''Tortoise Tales'' is a 1974 anthology of 13 animal-centered fairy tales from around the world that have been collected and retold by

Ruth Manning-Sanders Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifeti ...

. These tales are written for a younger level of a reader unlike Manning-Sanders' more familiar "A Book of..." series. According to the dust jacket: "Animals are a basic part of the traditional stories of most countries. ... The author has selected short, simple stories, each so lively that it makes an immediate impact on the listener or reader. This collection has the right combination of humor, pathos, and suspense to captivate preschoolers as well as older children." The tale "Gar-room!" features the

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

spider

Anansi Anansi ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is an Akan folktale character and the Akan God of Stories, Wisdom, Knowledge, and possibly creation. The form of a spider is the most common depiction of Anansi. He is also, sometimes considered t ...

*1. Tortoise and the Children ( South American Indian) *2. Tortoise and Elephant (East African) *3. Tortoise and Ogre ( South American Indian) *4. Rabbit and Our Old Woman (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

) *5. Rabbit and the Wolves (

North American Indian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

) *6. Gar-room! (

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n) *7. Little Sister Fox (Russian) *8. Hare Running ( West Canadian Indian) *9. Hyena and Hare ( Creole) *10. Little Cat and Little Hen (Russian) *11. Hare's Ears (

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n) *12. Grasshopper and Fox (

) *13. Nanny Goat with Nuts (Russian)

Reception

Kirkus Reviews wrote "Disappointingly only the first three tales are about Tortoise" and "You'll recognize most of the ploys but these are for slightly younger readers than are most of Manning-Sanders' collections and they are appropriately snappy and short." It also appeared in library programs and school reading lists.

References

{{Portal , Children's literature 1974 anthologies 1974 children's books 1974 short story collections British children's books Children's short story collections Collections of fairy tales Books about cats Books about elephants Books about foxes Fiction about goats Books about rabbits and hares Books about turtles Books about wolves

Contents

Reception

References