Children’s Folklore: A Handbook by Elizabeth Tucker
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Abstract
Elizabeth Tucker’s Children’s Folklore: A Handbook (2009) is an introductory guide to the “traditional knowledge shared by a group of two or more children, usually without the involvement of adults” (p. 1). The Handbook is a comprehensive survey that considers both historical approaches and recent developments in the study of children’s folklore. According to Tucker, its purpose is to “provide an overview of children’s folklore since the late 1800s” within the major genres (p.vii). She defines and provides examples of riddles, jokes, rhymes, taunts, songs, cheers, games, pranks, narratives, rituals and material culture. The vast majority of the folktales incorporated in the survey are from English-speaking countries, although occasional Indo-European lore and personal narratives are included as well. Tucker generally provides the context for each sample — the time and place it was recorded, the age of the children involved, and the source where it appears — and a few brief analytical statements. Tucker notes that her Handbook emphasizes “nature lore and imaginative, dangerous, and sexually oriented games” more than previous surveys have (p. 2). She regularly interprets the case studies for their sexual content or for their implications about gender, race and power relations, as well as for other matters of cultural significance.
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