?

A: Depends on the story. Aaron Shepard talks about the three hats of the folk tale writer -- the researcher, the writer, the storyteller. This is where you wear the writer hat, and step back to look at the story. Does it have enough plot? What is the theme? Is there enough here for a short story as part of an anthology? A stand-alone magazine piece? A picture book? That will tell you about age group.

Q: How much background information should I include?

A: As much as you need to give an adult reader access to further information about the stories. Teachers and librarians will use this material to develop study units and presentations, or to order further resource material so they can understand those stories better. Examples of background information can be glossaries, story notes, pronunciation guides, character lists, and of course source lists.

Q: If I retell, am I author, reteller, or editor?

A: That seems a matter of preference -- I have seen all three used on jackets and title pages. A straight Title by Yourname implies author, Retold by and Edited by are the options. Retold by is used where the story is clearly a traditional tale and you are only using your own words and images to tell it. Edited by is used for anthologies, especially those where the writer has gotten stories from primarily oral sources, and has not changed the stories in any way beyond editorial fixes for readability.