Tuck-Me-In Tales

by Margaret Read MacDonald, Yvonne Lebrun Davis (Illustrator)

Selected as Outstanding by the Parent Council Best Books for Bedtime Around the world each night, parents tell stories to children as they put them to bed. Margaret Read MacDonald―a folklorist, storyteller, and children's librarian―uses bedtime tales in the daytime to end her story hours on a calm note. Here she includes five of her favorite folktales from around the world. “Chin Chin Kobokama” tells the story of a young Japanese girl who overcomes her fear of the dark―and learns there are good reasons to clean up her room. “Snow Bunting's Lullaby,” a lovely Siberian tale, shows the lengths to which Papa and Mama Bunting must go to protect their children―and get them to sleep. A South American tale explains the movement of the sun and moon. And “Kanji-Jo, the Nestling,” a lively Liberian tale, shows, as so many folk stories do, that there's no place like home. In elegant, finely detailed watercolors, artist Yvonne Davis joins MacDonald in guiding the reader on a bedtime trip around the world.

Genres: Picture Books

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 1996

About the author

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Biography
Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald travels the world telling stories....always on the lookout for more great folktales to share. She shapes these found stories into tellable tales which anyone can share with ease. Filling her folktale collections with these delightful tales, she creates perfect read alouds for you and your family. MRM wants everyone to experience the joy of a beautifully told tale. She hopes you will read them a few times...then put down the book...put down the electronic device...and just TELL the story to your children!

Some of her favorite folktales she expands into picture books...hopefully with delightfully readable language while will roll right out of your mouth. Share them with your children and then....act the tales out! Revisit the tales by TELLING them! At bedtime. While on the road. Fill your pockets with great stories to share wherever you go.

Joining her Folklore Ph.D. with her 30 plus years as a children's librarian, Margaret brings folktales to life in playful, lilting language which should delight both reader and listener.

See her performance schedule at: www.margaretreadmaconald.com

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as just another anthology of stories, this is nothing special. However, if one takes the title literally, it's brilliant.

The art is pretty, bright enough to be seen in dim light, but not 'omigosh let me see that!' Each successive tale is shorter and quieter than the rest, so if your child falls asleep right away, great, but if not, the requests for 'just one more' are easy to fulfill. If your child is particularly fretful, you could read the entire book in one night.

A great book to own for ages 2-6, to pull out when the library books just aren't helping the child unwind.

ETA - MacDonald always includes reference notes, including here. I do so admire her body of work.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter was enchanted with this book! We spent several weeks pretending to be baby buntings and she is still including them in most of her drawings. Her favorite story was the one about the tooth-pick wielding samurai.

I got it from the library and I am thinking of buying a copy. The illustrations are beautiful

[Kala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chin Chin Kobotama was my favorite.

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Read MacDonald is a national treasure. Pull out any one of her picture books for a guaranteed great storytime. Her use of songs and onomatopoeia makes for lots of fun.

This collection, however, includes one story I hated. A mother bird gets captured by hunters, and in its absence the chicks hatch. They roam all over looking for their mama. They chicks find many other birds who are eager to mother them, but these mama birds have different songs so each gets rejected in turn. From an adult viewpoint this is largely a story of the mother bird who escapes her captor in the end. But for kids, it sends a message that the "real" mother is the one who birthed you. (I used to read "Are You My Mother?" to my kids. There's a big difference between a static bulldozer and an eager-to-adopt dove.)

In addition, I don't know what to make of the story where one type of bird steals another's song, and it gets taken back violently. Since all these stories were lifted from other cultures, that one's an interesting inclusion.

But these stories do, I imagine, serve their purpose of putting small children to sleep. Lots of repetition here, especially all the sheep that jump over the wall.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not for a group story time, but they have great illustrations and could be fun one-on-one. However, with so many good books out there, why read something that's just "meh?"

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Most are not the types of stories I would read to children. I did, however, add a star because the illustrations are exquisite.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of short stories from various cultures to read at bedtime. The illustrations are wonderful and the stories are short enough to read several at one time. Our girls really enjoyed these tales and they really liked the repetition of the words and songs. The songs are also printed in the back of the book. I enjoyed reading it too, although I had to make up my own tune for the lyrics, since I'm not very adept at reading music.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book! Not only are the picture bright and interesting, the stories are fun .... and there are songs included as well. How much more could you want?! Great for story time at home or in a group:)

[Laura Beasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fav is Snow Bunting's Lullaby. Wonderful author!!

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toothpick-wielding Samurai are great!

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of short stories (two to three pages per story) from around the world talking about life's lessons.