Asian Tales and Tellers

By Cathy Spagnoli

Book Overview

More than thirty stories from the rich Asian cultural panorama

In this abundant and kaleidoscopic collection, Spagnoli includes stories from Spagnoli includes stories from Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos, Tibet, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Burma, and Nepal. After offering a brief look at modern Asian storytellers practicing traditional storytelling styles, she arranges the stories around dominant Asian themes such as harmony and friendship.

Cathy Spagnoli often heard storytelling in her Italian-German home, but discovered it as a life path later in Asia. In her search for stories, she has slid through Indian rice fields, sipped sake with Japanese epic singers, met with monks in Thailand and Korea, and hiked the Himalayas with Tibetan dancers. Spagnoli first visited Asia in 1970 and has lived in, or traveled to, that part of the world frequently. Her cross-cultural storytelling work has been funded by The Japan Foundation, The Korea Society, the United States Information Agency, UNESCO, and other cultural institutions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874835267
• ISBN13: 9780874835267
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 and higher

Customer Reviews

a Storyteller's story collection

What a great collection to read, to read aloud, to share. A lovely variety of tales. I have gone back to this book again and again. Cathy is excellent. Check out her wonderful CD:Tales in Two Voices: Uguisu Hime

A Gem worth picking up.

Cathy Spagnoli's Asian Tales and Tellers is an excellent book. I sincerely enjoyed her book as her tales cover a wide spectrum of Asian cultures with a multitude of themes that any reader be it young or old can relate to. Furthermore, the authenticity of each tale can be measured by the detailed bibliography that follows at the end. Moreover Cathy Spagnoli's tales are so skillfully told that it is easy to pick up the book and imagine yourself in the world created by the tale. What is also useful about this book are the anecdotes, and the information that precedes the tales such as the storyteller's tools and styles. A truly relishable piece of work!