The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus FROM THE PUBLISHER
In 1955, seventy-five years after the publication of the first Uncle Remus book, the entire collection of delightful and inimitable stories of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer B'ar, and Brer Wolf were gathered together in one volume. All of the animal tales from eight books are here, along with the illustrations that originally accompanied them. After the first book appeared in 1880, Joel Chandler Harris was inundated with letters from readers all over the country asking for more stories of Brer Rabbit and his friends -- so for the remaining years of his life, he collected and wrote them. Richard Chase, noted folklorist and author of Jack Tales and Grandfather Tales, compiled and edited the volume after Harris's death, and his occasional footnotes and word definitions enhance these well-loved tales by aiding the reader's understanding of the dialect. Chase's belief in the importance of folktales and Harris's work is summed up in his foreword: "These tales grew up in the soil of our nation. They came from the soul of a people. They endure." This new edition, with lively jacket art by Barbara McClintock and all the humor and charm of the original collection, will delight fans of all ages. Preserved for generations to come, the spirited antics of the wiley Brer Rabbit and his woodland friends come to life in this comprehensive volume -- a continuing testament to the lasting power of the folktale within the American literary scene.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Brer Rabbit and friends return in The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris. Originally issued in 1955 and compiled by folklorist Richard Chase, the collection includes all the original stories (the first of which appeared in 1880), b&w artwork and glossary. Barbara McClintock provides updated jacket art. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature - Kathleen Karr
It's fascinating to work through this hefty volume of Uncle Remus stories. It is prefaced by ethnological apologies from Harris, notes on text variations by Chase, and concludes with a very useful amended glossary of word usage. The original illustrations by eminent artists such as Arthur Burdette Frost, Frederick Stuart Church, and J.M Condﾽ are reproduced. Then there are the stories themselves. From today's perspective they are eye-opening reintroductions not only to plantation dialects (the cotton plantation phrases of Uncle Remus are distinguished from the Sea Islands rice plantation dialect of Daddy Jack) but also to an entire way of life long gone. Clever animal stories may be found in most cultures. Going beyond these and their parallels to humans, one discovers period attitudes to witches, ghosts, slavery, plantation life, and Reconstruction, forgotten and now priceless. An extra bonus is finding the original version of the "Three Little Pigs" story, now forever remembered only in its Disney rendition. This becomes a book for social historiansﾽbut do read a few stories to the kids, too. 2002 (orig. 1880-1948), Houghton Mifflin,
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