Explains superstitions about such topics as love and marriage, money, ailments, travel, the weather, and death.
Cross Your Fingers, Spit In Your Hat
United States
Materials from United States of America
Jack Outwits The Giants
In this Appalachian folktale, Jack outwits two giants who want fresh meat for breakfast.
Jean Laffite and the Big Ol’ Whale
When a huge white whale gets stuck between the banks of the Mississippi River causing the water to stop flowing, Jean Laffite finds a way to get the river moving again.
Witcracks
Traces the history and gives examples of puns, shaggy-dog stories, and other jokes from American humor of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Red Heels
An itinerant shoemaker in colonial New England makes a pair of shoes for a beautiful young woman, although he fears the red heels are a sign that she is a witch.
Bruh Rabbit And The Tar Baby Girl
In this retelling, using Gullah speech, of a familiar story the wily Brer Rabbit outwits Brer Fox who has set out to trap him.
Comes A Wind
While visiting their mother’s ranch, two brothers who constantly try to best each other swap tall tales about big winds and are surprised by the fiercest wind they have ever seen.
Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom
Recounts the journey of Black slaves to freedom via the underground railroad, an extended group of people who helped fugitive slaves in many ways.
Jigsaw Jackson
J. Jupiter Jackson, a potato farmer, discovers he is a genius at jigsaw puzzles, and so one winter he leaves the farm and his animals to seek fame and fortune.
Jack The Giant Chaser
Jack uses his wits to get rid of the giant up on Balsam Mountain.