Ehhhh I'm torn. Beautiful artwork though. ( )

The Secret of the Stones is a folktale retold by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by James Ransome. I did not think I was going to like this book because it is a folktale and I am not familiar with that genre, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

This folktale took place many years ago and is about a couple who labor together from sun up to sun down. Walking home from the fields one day, they spotted two stones. They ended up taking them home to use them to sharpen their knives. As the got home from the fields the next day, they notice that all of their chores have been done and they have no idea how or why. A woman in their town tells them there is a secret in the stones they picked up that one day and how they can reverse the secret.

It is a good read because this couple is not well educated and do hard labor each and every day, but they cherish the little things in life and that is the main idea and the moral of the story. The main character says “I got to find a way to catch dem when dey is li’l chillen an’ keep dem and raise dem like our own”. She values the concept of family and even though her and her husband do not have a great deal of money they are still willing to welcome two children into their family and raise them. Read to find out what happens and what is the secret of the stones. ( )

I think this story is a good example of a folkatale. We defined a folktale as passed through generations and about people and their lives. I would say this story fits in this defiinition well because it's about the two main charactes and their lives. I also think the blurb about the author implies this story was handed down through generations. I also like that this story features different families and cultures, and shows that families can look different.

Media: Oil paints

A married couple with no children, John and Clara, were so in love. The labored together from sun up to sun down and would come home each night and eat dinner then go to bed. One day Clara picked up 2 white stones not knowing that they were magical. When returning home from working all day, they had a big surprise. Their supper was cooked and the house was cleaned. The seek help from Aunt Easter to solve the mystery. They are sent to the conjure-man to collect some things. Soon they realize that the 2 stones belonged to orphans but in order to keep the orphans, they must defeat the conjure-man. Of course, there is a happy ending when John and Clara used Aunt Easter's magic mixture to turn the orphans into real children. ( )

This is the African American version on The Secrets of the Stones. I have never heard of this story before but I did enjoy it. This would be a fun book to share with a class due to the different dialect spoken throughout. And like in most folklore there is a evil person and a hard working person, and of course the hard work pays off in this story. ( )