Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales

by Virginia Hamilton; illustrated by Leo & Dianne Dillon
(contains the Cinderella story “Catskinella”)

Book reviews Story Characters Use of Magic Country of origin & printable map Related Books

Booklist, Vol. 92, No. 5 (November 1, 1995)
Gr. 5-8, younger for reading aloud. The storytelling is dramatic and direct in this collection of 19 tales about African American females, beautifully retold by Hamilton in a wide variety of simple, colloquial voices and styles. (“There was this glory-looking young girl in the times when animals talked. She was Lena, beauty”). Animal tales, pourquoi tales, tales of the supernatural, legends, tall tales, and factual accounts are gathered in a large-size volume designed for group sharing, with big, clear type and wide margins. The stories also leave lots of space; the endings leave you wondering. The Dillons’ glowingly detailed acrylic illustrations extend the horror, comedy, rhythm, and spirit of the tales, ranging from the glamour of the mermaid to the creepy terror of the Cat Woman to the legendary power of Annie Christmas, who was “coal black and tree tall.” As in Hamilton’s exquisite collection The People Could Fly (1985), the notes on the stories--where they came from, how they traveled and changed, what they mean--are as fascinating as the tales themselves. Reading about women who labored “from dayclean to daylean” and who made up stories in the great, lonesome night will inspire many young people to read more about folklore and to collect stories from family and community. Older readers may want to read this collection with Goss’ new adult collection Jump Up and Say!.

Horn Book starred, March, 1996
Traditional and true African-American stories “of the female kind” are retold and briefly discussed in Hamilton’s third collection illustrated by the Dillons. The stories are grouped into sections such as “Her Animal Tales,” “Her Fairy Tales,” and “Her Supernatural,” with a final section, “Her True Tales,” containing oral histories of three African-American women. The book will be well used by storytellers and others interested in traditional literature and “her stories.” Bib.

Kirkus starred, 1995
A volume with as broad appeal as Hamilton’s The People Could Fly (1985). All the stories collected feature females, but there similarities end; a variety of ordinary girls and women, her-vampires, mermaids, and witches inhabit humorous and frightening folktales, accounts of life in slavery taken from oral history collections, and elaborate fairy tales incorporating elements from many traditions into solid, African-American renderings. Hamilton divides the collection into “Her Animal Tales,” “Her Fairy Tales, ” “Her Supernatural,” “Her Folkways and Legends,” and “Her True Tales.” Comments follow each story, offering insights and assurances of authenticity; source notes appear in the back. The Dillons bring luster to an already wonderful project, with polished acrylic portraits on creamy backgrounds; the pictures envelop the mythic aspects of the tales without abandoning their roots in ordinary human experience. It’s hard to envision the shelf--children’s or adult’s--on which this volume doesn’t belong.

Publishers Weekly, November 13, 1995
The distinguished creators of The People Could Fly and Many Thousand Gone return for this striking collection of 17 tales, each featuring an African American woman or girl as the main character. True stories, ghost stories, folk legends, classic fairy tales, tall tales and more indicate the breadth of African American cultural traditions. Retold from a variety of sources, the stories flow smoothly in Hamilton’s expertly measured prose. The full-color illustrations, one per story, are lush and detailed, like the Dillons’ work in Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch. In a handsome oversize format, the book itself reflects unusually high production values. Text and art are laid against a buff background in a sophisticated but uncrowded page design, and the volume is bound with an unusually heavy casing. It will need that sturdiness, for these are tales to be read over and over again. Ages 6-up. (Nov.)

School Library Journal, November 1997
Gr 4 Up--Nineteen marvelous selections retold by a master storyteller. Whether magical, eerie, comic, or touching, the tales are aptly served by the gorgeous, glowing acrylic paintings. (Nov. 1995)

School Library Journal, November 1995
Gr 4 Up--Outstanding interpreters of, and contributors to, black culture for children, Virginia Hamilton and the Dillons have produced yet another superb offering, of value to all ages and segments of our society. Her Stories contains 20 brief pieces, equally (if sometimes rather abitrarily) distributed in 5 sections: animal tales, fairy tales, supernatural stories, “folkways and legends,” and true tales (including Hamilton’s own account of this book’s genesis). Vernacular rather than dialectal, the fluid writing recalls the oral sources of these tales (there is a source bibliography, and comments on provenance follow each tale). As the title implies, the stories all feature females, but there is nothing predictable about the roles they play. Funny, touching, scary, magical, and inspiring by turns, the characters are as varied as the narratives--and as the tastes of readers. The Dillons’ electric-hued acrylic paintings (16 full-page, several vignettes, and an enticing jacket) catch the tales’ multiple moods. The book is a gallery of beautiful women of color. Entrancing and important, this notable collaboration deserves a wide success.--Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George’s School, Newport, RI

Ella was a beautiful girl. Her father wanted her to marry a woodsman, but Ella did not like him. She told her father that she would marry him when he gave her a talking mirror.

Her father informed the woodsman of her daughter’s wish. The woodsman left and later came back with a talking mirror. Ella did not know what to do. She did not want to marry this man. Ella went to her godmother, Maddie, and complained about the woodsman. Maddie told her to tell her father to kill a cat. Then he is to take the skin and make a dress for her. Also, she was to tell her father to have the woodsman give her an engagement ring. Ella did as she was told, and she soon received a black catskin wedding dress.

Ella went to her godmother again. She did not want to marry the woodsman. Maddie told her to prepare for the wedding. Have the woodsman dress upstairs and Ella was to dress downstairs. She told Ella to make sure she had the mirror in her dressing room to have someone to talk to.

She dressed in her dress, locked the downstairs, and climbed out of the window. When her father called down to her, the mirror answered that she was not quite ready. Every time her father or the woodsman called her, the mirror answered. Finally, they broke the door down. When Ella’s father saw her missing, he was angry and broke the mirror.

When Ella ran away, she ran to the King’s castle. The King’s son saw her face and fell in love. Everybody else stared at her catskin outfit.

Ella’s job was minding chickens so she stayed in a little log cabin. Every day the Prince would sneak down to her cabin and secretly watch her. He was sick with love.

The Prince went to bed sick in love. He asked the Queen to have a young maiden make him a good cake to cure him. The King ordered all the maidens in the kingdom to make a cake. The one that made the best cake would marry the Prince.

All the maidens had the Prince tastes their cakes, but he did not like any of them. He insisted the Queen have Ella make one. She ordered Ella to bake. Ells did not know why she should bake one; but since the Prince helped her get her cabin, she would do it. As she baked the cake, her ring fell in the batter. Not knowing whose cake was whose, he tasted Ella’s cake. When he found the ring, he knew he had to find the girl who fit the ring. Many girls tried it on, but it did not fit any of them. The Prince insisted they summon Ella. The servants brought Ella. She tried on the ring, and it fit perfect. Ella admitted the ring was hers. Suddenly, she shivered. Her catskin dress turned into a dress of precious diamonds. She was truly beautiful. The Prince asked Ella to marry him, and she accepted. They were married and lived happily ever after.

Ella - She doesn’t like her father’s choice for marriage, so she runs away. She drops her ring in cake batter. She marries the king’s son.

Father - He wants Ella to marry a woodsman. He gives her a cat-skin suit.

Woodsman - He gives Ella a talking mirror.

Mattie - She is Ella’s godmother. She gives advice to help her run away.

King’s son - He falls in love with Ella’s face. He asks all the women of the kingdom to bake him a cake. He searches for the finger that the ring fits. He marries Ella.

In the beginning of the story, the woodsman brings Ella a mirror that talks. This mirror is used to distract the woodsman and the father so that Ella can run away.

In the end, Ella’s catskin dress transforms. It glitters and glistens with precious diamonds. Then, her dress changes into gold and silver and little silk slippers.

Go to a Printable Map of The United States from National Geographic

Some Africans brought to America were sold into slavery. Many were not able to make their own free choices (Westridge 4). Perhaps this would explain why the author chose the version of Cinderella with an arranged marriage.

Many Africans believed in spirits (Patrick 14). This would explain the talking mirror and its part in the story.

Patrick, Diane. Amazing African American History. New York: Stonesong Press. 1998.

Westridge Young Writers Workshop. Kids Explore America’s African-American Heritage. Sante Fe: John Muir, 1993.