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Traditional tales are a fantastic way to offer moral lessons, spark creativity, and teach children about creation stories and other elements of cultures they may not otherwise be familiar with. In addition, children are introduced to new vocabulary and languages that were previously unknown to them. Myths and legends can also be used to introduce children to literature and expose them to other cultures' values. Children may find a new author or type of folktale that interests them and it is also possible that some children might see the history of their own culture for the first time through diverse folktales or legends. While I hesitated to use the word myth since that has come to mean a lie, the books use the word myth on the cover, so to make it simpler, when the word myth is used, it also implies a creation story.
This Padlet could be used by educators looking for Traditional Tales from cultures their students may be unfamiliar with. It would also work well to find books to pair with a nonfiction book about the same culture or to use during a day or week where the class focuses on highlighting a particular country or culture.

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The Empty Pot, adapted and illustrated by Demi for children 4-7, is a Chinese Folktale that tells the story of a boy named Ping. Ping is talented at growing plants and loves flowers in particular. The kingdom he lives in also loves plants and animals. The emperor of the kingdom is becoming old and needs to choose someone to replace him. He gives each child in the kingdom a special flower seed to grow and them whoever can show him their best after a year will be emperor. Ping's seed does not grow, in spite of his best efforts, so he brings his empty pot to the emperor. The other children have beautiful flowers so he is surprised when the emperor chooses him, saying that the seeds where cooked so Ping was the only one who is worthy because he was not dishonest. Ping is chosen to be emperor because of his wise choice. This story teaches children that there are rewards for being honest and trustworthy.

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How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, written by Joseph Bruchac, is based on a Native American folktale that explains the story behind the chipmunk's stripes. In this story, written for children ages 3-6, Bear brags that he can do anything, even keep the sun from coming up. All the animals watch to see if Bear is right but when he is wrong Brown Squirrel teases him until Bear angrily attacks him. Bear traps him and is going to eat him but Brown Squirrel tricks him by saying he will apologize and then running away. Bear tries to catch him and leaves long scratches down his back. From then on he is known as Chipmunk. This folktale teaches the consequences of teasing and bragging.

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When Turtle Grew Feathers is a folktale from the Choctaw Nation written by Tim Tingle and illustrated by Stacey Schuett. This is a picture book for children ages 4-8. In this story, Turkey accidentally steps on Turtle's shell and breaks it. They work out their differences and some ants help Turkey fix turtle's shell, giving Turtle's shell it's distinct look. Turtle lets Turkey wear his shell to thank him and then Rabbit comes along, bullying the turtles and demanding a race. Turkey beats Rabbit soundly in the race and this is why rabbits and turtles do not race to this day. This story teaches that you do not have to be the biggest or best, and focuses on the value of friendship.

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Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale

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Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale

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Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears is a picture book adapted by Verna Ardema from a West African Tale. In this tale, written for children Kindergarten through Third Grade, Mosquito annoys iguana, snake becomes afraid of iguana, and rabbit is scared off by snake. Events escalate until night is lasting too long because owl will not wake the sun. King Lion and his council must find out who is to blame so that owl will wake the sun again. This cautionary tale shows how one thing can lead to another causing disastrous events.

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The King with Horses Ears was adapted by Eric Maddern and Paul Hess from an old Irish Folktale. This story, written for children ages 8 and younger, tells the story of a king who has ears like a horse. The king hides his ears because he is afraid of what other people will think. The only person who knows is his barber. The story explains that secrets "want to be told" and the barber becomes ill because he has been keeping the secret. In the end, the secret gets out and the king finds that he actually feels better now that he is not keeping a secret from almost everyone. He finds out that his people love him even with horses ears. This story teaches that the truth always comes out one way or another and keeping secrets is bad for your health.

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The Bossy Gallito: A Traditional Cuban Folktale

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The Bossy Gallito: A Traditional Cuban Folktale

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The Bossy Gallito, retold by Lucia Gonzlez and illustrated by Lulu Delacre for children 3-5, is a Cuban folktale about a bossy rooster. This picture book teaches children that asking politely will get results more quickly than making demands. Gallito demands that grass clean his beak and then demands that other animals and things punish grass for not doing what he wants. Finally he nicely asks the sun, and the sun listens to his polite request. He is able to go to his friend's wedding with a clean beak and learns the value of saying please.

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Grandma and the Great Gourd is a Bengali Folktale retold by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and illustrated by Susy Pilgrim Waters for children 5-8. This colorful picture book tells the tale of a grandma who wants to go see her daughter but first must travel through a forest with dangerous animals. She convinces fox, bear, and tiger to wait until her return trip, when she will be plump, to eat her. After spending a wonderful time with her daughter, she does indeed grow plump. She and her daughter hide her in a gourd for her return trip. This protects her until she reaches the fox, but her faithful dogs chase the fox away and she returns home safe. This story teaches children about resourcefulness and staying calm in the face of danger.

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The Legend of The Bluebonnet is an old Comanche folktale that explains the Bluebonnet flower's presence in a place we now know as Texas. In this story, there is a drought and many people have died. The shaman listens to the Great Spirits who require a burnt offering of the most valued possession because the people have been taking from the earth without giving back. She-Who-Is-Alone, an orphan due to the drought, knows that the special doll from her family is what she needs to sacrifice. She burns her precious doll and scatters the ashes to the winds. The Great Spirits respond by covering the area with Bluebonnets and ending the drought. The girl's name becomes One-Who-Dearly-Loved-Her-People because of her sacrifice. Every spring the Great Spirits remember her with the spring season and bluebonnets. Written for children ages 3-8, this story teaches readers about loyalty and courage.

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The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

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The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

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The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal, written by Idries Shah and illustrated by Rose Mary Santiago, is part of an oral lore from the Middle East and Central Asia. This story tells of what can happen if you judge something without trying to understand what it is. In this tale, a young boy visits another village only to discover the "terrible, dangerous animal" they are afraid of is a melon. When the boy eats it to show them what it is, at first they call him a terrible, dangerous boy. He laughs and explains melons to them, they start eating and growing melons and become known as the Watermelon Village. The moral of this story, for children grades 1-6, is not to be afraid of something just because you do not understand it.

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Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest

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Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest

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Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest was adapted by Gerald DcDermott, who is both the author and illustrator. This picture book was written for children ages 4-6. In this story, Raven comes into the world and everything is dark and cold. Raven looks until he finds light, and then tricks the Sky Chief and his daughter into giving him the sun. Raven then throws the sun into the sky and this is why people feed Raven, to thank him for giving them light. The lesson is you can beat a bigger and stronger opponent if you can outwit them.

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Wings and Dreams: The Legend of Angel Falls

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Wings and Dreams: The Legend of Angel Falls

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Wings and Dreams: The Legend of Angel Falls by Irania Macias Patterson and Catherine Courtland McElvane is a picture book for Kindergarten through Second Grade. It tells the legend of how Angel Falls came to be. In this story, a boy named Takupi who is given the ability to talk to birds. Takupi's people must move South to get away from the giants and he is sent, along with friends, to find the promised land they will move to. Takupi finds an injured eagle and heals him with magic water. The grateful eagle flies him to the promised land. Takupi is so excited that he runs, tripping and spilling the magic water which flows to create Angel Falls. Beautiful land is fed by the magic water and Takupi's people move to this new promised land.

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Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: A Mesoamerican Creation Myth

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Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: A Mesoamerican Creation Myth

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Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns is a Mesoamerican story that tells how the gods created humans, retold by Duncan Tonatiuh. They tried twice with mud and sacred bones, then twice with corn paste and sacred bones. The gods give up but Feathered Serpent keeps trying and convinces the other gods to try one last time too. They finally are successful at creating humans the way they want with ground up sacred bones and the blood of the gods. Because of this the elders say that humans are the fifth Tonatiuh. This is a picture book written for children ages 5-9. This story is a good way to educate children about the past culture and gods of Mesoamerica.

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The Golden Flower: A Taino Myth from Puerto Rico is a story that tells how the island of Boriquen was created. In this ancient tale, a child finds seeds and plants them at the top of the mountain. A forest grows from the seeds, and from the forest grew a vine with a beautiful golden flower. The flower grows a great golden pumpkin which end up being smashed and releases the sea. The sea provides the people with water to wash and play in and fish to catch. In this way, according to this beautiful myth, the islands of Puerto Rico came to be. This story is written by Nina Jaffe with children ages 4 and older in mind and illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez.

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The First Tortilla by Rudolfo Anaya is based on a Mexican legend that tells how people were given corn and made the first tortilla. In this picture book for children ages 7-9, a young girl named Jade learns that the rains are not coming because no one has thanked the Mountain Spirit. A blue hummingbird leads her to the Mountain Spirit where she brings him a gift and in return he gives her corn from the ants on Corn Mountain. Jade shares this gift with her parents and other women.

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NINA JAFFE is an award-winning author, folklorist and storyteller on the faculty of the Graduate School at Bank Street College of Education. Her acclaimed retellings of world folklore include: The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella tale from the Jewish Tradition and Patakín: World Tales of Drums and Drummers. Cited in Best Books for Children (HarperCollins) as “among the very best in the field” of authors who draw on folklore and oral traditions, Nina has represented the United States at the International Festival of Storytelling in the Canary Islands, Spain and is currently project director of FEAST: Folklore Education and Storytelling for Teachers -- a professional development project at the Graduate School. Recent publications include a Spanish-language edition of The Golden Flower: A Taino Myth from Puerto Rico (Arte Publico) and the inaugural DC Comics Wonder Woman books for young readers (Harper Collins). She lives in New York City with her family.

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This website is maintained by Nina Jaffe.

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A Read Aloud of The Crane Girl written by Curtis Manley and illustrated by Lin Wang

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A Read Aloud of The Crane Girl written by Curtis Manley and illustrated by Lin Wang

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Here is a list, from this website, of August House's Diverse Tales.

https://6d9aaf21-2eb3-4722-b07f-f8f966da8327.filesusr.com/ugd/73fe4e_867e382f21ef4513be7db7ebba02d09f.xls?dn=CBC%20Diversity%20Multi-Cultural%20List%20for%20August%20House.xls

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August House Publishers | Atlanta | Children's Book Publisher

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Why Are Folktales Important? | August House Publishers | Atlanta

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Folktales can be used to help children develop strong reading skills, study other cultures, and discover a love of stories.

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This was not created by me. I found it online and it looks like a wonderful way use Folktales in a lesson plan.

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Exploring World Cultures Through Folk Tales

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Students journey beyond the borders of their everyday environment in this exploration of world cultures. In this lesson, small groups of students are assigned one of three folk tales from African, Japanese, or Welsh cultures. Students read the tale aloud together and use a story sequence graphic organizer to record the most important events from the story.