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Storytelling Resources

Click on a letter to read a summary of the American folktales beginning with that letter. Or choose a title from the box below.
AB CD EF GH IJ KL MN OP QR ST UV WX YZ

A

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B

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D

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E

  • Eavesdropper
    A Maryland man learns a hard lesson about eavesdropping.

  • Echoes
    A Minnesota settler longs for the echoing mountains of home.

  • Ethan Allen
    Ethan Allen gets a toothache.

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F

  • The Fisherman and the Bear
    An old fisherman meets his match. (Maine)

  • The First Tears
    Eskimo tale about the origins of tears. (Alaska)

  • The Fifty-cent Piece
    A couple spend a night at a haunted house. (New York)

  • The Flying Canoe
    A group of lonely lumberjacks pay a bitter price when they go home for New Years. (Quebec)
  • Fog
    If you thought England's fogs were thick, you should see a fog in Maine.

  • Frozen Dawn
    Davy Crockett must unfreeze the dawn. (Tennessee)

  • Frozen Flames
    What do you do when the lanterns freeze? Call Paul Bunyan. (Michigan)

  • Fur-Bearing Trout
    Colorado Fisherman developed a new trout catching technique following the visit of a hair tonic salesman.

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G

  • Gollywhopper's Eggs
    A traveling salesman comes to town with a most unusual product to sell.

  • The Ghosts of Ringwood Manor
    Do not visit Ringwood Manor after dark!

  • The Ghost
    Engineers, beware! There is a ghost abroad on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

  • The Grave
    A woman haunts her burial ground.

  • The Gulls
    Retelling of an historical event that became part of Utah Folklore.

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H

  • Healthy Climate
    California is so healthy, its hard to die.

  • Hoop Snakes
    Pennsylvania has a particularly mean variety of hoop snakes rolling about.

  • Hoosiers
    Why are Indiana folk called Hoosiers?

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I

  • Invisible hands
    A couple of Comstock miners meet a couple of bucca working the late shift.

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L

  • La Llorona
    The ghost of a woman searches the river banks for her sons.

  • La Mala Hora
    A woman meets a spectre on her way to a friend's house.

  • The Log Jam
    Paul Bunyan and Babe clear a log jam in Wisconsin.

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M

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N

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O

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P

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Q

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R

  • Riverboat Racing
    An old woman is afraid of racing, until her riverboat is challenged by a rival. (Kentucky)

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S

  • Sam Hyde
    Old Sam Hyde tells a tall tale and earns himself a glass of cider.

  • Sangamon County
    Where is the most beautiful place in the world? (Illinois)

  • The Sheep Herder's Lawsuit
    A Sheep herder outwits a lawyer.

  • Sinks
    Nevada rivers flow into a series of lakes with no outlets. So what happens to all that water? It sinks!

  • Slide-Rock Bolters
    Tourists, beware! Deep in the mountains of Colorado lurk the slide-rock bolters.

  • Spuyten Duyvil
    New Amsterdam is under attack. Can a brave trumpeter warn the people in time? (New York)

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T

  • The Talking Mule
    Even mules deserve a day off now and then. (South Carolina)

  • Taming the Whistling River
    Paul Bunyan gets tired of being mocked by the Whistling River and decides to do something about it. (Minnesota)

  • The Telltale Seaweed
    An overnight stay in an abandoned Cape Cod house reveals a ghost. (Massachusetts)

  • Teething Toy
    What would you give your baby to teeth on if you lived in Deadwood, South Dakota?

  • The Twist-Mouth Family
    Find out what a college education is good for.

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U

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W

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Y

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