Independent Reading Suggested Books for Passing Down Wisdom: Indigenous, Hispanic, and African American Traditional Stories
See our Independent Reading for Elementary Students Teacher Tool for guidance on how to use the suggested texts below.
Texts with Connecting Topics and Themes
Folktales and Stories
- A Treasury of Children’s Literature by Armand Eisen
- A Year Full of Stories: 52 classic stories from all around the world by Angela McAllister
- Folktales of Mexico: Horse Hooves and Chicken Feet: Traditional Mexican Stories by Neil Philip
- How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? And Other Tales by Julius Lester (670L)
- The Adventures of Brer Rabbit and Friends by DK, Joel Chandler Harris
- The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris (810L)
- The Day it Snowed Tortillas by Joe Hayes (690L) **
- The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World by Shahrukh Husain, Micha Archer (780L)
- Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Heather Forest (840L)
* lower Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
** higher Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
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