1.       Bibliography:

Frost, Helen. 2009. Crossing Stones.  New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  ISBN  0374316538

2.       Plot Summary:

Murial Jorgensen is an eighteen -year-old Dutch-American living in Michigan during the time of World War I.  The year is 1917.  Woodrow Wilson is President of the United States.  Murial’s male classmates are heading off to the war.  Her suffragette Aunt Vera is a prominent influence in Murial’s life, and she is contemplating what options she has as a young woman at this point in time in American history.  She feels familial pressure to marry Frank, her close neighbor and family friend, the brother of her best friend, Emma.  Murial is internally grappling with what it means to be a female, while many women are challenging the status-quo and picketing for the right to vote.  She is very opinionated and often clashes with her teacher on issues such as the war.  Frank tragically dies in action, and her brother Ollie returns wounded from the war.  Murial travels to Washington, D.C. to help her Aunt Vera return to Michigan, and she very nearly loses her beloved little sister to the flu.  Through these and other events, Murial witnesses the ways in which life can be fragile and decisions can be neither black nor white.  As she embarks on the adventure of her future, a life different from that of her mother’s, she is very much still enveloped in the love of her family.  Anchored by this assurance, she ventures out into the world to discover her truth as a strong, free-thinking woman.

3.       Critical Analysis:

This verse novel will suit readers from 7^th-12^th grade well.  How fascinating that Frost writes an epic poem to reveal the changing beliefs and mores of this period in history.  The emotional appeal of the novel is strong and natural through each tragedy and turning point of the story.  

The repeated imagery of the creek between the two families’ farms pervades the novel, especially poignant when Murial and Emma mourn the death of Frank: “The creek is rushing past…all I can do is help her lift the rock,/swing it back and forth, back and forth again,/until together we can let it go, heaving it/out into the middle of the creek.”  The young women are learning that life’s hardest experiences sometimes engulf us, and then the processing takes years and years to wear down the boulders of confusion to a manageable size that can then be processed and internalized as wisdom, as a “crossing stone” that connects us and makes us stronger.  Further, the imagery of the war seen through the experiences of Frank and Ollie are heartbreaking and shocking, as when Ollie tries to remember what happened to him in battle:  “…explosion (space) all night/couldn’t sleep (space) losing/track of time…”  This generation grew up rapidly and carried intense trauma into their futures.  Yet, the love of Emma and Ollie gives hope and new life to the story, as does Emma’s mature, strong resolution that, “making sure everyone is fed and clothed and cared for—that also takes a kind of pluck.”  In contrast, Murial is drawn to holding dissenting opinions regarding the war and supporting women’s suffrage, and she will have her Aunt Vera’s support and guidance to follow this path.

Throughout the verse novel, the poet utilizes prominent agrarian and nature imagery, as when Emma muses, “Corn, potatoes, butternut squash.  A woodchuck waddles through the garden.  A V of geese flies overhead.  I’ve always loved this time of year, when all the work we’ve done comes back to feed us.”  The reader senses the strong roots that Emma has grown, which, along with Ollie, will assure a solid, sound foundation to rebuild after World War I, after unspeakable loss…to carry on and to hope again.

At the conclusion of the novel, Frost includes insightful, “Notes on the Form,” in which she explains her reasoning in writing meticulously alternated stone-shaped, “cupped-hand sonnets” for the poems from the characters Ollie and Emma, and poems intended by the poet to resemble a flowing creek to express Murial's voice.  Further, Frost explains her artistic intentions for carefully connecting the rhymes of the stone poems, revealing the intense focus and planning of the poet in her writing of the verse novel.  Every line was engineered to serve a purpose in the building of the story she chooses to tell in Crossing Stones.  The rhythm of the creek-form poems is free and winding, searching for new meaning and new vistas; the rhythm of the stone-form poems is steady and patterned, seeking and reaching to build upon existing structure, strengthening and improving what is already present.  

4.       Review Excerpt(s):

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2010, Honor Book

From Booklist:  “The historical details (further discussed in an author’s note) and feminist messages are purposeful, but Frost skillfully pulls her characters back from stereotype with their poignant, private, individual voices and nuanced questions, which will hit home with contemporary teens, about how to recover from loss and build a joyful, rewarding future in an unsettled world.”

From Kirkus Reviews:  “With care and precision, Frost deftly turns plainspoken conversations and the internal monologues of her characters into stunning poems that combine to present three unique and thoughtful perspectives on war, family, love and loss.  Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, this is one to savor.”

5.       Connections:

Frost’s verse novel Crossing Stones, in its entirety or selected passages, would serve as a springboard for discussion and writing response assignments during history lessons of World War I and/or Women’s Suffrage. 

For an English/creative writing connection, after the completion of this verse novel reading, students could choose to write in the point of view of Murial, Emma, or Ollie (or Grace!), ten years after the conclusion of the story.  Students could write an accompanying essay explaining why they made the choices and predictions they wrote as they surmise what may have transpired ten years after, in the lives of these characters.

1.       Bibliography:

Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This is Just to Say:  Poems of Apology and Forgiveness.  Ill. By Pamela Zagarenski.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  ISBN  0544105079

2.       Plot Summary:

Inspired by William Carlos Williams’s poem entitled, “This Is Just to Say,” this thematic poetry collection by Joyce Sidman explores the human experiences of apologizing and of forgiving.  Part 1 of the book, “Apologies,” offers 18 original, apologetic poems embodying the tones of silly to somber, and utterly stunning with their vulnerable truth and openness as the poets confess their transgressions—sometimes real, sometimes imagined, and sometimes a  combination of both.  Topics include dodge ball, brownies, betrayal, hamsters, and much more.  Then, Part 2 of this collection offers the reader the “Responses” to the apology poems.  These response poems are deeply authentic, startling the reader with their humble poignancy.  Many of the responses are directly back to the original apologizers, but some are creatively handled to maintain the cohesion of the collection.  Truly a meditation on seeking, giving, and getting forgiveness--often playful, sometimes heartbreaking—Sidman’s collection is a welcome addition to the canon of children’s poetry. The featured poems will prove to enrich the lives of all those who chose to explore this collection and, thus, as discussed in the featured poem by Bao Vang entitled “The River of Forgiveness,” choose to “[wade] into the river of forgiveness."

3.       Critical Analysis:

An introduction by Anthony, the student who proposed the idea for the "Responses" section of the book, adds a personalizing element and strengthens the reader’s conceptual understanding of the book’s structure and its intended vision.  As Williams wrote free verse, so also do the poets of this collection, well suited to the very personal admissions and restitutions.  Students from 3^rd grade and older will particularly enjoy this collection.  The colorful sketch art with innovative use of computer art collage blankets every page with childlike, simplistic, yet profound images.  As stated in the book’s introduction, the poems are illustrated by one of the student poets, Bao Vang, assisted by the students’ art teacher.  Each illustration succeeds in capturing the heart of the poem and serves to pull the reader further in to the imagery of the poem, as in Mai Lee’s poem, “What Was I Thinking?” The line, “I slink out like a whipped dog,” is accompanied by the simple, curved body of a young girl with sad eyes, overcome with regret.  The response poem to Mai Lee, “The River of Forgiveness,” features an exuberant illustration of Bao Vang standing in a river with the graphic letters spelling out, “FORGIVENESS,” as she serenely smiles, eyes closed, and stretches her hands out in preparation to accept her friend again, “I open my arms to her.”

The collection intensifies the seriousness of Williams’s topic of swiped plums to the broken heart of a daughter abandoned by her father…something many children will find solace in encountering, as they are struggling through this very trauma, likely thinking they are the only ones.  So powerful is this poem by Jewel, “Next Time,” that the entire book is anchored by her anguish.  “I’m sorry, Daddy./Next time I’ll be perfect.” When the reader finds her father’s paraphrased response and realizes the manifestation of this poetry collection in the form of Jewel’s letter pulled him back from taking his own life, all pretense is stripped away, and the poetry collection held in hand becomes a lifeline that is real and electric in its significance and impact upon the world:  “He says he was going to leave this world/and my poem called him back.”  Not every poem delivers such intense emotional impact; some of the included poems are whimsical breezes, such as the dodge ball duo of poems, “I Got Carried Away,” and “Dodge Ball Crazy.”  From the former, “[A]ll those red rubber balls/thumping like heartbeats,” demonstrates use of a fresh, vibrant simile, alive with the enthusiasm of youth.  Perhaps the most poetically striking poem of the collection is the collectively written, “Ode to Slow-Hand,” that concludes the collection, which brilliantly features the use of anaphora to achieve and intensify a sincere, solemn rhythm through the repeated phrase, “los perdonamos…los perdonamos…los perdonamos…we forgive you,” that reflects with complete clarity the inherent need of the human soul to confess and to receive forgiveness…and to truly accept this gift and then move on in wholeness, once again.

Williams, I dare say, would be astounded and honored by this collection of authentic poems, written by poets of pure and honest hearts.

4.       Review Excerpt(s):

            Claudia Lewis Award, 2008

Cybils Award, 2007, Poetry

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2008, Honor Book

From Booklist:  “Children will find much to identify with in the situations presented in the apology poems, and they’ll appreciate the resolutions given in the responses.”

From Kirkus Reviews:  “Packed with the intensity of everyday pain and sorrow, kids and adults exchange the words that convey grief, delight, love and acceptance of themselves and others.”

5.       Connections:

For an English/creative writing connection, students could write their own poems of apology, either closely modeled after the primary poem by Williams or a looser representation as demonstrated by some of the poems in this collection.  Student could also work in groups and write actual or fictionalized apology and forgiveness poems together, which could then be presented to the class.

An additional English/creative writing connection could involve introducing students to Williams’s poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” and discussing this and other works by the poet, as well as his significant position in the world of poetry.

For a social studies connection, students could embark upon a cross-cultural exploration of the cultural meanings, manifestations, and behaviors regarding apologizing and forgiving, and students could tie in their new knowledge with their own experiences in an assigned writing piece.

1.       Bibliography:

Lewis, J. Patrick. 2018. Phrases of the Moon:  Lunar Poems.  Ill. by Jori van der Linde.  Mankato:  Creative Editions.  ISBN  1568463111 

             

2.       Plot Summary:

Established children’s poet J. Patrick Lewis explores the wonderment of the Earth’s satellite through a succinct, elegant, jovial collection of poems about the moon and a smattering of diverse moon myths retold in poetic form.  Readers are entranced by verses that highlight the moon’s majesty--wildly distant, with varying forms.  Lewis plays with historical and cross-cultural names, and harnesses children’s curiosity regarding how long a trip to the moon would take…in the family car (“Make sure you pack plenty of outer space food.”)!  Further poems about an odd witch, a twilight sandcastle, a nocturnal cow, and constellations aplenty intrigue the reader and bring the moon’s brilliance into the spotlight.  Poems about the climate of the moon and a clever lunar letter reconfiguration poem nicely round out this astronomically creative collection of poems.  Then, Lewis embarks upon the poetic retelling of the moon myths, taking the reader on a magical night adventure through five ethereal pieces that reveal the moon’s prominence in the hearts of all people worldwide.  Lewis includes “Moon Facts” at the end of this lunar collection, which will indeed be a welcome bestowing of facts and tidbits about our glorious, glowing moon.

3.       Critical Analysis:

Students, particularly in grades 3-5, will be equally drawn to Lewis’s poetic works and van der Linde’s magical illustrations.  The painterly, whimsical, vivid depictions across each page evoke the contrast of the bright, white moon and the dark, black night.   The illustrations transport the reader down winding, colorful roads that perfectly echo the playful, surprising style of the poet.  Found among the illustrations are carefully-placed treasures, such as the outline of the castle made by the water in the illustration for “A Sandcastle Is.”  Each illustration, like the poems themselves, is equally mesmerizing and emblematic of authentic genius in craft. 

Lewis’s collection of lunar poetry often showcases ABAB format, as though echoing the reliable, expected rhythm of the moon’s cycles, traveling beautifully through the days and nights of our lives.  Including the historical and cross-cultural elements of lunar study and significance in “Names of the Moon:  A Found Poem” and the section of Moon Myths—from Australia, Africa, Tibet, Japan, and Germany—strongly portrays the sustaining significance of the moon in the experience of being human, throughout time and among all peoples.

Lewis’s imagery is agile and succinct in its style; yet, he completely conveys the mystery and beauty of the moon within each included piece.  His unexpected sense of humor in his poetry is well-incorporated, as in “Hanging Lamp:”  “Mrs. Moon is a lamp--/She’s a heavy-watt champ--/As a full or a half or a crescent.” This surprising levity will be appreciated by children and adults as they experience and enjoy this enthralling collection of poems.

4.        Review Excerpt(s):

From School Library Journal:  “This is a short, eclectic mix of inspirational tales and poems that could offer many curriculum connections among mythology, poetry, and creative writing.”

From Canadian Review of Materials:  “Carefully crafted, the beautiful poems will teach children how to read to a rhythmic beat, will tech them the beauty of precisely-chosen words that create vivid images, and how to realize the breadth and depth of a simple subject.”

                           

5.        Connections:

Students could complete an illustrated moon log for each day of the moon cycle by sketching the appearance of the moon each evening.  During this moon study, Lewis’s moon poems could be read and discussed each day as part of the science lesson.

Students could be instructed to write their own poems on the topic of the moon as a creative writing/English connection.

Students could also read, enjoy, and discuss Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, ISBN:  0064430170

Children could listen to Meredith Willson’s song, ”I see the Moon and the Moon Sees Me,” discussing and comparing the lyrical composition to Lewis’s “Full Moon” poem.

The poems in Lewis’s lunar collection could be used to teach 3^rd-5^th grade English/creative writing students about the use of rhythm in poetry, as well as numerous other poetic conventions.

1.        

       Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric. 1993. Three Sacks of Truth:  A Story from France. Ill. by Robert Rayevsky. New York: Holiday House.  ISBN  082340921X

2.       Plot Summary

A king who is not honest is the worst sort of king, and a greedy, dishonest king is even worse.  This is the sort of king who embodies the tale, Three Sacks of Truth:  A Story from France.  Peaches for free are desired by this king, and he has told an evil lie to obtain them.  Promising his beautiful daughter in exchange for the perfect peach, the misleading king does not expect to encounter Petit Jean and his uncanny wit.   After his brothers fail to deliver the perfect peach, Petit Jean succeeds through following the coaching of his mother to be kind to all, thus obtaining a magical fife from an old woman who sits beside a holy well.  When the king proceeds to attempt to involve 10,000 rabbits in an effort to “tie [his promise] in knots,” Petit Jean employs the enchanted fife to masterfully tame the rabbits and outwit the king's schemes involving his daughter, the queen, and even the king himself.  Therefore, he victoriously "keep[s] [his] wits about [him]," as his mother wisely instructs, and wins his beautiful bride.

3.       Critical Analysis

Illustrator Rayevsky’s painterly depictions of the scenes from Three Sacks of Truth:  A Story from France serve to document the absurdity of the dishonest king and the surprising victory of bright Petit Jean.  His illustrations tend to possess an elongated style, an exaggeration of features and viewpoints that creates the illusion of peering into the past, into historical France, to view the thwarting of a selfish king and the triumphant conclusion of the princess and Petit Jean forging a promising, welcome union.  The complication of the rabbits, 10,000 of them no less, serves as the culmination of the endless, manipulative, whimsical demands of the king upon his subjects.  Yet, Petit Jean, through the use of the fife, brings suppressed order out of the chaos of this king’s irrational rule.  Just as Petit Jean, “Lead[s] the rabbits home like a fifer leading a regiment,” the reader intrinsically knows that the people of this kingdom will welcome clever, witty Petit Jean to lead them into more promising days.  Even the rabbit being cooked in the pot arises from the ashes of death, “pull[s] on its skin,” and lives once again, as will the oppressed and discouraged subjects under the rule of an unjust king.  The illustrations often employ dark, shadowy color schemes, depicting the hopelessness of the people under the rulership of this lying, conniving king.  Petit Jean perseveres each time the king tries to trick him, and he clearly holds all of the power by the end of the story.  After all, he is the only one who knows the indelible contents of the third sack of truth and will forever be able to keep his autonomy amidst the “rule” of the secretly disgraced king. 

4.       Review Excerpt(s)

IRMA BLACK AWARD, 1994 WINNER

From Booklist:  “Kimmel’s lively version of a French folktale has many of the age-old satisfying patterns.”

From Kirkus Reviews:  “Entertaining tale; handsome presentation.”

5.       Connections

Various tales emphasizing the number three could be explored and analyzed, especially cross-culturally, to reveal commonalities of thought and customs (e.g., The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears).

A middle or high school lesson on historical France could include the reading of this tale to creatively illustrate the perennial conflict between the upper and working classes of France.

A cross-cultural study of the symbolism of the rabbit (as well as other animals) could be explored, possibly including discussion and reading of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit (ISBN 0723263922).  Further, a cross-cultural study of the symbolism of the peach (as well as other fruits/foods) could be explored, possibly including discussion and reading of excerpts of the entirety of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach (ISBN 0140374248).  Students could then write their own original tales that include an animal of symbolic significance as well as a fruit/food of symbolic significance, providing a writer’s note to explain the significance of their choices within their stories.

 

 Bibliography

Pinkney, Jerry. 2013. The Tortoise and the Hare. New York:
Little, Brown and Company.  ISBN  0316183563  

2.       Plot Summary

This classic Aesop fable is expertly depicted by Jerry Pinkney in a centralized, rhythmic celebration of the moral:  “Slow and steady wins the race.”  These words, as well as the introductory, “On your marks, get set…Go!” are the only words (repeated in sequence) to appear in this imaginative version of the tale.  The tortoise and the hare embark on their famous race, as expected and anticipated, and the delightful characters venture toward the finish line.  The rabbit takes the lead but quickly becomes distracted by a tasty lettuce garden and, upon eating his fill, proceeds to take a nap!  The tortoise presses steadily on, undaunted by a significant tumble, and he soon passes by the sleeping hare.  The hare soon awakens and attempts to catch up to the tortoise, but, cheered on by the desert animal crowd, the tortoise crosses the finish line first, and he barely wins the race.  Delightfully, the hare chooses to display good sportsmanship and wraps the black and white checkered finishing flag around the neck of the victorious tortoise because, and Pinkney states in the Artist’s Note, “Competitors can also be teammates and friends.”

3.       Critical Analysis

Exceptionally unique is the style of Pinkney’s creation of rhythm in the retelling of this fable.  As he discusses in the Artist’s Note, he designed the text to signify the experience of, “starting over, again and again, building momentum toward the finish line.”  The triumphant, alive illustration of the conclusion of the race is accompanied by the complete textual statement of the fable’s moral, “Slow and steady wins the race!”  Throughout this subtly masterful retelling, Pinkney uses watercolor techniques that mesmerizingly achieve the illusion of movement among the animals—journeying, accompanying, cheering, pressing on.  At the beginning of the tale, the reader observes the wily fox wink as he excitedly commands, “Get set…,” and the reader may observe the unstriking rattlesnake perched at the starting line:  there will be danger on this journey, and there will be unexpected outcomes, Pinkney superbly foreshadows.  The reader’s eyes are summoned by the brush strokes and the pencil marks until one is certain that the figures on the pages are quite enchanted.  Assuredly, even the illustration of the sleeping hare appears to be breathing steadily!  Pinkney’s use of desert flower colors for the animals’ clothing, as communicated in the Artist’s Notes, connects with the text to create a setting replete with resilience and grit.  There is not a hint of ostentatiousness, nor of plenty in the tale’s telling.  Yet, the animals depicted, page after page, possess a spirit and an aliveness undaunted by circumstance or want.  The front endpapers feature a map of the race, and the back endpapers feature the discussed Artist’s Note; both of these inclusions enrich and personalize the book for the reader by demonstrating and explaining the careful planning of the creator of this retelling.  From the companion frog riding on the tortoise’s back to the tiny mice giving one another high fives as the tortoise wins, the reader is continually transported to a delightful desert story world in this retelling and is invited to remember that, “Slow and steady [indeed] wins the race!”

4.       Review Excerpt(s)

From Booklist:  “The tortoise may have won the race, but the real winner here is the listening and viewing audience.”

From Kirkus Reviews:  “Bejeweled with blooming cactuses and buzzing with bees, reptiles, mammals and more, the desert tableaux will engross readers.”

5.       Connections

A study of animal symbolism that focuses on the cross-cultural symbolic significance of the hare and the tortoise, as well as the fox, the snake, the frog, and so on, could greatly enrich the teaching of this resource.

An author study could be utilized to expose students to the work of Jerry Pinkney as well as many Aesop tales by featuring Pinkney’s The Lion and the Mouse (ISBN 0316013560), or his collection, Aesop’s Fables (ISBN 1587170000).

A general expanded series on Aesop’s fables is always a welcome choice and an important component for all young children in their educational journey.  The fables chosen could be accompanied with the film versions for additional material for analysis and discussion.

 

1.       Bibliography

Lloyd, Clare. 2019. The Three Little Pigs. Ill. by Giuseppe di Lernia.
New York: DK. ISBN  1465478485

2.       Plot Summary

When these three precocious, eager pigs leave their loving parents’ home to venture out into the world, the pigs are reminded to be cautious regarding the Big Bad Wolf.  The first pig does not venture far before hastily assembling a makeshift straw home.  This lazy pig does not heed his parents’ warning!  The second pig travels a bit farther and constructs her home out of available sticks and branches.  This pig gave a nod to her parents’ warning, but she did not fully obey.  The third pig walked until he found just the right location for his home and then carefully planned and built his abode with the best materials possible—bricks!  This pig worked hard for many weeks, ensuring that he fully followed his parents’ loving warning and then, "He stood back and admired his beautiful new home!"  Just as expected, the Big Bad Wolf is hungry and attempts to trick the pigs into letting him in.  When they do not oblige him, he blows the first two flimsy houses down, and all the pigs end up in the well-built home.  When the wolf cannot blow down the brick home, he tries to reach the pigs through the chimney and ends up in a boiling pot of soup!  The wolf then runs away, never to be seen again, and the three little pigs enjoy their sturdy home for the rest of their days.

3.       Critical Analysis

This simplistic, solid version of The Three Little Pigs retold by Clare Lloyd delivers a dependable, predictable folktale experience for both the reader and the audience.  The large board-book format makes this DK publication especially appealing for use with Prekindergarten and Kindergarten readers.  The overt foreshadowing of the furry antagonist ominously sets the tone of the book on the very first page as daddy pig warns, "Watch out for the Big Bad Wolf!"  Children will mentally prepare for his arrival as they study the vibrant, graphic illustrations of the three little pigs venturing out to build their homes.  Illustrator Giuseppe Di Lernia's compositions consistently convey lightness, hope, and buoyancy in the face of challenge through the use of steady, clean lines, bright color selection, and expansive white spaces.  Many of the illustrations are framed in by the inclusion of a close up depiction in one of the corners of the page, such as a bird or a tree, which repeatedly serves to pull the reader into the world of the storybook. The simple, yet modern, folk art style employed by Di Lernia complements the text beautifully.  One of the anthropomorphized pigs is, interestingly, a female; yet, she is not a particularly strong character.  The pigs’ conduct and decisions depict in an uncomplicated manner the themes of “haste makes waste” and that careful planning in life is indeed wise.  The reader witnesses the benefit of hard work and careful planning when the fastidious third pig announces to his siblings, "Don't worry!  We are safe in my strong brick house..."   The wily, hungry wolf serves as the archetypal evil present in the world:  preparations—boundaries—must be in place to protect from influences which are patently harmful.  The subtle placement of the river near the third pig’s solid home seems to whisper symbolic undertones of the flow of all life—that a new generation of pigs has successfully transitioned to independence (or interdependence among the three, as the case may be), and the story of life carries on.

4.       Review Excerpt(s)

From Kirkus Reviews:  "Yet another retelling of the classic fairy tale, updated for inclusivity and suitable for the board-book set..."

5.       Connections

Other traditional tales featuring the number three could be featured, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the historical and cross-cultural significance of the number three in the genre of Traditional Tales could be discussed.

Other Beast Tales could be discussed and explored and compared, such as The Tortoise and the Hare, and the various symbolic meanings could be explored and analyzed.

In a middle school classroom, students could begin by reading this text before beginning an in-depth study of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, of course discussing and analyzing the enduring historical and cross-cultural symbolism of the pig.

Students could write their own original Beast Tales individually or in groups, complete with careful selection of numerical and animal symbolism portrayed, with an “author’s note” expounding upon these elements and their significance within the tales.