Tales to Tickle Your Funny Bone : Humorous Tales From Around the World

From tall tales, trickster tales, and noodlehead stories to hoaxes, urban legends, riddles and songs-here are more than 70 stories from around the world and across the centuries that you can pull out of your story bag at a moment's notice-to read aloud or re-tell before, between and after daily activities; or integrate into lessons and learning opportunities. Most take just minutes to read. The country or culture of origin is noted for each story, and there is a detailed bibliography, introductory notes on humor and folklore, and a discussion of the healing power of humor. Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 Why Everyone Should Be Able to Tell a Story (Scotland)......Page 26 THE FOOLISH, THE CLEVER, AND THE WISE: STORIES FROM FOLKLORE......Page 30 Lazy Jack (England)......Page 32 The Bee, the Harp, the Mouse, and the Bum-Clock (Ireland)......Page 35 Fat or Lean (Virginia, United States)......Page 42 The Sad Princess (Norway)......Page 44 The Clever Cook (Germany)......Page 49 Clever Else (Germany)......Page 52 A Wolf in Sheep Clothing (Greece)......Page 56 The Fox and the Crow (Greece)......Page 57 The Miller, His Son and the Ass (Greece)......Page 58 The Wisdom of Hodja (Persia)......Page 60 The Emperor’s New Clothes (Sweden)......Page 61 Henny-penny (England)......Page 65 Wit or Noodle (China)......Page 68 Truth (Tibet)......Page 72 Juan Bobo (Puerto Rico)......Page 74 Coyote and the Lizards (Navajo)......Page 76 Rabbit and the Otter (Cherokee)......Page 79 Manka the Clever (Czechoslovakia)......Page 81 The Honest Shepherd (Scotland)......Page 87 The Bootless Fiddler (Scotland)......Page 93 NOODLEHEADS......Page 96 The Irish Travelers (North Carolina, United States)......Page 98 The Old Woman and Her Pig (England)......Page 100 The Holmolaiset Build a House (Finland)......Page 102 Cuckoo in the Hedge (England)......Page 105 Gotham Arithmetic (England)......Page 107 The Hummingbird (China)......Page 110 TRICKSTERS......Page 112 Stone Soup (Ireland)......Page 114 The Cat and the Mouse (Germany)......Page 118 Cool Ride in the Sky (Caribbean Islands)......Page 121 King of the Frogs (Tibet)......Page 125 The Huge Turnip (Poland)......Page 128 To Those Who Know—To Those Who Don’t (Persia)......Page 131 The Brahman’s Goat (India)......Page 132 Tyll Ulenspiegel (Belgium)......Page 134 The Night It Rained Bagels (Russia)......Page 136 Nasruddin’s Donkey (Persia)......Page 140 Why the Bear’s Tail Is Like It Is (Norway)......Page 141 The Hunter’s Bargain with the Devil (Finland)......Page 143 Coyote and Fox (United States)......Page 146 The Fly, Moth, and Mosquito Challenge Anansi (Africa)......Page 149 Happy New Year (China)......Page 152 TALL TALES......Page 156 Febold Feboldson (Great Plains, United States)......Page 158 Jim Bridger in Yellowstone (Wyoming, United States)......Page 161 Squirrel Meets His Match (Colorado, United States)......Page 162 Old Red (United States)......Page 164 Old Blue (United States)......Page 165 Dead Dog (United States)......Page 166 Brownlee Goes Bear Hunting (Colorado, United States)......Page 167 The Frogs and the Norther (Oklahoma, United States)......Page 169 Kansas Weather (Kansas, United States)......Page 173 Dog Days (Nebraska, United States)......Page 174 How Cold Was It? (Maine, United States)......Page 175 The Winds of Texas (Texas, United States)......Page 176 FAMILY STORIES, LOCAL LEGENDS, HOAXES, AND URBAN MYTHS......Page 178 It Was a Dark and Stormy Afternoon (Pennsylvania, United States)......Page 180 Sometimes It Does Take a Rocket Scientist (United States)......Page 182 Fur-Bearing Trout (Colorado, United States)......Page 184 The Sheep That Was Quite Different (Colorado, United States)......Page 185 Yellowstone Park Grizzly Bear (Wyoming, United States)......Page 191 The Miners’ Refuge (Rocky Mountains, United States)......Page 193 Prunes (Colorado, United States)......Page 195 Killer Rodents on the Rampage (Colorado, United States)......Page 200 Coyote Goes Swimming (Montana, United States)......Page 204 RIDDLES, VERSES, RHYMES, AND SONGS......Page 206 Questions (Asia)......Page 208 The Frozen Logger (United States)......Page 210 Poor Old Woman (England)......Page 212 The Owl and the Pussy-Cat (England)......Page 214 A Riddling Tale (Austria)......Page 216 Riddle Song (Unknown)......Page 217 A Visit from St. Nicholas (United States)......Page 218 The Shepherd Boy (Eastern Europe)......Page 220 A Collection of Short Riddles (Unknown)......Page 222 Bibliography......Page 224 Appreciation......Page 228 Index......Page 230 From tall tales, trickster tales, and noodlehead stores to hoaxes, urban legends, riddles and songs, here are more than 70 stories from around the world and across the centuries that you can pull out of your story bat at a moments notice to read aloud or re-tell before, between and after daily activities