Children's Folklore

Authors

Brian Sutton-Smith
Jay Mechling
Thomas W. Johnson
Felicia R. McMahon

Files

Abstract

A collection of original essays by scholars from a variety of fields—including American studies, folklore, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and education—Children's Folklore: A Source Book moves beyond traditional social-science views of child development. It reveals the complexity and artistry of interactions among children, challenging stereotypes of simple childhood innocence and conventional explanations of development that privilege sober and sensible adult outcomes. Instead, the play and lore of children is shown to be often disruptive, wayward, and irrational. The contributors variably con-sider and demonstrate "contextual" and "textual" ways of studying the folklore of children. Avoiding a narrow definition of the subject, they examine a variety of resources and approaches for studying, researching, and teaching it. These range from surveys of the history and literature of children's folklore to methods of field research, studies of genres of lore, and attempts to capture children's play and games.

Document Type

Book

Publisher

Garland reference library of social science

Publication Date

1999

ISBN

978-0-87421-280-8

City

Logan

Comments

Available as ebook or hard copy from USU Press.

Recommended Citation

Sutton-Smith, Brian; Mechling, Jay; Johnson, Thomas W.; and McMahon, Felicia R., "Children's Folklore" (1999). All USU Press Publications. 71.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/71