Perspectives on East and Southeast Asian Folktales is a multidisciplinary examination of folktales that are unfamiliar to Western audiences. Examining folktales from countries like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, China, Japan, and Korea, the contributors consider various aspects, including identity issues, relationship to idioms and narrative structure, morals, collectivism, violence, scatological references, language socialization, representation of Buddhist values, and emotional competence. . Highlighting differences and similarities between East and Southeast Asian and Western folktales, this volume promotes memorable understanding of East and Southeast Asian cultures and their oral traditions.

This book is divided into three main topical sections: (1) Parent-child construction of narrative, which focuses on aspects of the social interaction that facilitate oral narrative development in Spanish-speaking children; (2) Developing independent narration by Spanish-speaking children; and (3) Narrative links between Latino children s oral narration and their emergent literacy and other school achievements. Chapters address narration to and by Latino children aged six months to eleven years old and in low, middle, and upper socioeconomic groups. Nationalities of speakers include the following: Costa Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Mexican, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, and Spanish-English bilingual children who are citizens or residents of the United States. Narratives studied include those in conversations, personal and fictional stories, and those prompted by wordless picture books or videos. Thus, the current project includes diverse nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and genres of narrative.