Who's Afraid...? Facing Children's Fears with Folktales

In Who's Afraid...?, Norma Livo expertly demonstrates how folktales can be used to help children come to terms with their fears. While the book includes a collection of tales, it is more of an instructional guide than a story collection. After a detailed and insightful introductory chapter, the body of the work is made up of chapters that each represent one of the most common fears that children experience. The chapters begin with stories that may help children overcome the associated fear. The stories are followed by extensive discussion, activities, and bibliographical references. They serve as the instructional guide for actively using the stories in the chapter to help children recognize and grapple with their fears. While the target audience for the book is parents who share it with their young children (ages 4-9), Livo expresses the idea that adults are simply grown up children, and as such, are likely to benefit by applying the exercises and reflection to themselves. "There is none among us who is too old or too sophisticated to be touched by a story." Similarly, children ages 8 and up could benefit from reading these stories themselves. (Livo, xvii). In addition, this collection can serve as a useful tool for librarians and teachers who recognize fears in their students and may be in a position to introduce some of the suggested stories and activities in a controlled, safe environment. The chapter titles come from a list of the most prevalent childhood fears that span cultures, continents, and sex, according to a 1987 study conducted by Kaoru Yamamoto, et al. Livo wisely follows her introductory chapter with two more that touch generally on helping children face their fears and empowering them through stories. The remaining chapters are placed in the order ranked by the children, from most to least frightening of the ten scariest themes. They are, in descending order: losing a parent; being blind; wetting in class; other school fears; being caught stealing; being suspected of lying; health fears; being lost; having a scary dream; and family fears. Norma J. Livo has a national following as a storyteller. She has written or coauthored a number of books and articles about storytelling. She has served on the board of directors for the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling and for the National Storytelling Association. She was the president of the Colorado Council of the International Reading Association and organizer of the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference (Livo, 176). She is also a Professor Emerita in the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Denver (Livo, title page). Who's Afraid...? is a seminal work serving as a practical, easy-to-use guide to helping children overcome their fears through stories. Children will be more able to handle their own frightening experiences after they have seen story characters safely navigate similar situations. The activities at the end of e