Children's Literature Research: Background Sources

"Allows researchers to identify the underlying structure of a tale and to cross-reference it with other tales from all around the world which share the same elements or themes. Each tale-type entry describes which themes and motifs comprise a specific tale-type. Motifs each have an identifying number, which can be cross-referenced with Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. In this way, researchers can identify similar story plots, and even vastly different tales which share motifs." (Harvard, "Library Research Guide for Folklore and Mythology")

"Just as the early publications of folktale collections led folklorists to realize that the same tales existed in different times and in different countries, it also led to the realization that there were certain details in folktales that showed up in many different tales. Some of these details were characters, such as the wicked stepmother or the wicked witch, while others were plot details, such as the importance of the number three, or the fact that trolls turn to stone when they are caught by the sunlight. Folklorists call these details motifs, and in 1955 Stith Thompson compiled a five volume list of these narrative elements, and a one volume index, into the Motif Index." Esther Clinton of Tales Unlimited, Inc.

LINK TAKES YOU TO EBOOK - ALSO IN PRINT (SEE CALL NUMBER).
These encyclopedias provide information on the broad subject of children's literature. Notable features include:
- Search alphabetical entries for authors, subject/genres, geographical locations.
- Resources in the 2nd half of the 4th volume:
1) Select Bibliography
2) List of award winners like Boston Globe-Horn Book, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King, et cetera (organized alphabetically by award)
3) Notable world-wide collections of Children's Literature
4) Topical Outline of Entries
5) Directory of Contributors
6) Index

This is an excellent resource for researching folk & fairy tales. Notable features:
- Organize alphabetically by entry meaning you can search for the title of a work (e.g. "Frog King), by author (e.g. Grimm, Jacob), location (e.g. "French Tales"), subject (e.g. "Cannibalism"), et cetera.
- An alphabetical list of entries is at the front of each volume.
- Suggestions for other entries included. For example, if you look up Grimm, Jacob you'll notice that the other brothers (Ludwig & Wilhelm) follow. At the end of all the entries for the brothers it tells you that you can look for entries on "Brothers Grimm", Grimm's Fairytales under their German name, "Kinder- und Hausmarchen".
- The bibliography at the end of the 3rd book is a resource on it's own. It is broken up into 4 sections:
1) Useful Collections of folk/fairy tales and other primary sources.
2) Scholarly works on folk/fairy tales
3) Important journals and serial publications
4) Annotated list of select websites (remember, this was published in 2007, so some of the sites might not be available now).

Earlier edition of "Folktales and Fairy Tales" listed directly above this entry. Available as an ebook.

Facts and pictures about contemporary authors and illustrators of books for young people.