Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Slavic Folklore: A Handbook. By Natalie Kononenko. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. 1 vol. 209 p. $55.00. ISBN 10: 0-313-33610-5; 13: 978-0-313-33610-2.

One of the best ways to get students to think about a region, its culture, history, traditions, geography, climate and clothing is through the study of folktales of that area. This volume introduces the people of Eastern Europe. The preface provides one theme, "…the king or tsar sends the hero out on a quest with these words, ‘Go there, but I know not where. Bring back that, but I know not what.’" The author then provides a note on transliteration to help students understand that most Slavic languages are Cyrillic which is a different alphabet from ours and how she solved the problem, a lesson in the study of language. Also a note is provided on interpreting "Tale Type" numbers. These are an international "shorthand" which allows the reader to identify stories which have an international provenance. The chapters which follow are "Introduction," "Definitions and Classifications," "Examples and Texts," "Scholarship and Approaches" and "Contexts." Each chapter has an extensive bibliography. Black and white photographs and drawings illustrate the text. The Appendixes include a 10-page glossary, a 7-page bibliography and a 5-page essay about Web resources. Because this part of the world is of such interest at this time, social studies teachers will need to know about this book as well as those teachers teaching literature.