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Folklore from Central America and the Islands
Guatemala | Belize | Honduras | El Salvador | Nicaragua | Costa Rica | Panama
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Overall Central American Folklore
- Brusca, Maria Cristina. Pedro Fools the Gringo and Other Tales of a Latin American Trickster.
- Weiss, Jaqueline Shachter. Young Brer Rabbit and other Trickster Tales from the Americas.
- Wisniewski, David. Rain Player.
Costa Rica
- Baden, Robert. And Sunday Makes Seven. Niles, Illinois: A. Whitman, 1989. [COSTA RICA] (Origin of days of the week; witches)
- Franklin, Kristine L. When the Monkeys Came Back.
- Strauss, Susan. When Woman Became the Sea: A Costa Rican Creation Myth. Hillsboro, Oregon: Beyond Words Pub., 1998. [COSTA RICA] (Sibu creates the world and woman)
Guatemala - Maya Culture (See also: Mexico Maya)
- Gerson, Mary-Joan. People of Corn: A Mayan Story. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995. [GUATEMALA] (corn used as basis for grateful human creatures)
- Mora, Pat. The Race of Toad and Deer. Toronto: Douglas and McIntyre, 2001. (32 ps.) [GUATEMALA] (Tortoise and Hare variant]
- Palacios, Argentina. The Hummingbird King. [GUATEMALA; Maya]
- Volkmer, Jane Anne. Song of the Chirimia: A Guatemalan Folktale. [GUATEMALA] (young man, princess)
Nicaragua
- Rohmer, Harriet. The Little Horse of Seven Colors. San Francisco, Calif.: Children's Book Press, 1976. (23 ps.) [NICARAGUA] (boy and magical horse)
- Rohmer, Harriet. Uncle Nacho's Hat: A Folktale from Nicaragua. (31 ps.) San Francisco, Calif.: Children's Book Press, 1989. [NICARAGUA] (man and niece make decisions)
Folklore of the West Indies - The Caribbean Region
Cuba | Jamaica and the Cayman Islands | Dominican Republic | Haiti
Puerto Rico | Bahama Islands
Leeward Islands (Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Montserrat)
Windward Islands (Barbados, Dominic, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago)
Trinidad and Tobago | Martinique
United States Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John)
Bermuda
Folklore of the Overall Caribbean Region
- San Souci, Robert D. Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998. [CARIBBEAN] (French Creole Cinderella variant)
- San Souci, Robert D. The Twins and the Bird of Darkness: A Hero Tale From the Caribbean. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002. (unp.) [CARIBBEAN] (rescue story)
Folklore of Cuba
- Gonzalez, Lucia. The Bossy Gallito. NY: Scholastic, 1994. (unp.) [CUBA] (cumulative folktale with a bossy rooster and his dirty beak on way to wedding)
- Palazzo-Craig, Janet. When Sun Ruled the Land: A Story from Cuba. Mahwah, NJ: Troll, 1996. (unp.) [CUBA] (origin of sun and moon)
- Shute, Linda. Rabbit Wishes. NY: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1995. (unp.) [CUBA] (Afro-Cuban folktale explaining why rabbits have long ears)
Folklore of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
- Benitez, Mirna. How Spider Tricked Snake. Milwaukee: Raintree Publishers, 1989. (30 ps.) [JAMAICA] (Anansi tale)
- Hausman, Gerald. Doctor Bird: Three Lookin' Up Tales from Jamaica. NY: Philomel Books, 1998. (unp.) [JAMAICA] (three tales with Doctor Bird, Jamaican clever, hummingbird trickster)
- Hausman, Gerald. Duppy Talk: West Indian Tales of Mystery and Magic. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1994. [JAMAICA] (six ghost stories from Jamaica rooted in African folklore)
- Palazzo-Craig. Mancrow's Feather: A Story from Jamaica. [JAMAICA]
- Temple, Frances. Tiger Soup: An Anansi Story from Jamaica. NY: Orchard Books, 1994. [JAMAICA] (Anansi eats tiger's soup and blames monkeys)
Folklore of the Dominican Republic
- Alvarez, Julia. The Secret Footprints. NY: Knopf, 2000. (unp.) [DOMINICAN - TAINO] (story about the underwater people, ciguapas)
Folklore of Haiti
- Wolkstein, Diane. The Banza: A Haitian Story. NY: Dial Press, 1981. (32 ps.) [HAITI] (banjo given to small goat protects it from harm)
- Wolkstein, Diane. Bouki Dances the Kokioko: A Comical Tale from Haiti. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1997. [HAITI] (outwit; king's secret dance)
Folklore of Puerto Rico
- Belpre, Pura. Dance of the Animals: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale. NY: F. Warne, 1972. (30 ps.) [PUERTO RICO] (dog and goat outwit lion but goat gets stump tail)
- Bernier-Grand, Carmen. Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico. NY: HarperCollins, 1994. [PUERTO RICO] (4 Juan Bobo tales)
- Bernier-Grand, Carmen. Shake It, Morena!: And Other Folklore from Puerto Rico. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook Press, 2002. (48 ps.) [PUERTO RICO] (games, songs, riddles, stories from Puerto Rico)
- Crespo, George. How the Sea Began: A Taino Myth. NY: Clarion Books, 1993. [TAINO] (gourd containing the hunter, Yayael, produces enough water to become the world's ocean)
- Jaffe, Nina. The Golden Flower: A Taino Myth from Puerto Rico. NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996. (unp.) [TAINO - PUERTO RICO] (origin of the sea, the forest, and the island of Puerto Rico)
- Jaffe, Nina. Sing, Little Sack!: Canta, Saquito!: A Folktale from Puerto Rico. NY: Bantam Books, 1993. (48 ps.) [PUERTO RICO] (girl trapped in a sack must sing for her mother to find and free her)
- Mike, Jan. Juan Bobo and the Horse of Seven Colors: A Puerto Rican Legend. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1995. (31 ps.) [PUERTO RICO] (Juan Bobo wastes six of seven wishes while going to make the king's daughter laugh)
- Montes, Marisa. Juan Bobo Goes to Work: A Puerto Rican Folktale. NY: Morrow Junior Books, 2000. (unp) [PUERTO RICO] (though trying to follow directions, Juan Bobo (legendary character) gets things wrong)
- Palazzo-Craig, Janet. Bobo's Magic Wishes: A Story from Puerto Rico. Mahwah, NJ: Troll, 1996. (31 ps.) [PUERTO RICO] (use of 7 wishes to a man from a magical horse)
- Pitre, Felix. Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale. (unp.) NY: Lodestar Books, 1993. [PUERTO RICA] (Juan Bobo takes care of the pig while his mother is at church)
- Pitre, Felix. Paco and the Witch: A Puerto Rican Folktale. NY: Lodestar Books, 1995. (unp.) [PUERTO RICO] (captured boy must guess name of witch to be freed)
- Rohmer, Harriet. Atariba & Niguayona: A Story from the Taino People of Puerto Rico. San Francisco, Calif.: Children's Book Press, 1988. (23 ps.) [TAINO - PUERTO RICO] (young boy searches for the healing caimoni tree)
Folklore of the Bahama Islands
- San Souci, Robert D. The House in the Sky: A Bahamian Folktale. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996. (unp.) [BAHAMAS] (trickery; lazy, greedy brother; house full of spirits)
Folklore of the Leeward Islands
(Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Montserrat)
Folklore of the Windward Islands
(Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago)
Trinidad and Tobago
- Joseph, Lynn. The Mermaid's Twin Sister: More Stories from Trinidad. NY: Clarion Books, 1994. [TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO] (duennes, mermaids, birthday presents)
- Joseph, Lynn. A Wave in Her Pocket: Stories from Trinidad. NY: Clarion Books, 1991. [TRINIDAD] (Tantie tells the children 6 stories originating in her own imagination, in Trinidad, and in West Africa)
Martinique
- San Souci, Robert D. Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998. [MARTINIQUE] (Cinderella variant with Creole grandmother in the Caribbean narrating the tale)
- San Souci, Robert D. The Faithful Friend. NY: Four Winds Press, 1995. [MARTINIQUE] (two friends, Clement and Hippolyte, encounter love, zombies, and danger on Martinique)
U. S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John)
- Gershator, Phillis. Tukama Tootles the Flute: A Tale from the Antilles. NY: Orchard Books, 1994. [U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDS] (Tukama, caputred by a two-headed giant and held prisoner by the giant's wife, uses his flute to escape)
Bermuda
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For a broadened view of folklore, refer to The Folktale by Stith Thompson for tale types and motifs.
For your reading enjoyment, peruse "Folk Tales of the North American Indians" by Stith Thompson. It includes tales categorized by culture group and motif.