His clothes are usually to hide his tail and or horns.” Trickster Tales from the Southern US: Brer Rabbit

“The Polish devil, or devils (there are several of them), are dressed like Polish noblemen (although when Poland became annexed by Prussia, Russia and Austria, the devil is also dressed like a stranger, foreigner). Olga Mecking, shares the intriguing use of the devil as a trickster in Polish, Slavic, Latvian and other Eastern European countries. Known as Reynard (from French: Renart German: Reineke Dutch: Reynaert) it is the character of a literary cycle of allegorical French, Dutch, English and German fables where he is an anthropomorphic red Fox and trickster figure.” Trickster Tales from Eastern Europe (Polish/Slavic): The Devil Ute Limacher-Riebold of Expat Since Birth shares stories from Western Europe that feature the fox and the cat in a fascinating post: “ In European traditional folkstales, one of my favourite characters is the Fox. Trickster Tales from Western Europe: The Fox I collaborated with members of the Multicultural Kid Blogs to come up with a great list of trickster tales from around the world. the trickster plays tricks but also is the victim of tricks.historically used to teach lessons to young children about the values held in a community.convey folk wisdom, especially helping us understand human behavior within a culture.at the same time being wise and a fool, “the trickster-hero serves as a sort of folkloric scapegoat onto which are projected the fears, failures, and unattained ideals of the source culture.” (from ).a story with a leading character who is often an animal with human traits and magical powers.Trickster Tales are often funny, always entertaining, and would be a wonderful set of stories to compare and contrast. Even the Common Core Standards includes this in one of their “Reading Literature” standards:Ĭompare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures (RL.2.9.). There are many reasons to read fairy tales to children- especially because they’re whimsical, creative, and fun! Our children and classes loved comparing and contrasting the fairy tales from around the world, and teachers and parents love that it hones their critical thinking skills, and helps them to focus on the details.

We first gathered Cinderella stories from many cultures, and then Gingerbread Men type stories, and then finally Little Red Riding Hood multicultural stories. I love comparing literature from around the world.

Trickster definition