TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

o Folktales
▪ Based in oral tradition with no known author.
▪ Anytime and anyplace (once upon a time in a place far away).
▪ Common ending (they lived happily ever after).
▪ Often magical.
▪ Typically evil is defeated and hero/heroine triumphs.
▪ Contain universal truths and values of time.
▪ Were sometimes used to instruct children in values.
▪ Contain common narrative motifs and common themes.
▪ Examples are: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood, Snow
White. Sleeping Beauty, Rumplestiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Bremen Town Musicians,
Three Little Pigs, East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

o Fables
▪ Have a moral.
▪ Were meant to entertain.
▪ Brief tale.
▪ Poetic tales with double or allegorical significance.
▪ Animal characters.
▪ Satirize human conduct.
▪ Examples are: Ant and the Grasshopper, Fox and Grapes, Wolf in Sheep’s
Clothing, Dog in the Manger, Tortoise and the Hare, Lion and the Mouse, Town
Mouse and the Country Mouse.

o Myths
▪ Found in almost all cultures.
▪ Used to explain natural phenomena of the world.
▪ Used to explain creation.
▪ Used to explain origins of people.
▪ Sacred or based upon religious belief.
▪ Main characters are animals, deities or humans.
▪ Greek myths (Zeus and Mt. Olympus); Roman myths (Jupiter), Norse myths
(Odin and Citadel of Asgard).

o Legends
▪ May be based upon person or event of historical significance.
▪ Typically secular rather than religious.
▪ Principal characters are human.
▪ Examples are: Beowulf, Robin Hood, King Arthur.

o Nursery rhymes
▪ Rhyme, rhythm, repetition, alliteration, humor, exaggeration.
▪ Humorous stories that rhyme.
▪ Told to young children.
▪ Nonsense verse.
▪ Examples are: Jack and Jill, Hey Diddle, Diddle, Peter Piper, Three Blind
Mice, Ring Around the Rosie, Old Mother Hubbard.

o Tall Tales
▪ American tales.
▪ Exaggerated claims reflecting hardships of settlers.
▪ Reflect frontier idealism.
▪ Fictional heroes and heroines based upon real people.
▪ Examples are: Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, Pecos Bill,
John Henry, Mike Fink, Daniel Boone.

Norton, Donna E. and Saundra E. Norton. Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature. 6th ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003.