Funny Folk Tales for Children E-Book

Allison Galbraith

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 115

Beschreibung

'It's the best present you can give. It never breaks and doesn't need batteries. What is it?' The answer is inside THIS BOOK! Eleven of the funniest traditional tales from around the world. Laugh your socks off as you discover why dogs are our best friends, learn how to flummox fairies, and meet a shape-shifting, cartwheeling badger.

Leseprobe

To Ethan

If laughter is the best medicine, then this book is for you. And to every child who has spent time in a hospital. May love and laughter flow from these stories to you.

First published 2023

The History Press

97 St George’s Place, Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire, GL50 3QB

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

Text © Allison Galbraith, 2023

Illustrations © Lucinda M. Wilson, 2023

The right of Allison Galbraith to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 80399 392 8

Typesetting and origination by The History Press.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ Books Limited, Padstow, Cornwall.

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

Contents

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Thank Yous

Foreword by Taffy Thomas MBE

About this Book

1   Monkey See, Monkey Do

2   Why Dogs Live with People

3   Sausages for Supper

4   The Talkative Turtle

5   The Zombie Cow

6   Monkey Misery

7   How to Flummox a Fairy

8   Hyena and the Talking Tree

9   Cow on the Roof

10 Outwitting the Trolls

11 The Badger Teapot

Sources and Notes

About the Author

Allison Galbraith loved listening to her mum and dad tell stories when she was young. In her first job as a community librarian in Wolverhampton, England, she read stories to children. This was the best part of the job. Allison learned that reading a story out loud creates magic – the characters in the book come to life and the story leads us on adventures together. After that, Allison worked as an actress, a dancer, a theatre maker and a drama teacher. One day she realised that these jobs were different ways of telling stories. So Allison put all her performance skills into one funky hat and became a traditional storyteller. Over many years she has told and collected hundreds of folk tales and written some of them in books, like this one.

Allison lives among the orchards of the Clyde Valley in Scotland with her partner and many animal friends.

About the Illustrator

Lucinda M. Wilson is a Scottish artist. She lives and works in the beautiful and vibrant city of Glasgow, where she draws and writes about all sorts of things. You might see her work online, or in little magazines, or maybe even in video games! She grew up in the countryside of Ayrshire, where her parents taught her all about the local plants and animals that live in the wilderness. You can see lots of different animals and plants in this book. How many of them do you think she learned to draw while she was out adventuring in the woods and fields?

Thank Yous

Many thanks to Nicola Guy at The History Press for her support and for publishing this book. After the Covid-19 global pandemic, Nicola and her team agreed that a collection of funny stories was just what everyone needed.

Much gratitude to Taffy Thomas MBE – the UK’s first storytelling laureate – for kindly permitting me to retell his story about ‘Why Dog Lives with Man’. Also, tremendous respect and thanks to Taffy for finding time to write the foreword.

Thank you, Lucinda M. Wilson, for the fantastic pictures and being so much fun to work with.

Thank you, Patti Keane, for being one of my oldest friends and helping me with this book.

Thank you, Judy Paterson, for all of your wise words. Your talent and experience as a storyteller and writer are extraordinary.

The greatest respect to Judy McGuire, who gave me my first storytelling work in Glasgow Libraries in 1992. Your consistent championing of books, reading, storytelling, and community is astounding. Your keen librarian’s eye and unwavering friendship are greatly appreciated.

Thank you George MacPherson – the Great Bard of Skye – for allowing me to retell your story about the changeling cow. This story is, without a doubt, one of the best tales I’ve ever heard.

An enormous and heartfelt thank you to Dr Margaret Read MacDonald, the most talented librarian, doctor of folk tales and storyteller I know. Your help with tracing back the origins and sources of some of these tales was enlightening and entertaining in equal measure – you are a folk tale oracle, Margaret!

Thank you Julia Henrikson for advising me on popular names for cows in Norway.

Thanks to Donald Smith for your continuing support and for making the Scottish storytelling scene so vibrant. Thank you Teresa Lowe for organising the best storytelling events in Scotland!

And many thanks to my storytelling friends, who gladly shared their favourite funny stories. These include, Daniel Serridge, Tony Bonning, Lesley O’Brien, Lea Taylor and Lari Don. You are all generous, witty storytellers who use your talents to spread happiness wherever you go.

Huge thanks to Finlay Stevenson for your unwavering support and making me the best hot cocoas in the world.

Finally, a thousand thanks to all of the storytellers who’ve kept these stories alive, and to the listeners who have helped me retell them.

Foreword

When it is the best of times and the worst of times, we may be in danger of raising a generation of children who are losing the ability to laugh and know joy and have an increased chance of mental health problems. It may be that storytelling and story listening can help with this. Storytelling and story listening in the company of a trusted adult or family member is integral to the rounded development of any child. Stories can develop a child’s vocabulary and emotional literacy. If a folk tale takes us to a dangerous place, the actions of a hero/role model deliver the listener or reader back to a safe place. One of the things that can make us feel good in the safe place is a chuckle or a good laugh. Allison Galbraith understands this and in putting together this collection of funny folk tales for children has produced a book that can help carers, grandparents and siblings build the feelgood factor in youngsters.

Professional storytellers will probably not find a wealth of new material in this book but will find a fresh way of repurposing some valued ‘chestnuts’, reminding us why they have survived so long and continue to delight. The stories are short, pithy and witty.

I commend this book to all who wish to encourage smiles through stories and help children to feel happier in a safe place.

Taffy Thomas MBE, 2023

About this Book

A Riddle

It’s the best present you can give.

It never breaks, and it doesn’t wear out.

If you give it away, it gets better every time.

If you don’t give it away, it’s worth nothing at all!

What is it?

The stories that make people happy, are the ones I like telling best. When we smile and laugh, our worries vanish and we enjoy life to the max! That’s why I’ve collected my favourite funny folk tales and put them in this book.

The stories come from all over the world. Reading them helps our imaginations travel to exotic places, supernatural dimensions, and fantastical worlds. Every story contains at least one grain of truth, a pot full of wisdom and a barrel of laughs.

I hope you like them and that they make you smile, chuckle, and laugh out loud.

If you find a story that you really like, share it with someone, because a story is the best present you can give.

(And that’s the answer to the riddle!)

1

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Pedro made hats. Fabulous woven straw hats. He lived with Maria and their five children in a tightly packed house in a little town in Ecuador. Nearly everyone in the town made hats. Some were like Pedro’s, woven out of special straw reeds; others made their hats from wool and felt. People travelled from everywhere to buy hats from the town. During the winter, fewer people visited, so Pedro sold his hats at the big market in the city.

One cold morning, Pedro was up early, ready to go to the market to sell hats. He filled saddlebags with Maria’s knitted woollen hats and a selection of his straw hats. With the saddlebags over his shoulders, Pedro placed a dozen new hats on top of his own head. Maria gave him a bean burrito for his lunch and kissed him goodbye. His children shouted for things they wanted from the market, like a puncture repair kit, shoelaces, nail polish, comics, coloured pencils and sweeties. They all stood on the front porch and waved him goodbye. Maria said he must get to the market as fast as possible to find the best spot to sell the hats. She told him he was not to sit down for a nap along the way!

Pedro smiled and waved back at his family, shouting, ‘Yes, my lovelies, I will get your presents, and I will not stop for a nap.’

He walked out of town, along the dirt track, up and over the hills. He turned off the main road to take the shortest route through the forest. The sun was beginning to warm the air, and halfway along the forest track, Pedro decided to sit down for a quick rest. His saddlebags were heavy and his stomach had already forgotten about the fried eggs he had eaten for breakfast. He nibbled a corner of his burrito and rested his aching shoulders against a large tree trunk. It still had a few leaves that fluttered in the breeze, high above his head.

Pedro relaxed and enjoyed the winter sun’s gentle warmth upon his face. He closed his eyes for a moment. Before he knew it, Pedro was fast asleep beneath the tree.

Sometime later, he was woken by an unfamiliar sound – burring and chattering. Above his head, he could hear squeals and grunts. Pedro looked up. To his surprise, he saw something moving. Pedro could just make out the shape of a monkey leaping through the branches above him. Then he felt a swish and a woosh of air as his hat was lifted off his head. Pedro put his hand on top of his head and felt … hair. The hats that he had been carrying on his head were gone! He jumped to his feet and yelled into the tree, ‘Who has taken my hats?’

The noise of monkey chatter grew louder. Pedro could see many monkeys above him, and they were … wearing his hats! Each little monkey had at least one, and some, two hats on their heads.

The monkeys squealed wildly as Pedro began flapping his arms and yelling at the creatures.

‘These are my hats! All of them are mine! They’re for selling at the market – GIVE THEM BACK!’

The monkeys stared down at Pedro. Then, they flapped their arms about just as Pedro was doing. They jumped up and down on their branches and squealed and chittered loudly. Pedro was flabbergasted. These monkeys were thieves, and they seemed to be laughing at him.

He shook his fists at them and yelled out even louder, ‘My hats, GIVE THEM BACK NOW!’

The monkeys watched Pedro closely and they jumped about with glee. Each of them copied Pedro, forming their paws into little monkey fists, which they shook at the man below them.

Pedro was ready to burst; he was so angry with these naughty creatures. Then he stopped, realising it was pointless losing his temper and yelling at the monkeys. Pedro took a deep breath and had an idea. He searched his saddlebags. At the very bottom of a bag was one woollen child’s hat. Pedro took it out very slowly. He turned it round, admiring the brightly coloured patterns that Maria had knitted. Then he put it carefully on his head.

The monkeys watched him and chirruped excitedly. Pedro walked away from the tree to get a good view of the monkeys. The monkeys watched as Pedro jumped up and down, holding tightly onto the little hat on his head. The monkeys in the tree copied him, each holding onto their hats and jumping up and down. Next, Pedro leaped high into the air, grabbing the hat on his head and throwing it down onto the ground. The monkeys did the same – each leaping up from the tree’s branches and throwing their hats to the ground.

Pedro ran around the tree, gathering up all of the hats. He put them into his saddlebags and fastened them tightly. The monkeys bounced up and down in the tree and screamed with delight. They watched as Pedro ran along the path and out of the forest as fast as his legs would carry him.

After a good, busy day at the market, Pedro set off for home, laden with gifts for Maria and his children. He took the long path home, avoiding the forest and the trees full of cheeky monkeys.

That night, as he enjoyed supper with his family, he told them about his day and the story of his monkey adventure. Everyone laughed and laughed at their dad’s story. From that day on, Pedro’s family called his monkey tale, ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do!’

Pedro and Maria’s children told the story to their children, passing it from one generation to the next.

Who knows, maybe the monkeys passed the story on to their children too! I hope that you will pass this monkey tale on as well.