1492, New World Tales

by Richard Dockrey Young, Judy Young

Overview

Adventure with each turn of the page.

This collection of authentic stories, recalling as far back as the 1490's, promotes discovery and instills a sense of adventure. These tales have been carefully crafted to sound as exciting and mysterious as they were when first told five hundred years ago by sailors around a lantern on a ship, shared by explorers reclining around a campfire, enjoyed by Native Americans in a grass hut, whispered inside a stone palace in the Totonac city of Zempoala, or fondly remembered by an adventurer back home in Europe.

This snapshot of 1492 will incite adventure and imagination, as readers follow these new world tales of courage and exploration. 1492 is a collection of traditional tales, fables, and legends from the cultures brought together or affected by this great age of exploration and discovery. Included are stories from Spain, Portugal, as well as the mainland and island cultures encountered across the Atlantic. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939160737
Publisher:	August House Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/07/2013
Pages:	267
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1000L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Richard and Judy YoungRichard and Judy Dockery Young have co-authored 9 books together. Richard comes from a family steeped in sharing tall tales. He retired from teaching to concentrate on his love of writing and telling stories. Judy earned her Master’s Degree from the Dallas Theatre Center in Children’s Theater before pursuing a career as a performer. They share a commitment to thoroughly researching a topic, then crafting a highly engaging and authentic tale. They split their residence between Houston, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri.

Editorial Reviews

2013-09-25
In this much-expanded version of a 1992 collection, two veteran storytellers present tales that were being told in the Americas, North Africa and on the Iberian Peninsula the day Christopher Columbus made landfall. Probably, that is. As their conscientious source notes indicate, the 50-plus short myths, legends, anecdotes and animal tales (up from 20 in Stories from the Days of Christopher Columbus) were all gathered from later collections or learned from modern members of indigenous groups. Still, the cross-sectional approach results in a mix of relatively well-known episodes with those that are less familiar. Among the former are "Why Anansi Has a Narrow Waist," a Spanish version of "The Three Sillies" called "Bastianito" and two verse extracts from the legends of El Cid. Readers are less likely to know scary tales from Aztec Zempoala and Tlacopán, exploits of the clever Mayan "Dwarf of Uxmal," creation myths from Taíno Guanahaní, Basque, and Moroccan Jewish tales--among dozens of other rarities from carefully specified locales. Despite a generally informal tone ("King Sancho the Eleventy Leventh became angry"), this lends itself less to reading straight through than using as a storyteller's resource; along with frequent prefatory cultural notes, the Youngs add discussion points, glossaries, and inserted pronunciations for proper names and non-English phrases. A respectful, sometimes irreverent and broadly multicultural treasury of dramas, romances, chillers, knee-slappers and teaching tales. (introduction) (Folk tales. 11-14, adult)

Kirkus Reviews