People Could Fly, The
Publication Information
Author:  Hamilton, Virginia	Illustrator:  Dillon, Leo and Diane
Title:  People Could Fly, The	Date:  1985
Publisher:  Alfred A. Knopf	City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:	ISBN, hardback:  0-679-84336-1
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:   Yes	Young Adult:
Picture:   Yes
General Information:
Book Type(s):    legends, tales, and myths
HSE Descriptor(s):    language arts - reading
Summary:
These collected folk tales that were told by slaves fall into four categories: animal stories, tall tales, the supernatural, and tales of freedom. The author includes an introduction and a bibliography.
Teaching Ideas:
The voice of the storyteller in simple dialect encourages using a Read Aloud or Readers' Theater teaching strategy. The books works equally well in a text set on slavery or of legends, tales and myths. The title story raises the question about what purpose the tales served for the slaves. Since the story, "Carrying the Running-Aways" takes place in Ripley, Ohio, teachers may want to pair this book with Freedom's Light, a non-fiction book about Underground Railroad activities in Ripley.
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Ethnic Groups > African-American Social Studies > anthropology > folklore > folk heroes Social Studies > anthropology > folklore > folktales Literature and Language > storytelling Work > slave labor

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