Touch Magic

Yolen, Jane. 2000. Touch magic: Fantasy, faerie and folklore in the literature of childhood. Expanded ed. Illustrations by Wilhelm von Kaulbach. Little Rock, AR. ISBN 0874835917.

Content Overview
In Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie and Folklore in the Literature of Childhood, Yolen has put together 16 essays that delve deep into the psychology, sociology and importance of relating fairy and folk tales to children. The first edition of the book came out in 1981 and contained 10 essays that were written for her Doctorate of Education (Yolen 2007). The six new essays were added for the current edition.

The expanded edition reviewed here is broken down into four parts. The first section is called The Tale and the Teller and each of the five essays within it deal with how stories, particularly myths, legends and folklore, affect a person and the larger culture. The first essay in this section, “How Basic Is Shazam?” contains many of the principles explored in the rest of the book. One of the premises is that the roots of folklore surface in modern-day stories, like the word “SHAZAM” showing up in comic books (it is an acronym for the heroes Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury). In addition, Yolen introduces the functions of folklore: ancestral connection, metaphoric language, therapeutic properties for teller and listener, and construction of individual’s belief system. The author states that to deny the rich heritage of fairy tales and folklore is to deny our humanity and to reinforce a “barren language” and “barren minds.”

Essay two discusses the general history of the folktale before and after writing became widespread in the fifteenth century. Oral storytelling, with less influential variations, gave way to authority of the printed version. The book became the story and many times, attributed to the re-teller erroneously.

Essay three, “Once Upon a Time” tracks three popular fairy tales, Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince and Cinderella and their metaphorical power in children’s lives. Yolen also explains that, with Disney’s version of Cinderella, “The acculturation of millions of boys and girls to this passive Cinderella robs the old tale of its invigorating magic. The story has been falsified and the true meaning lost- perhaps forever.”

Yolen continues her exploration of the impact of stories on humans with essay four, “The Eye and the Ear.” She maintains that different processes are used when a person hears a story as opposed to reading it on a page. In addition, she touches on how illustrations can shape a tale.

The last essay in the first section is entitled “Touch Magic” and discusses the universal archetypes that resonate in folktales. Part of the power of the stories is that they speak to inner realities of which the listener or reader may not be fully conscious. At the end of the essay Yolen advises us to “Touch magic, [and] pass it on.”

The second section of the book is playfully called Taradiddles, which means an elaborate lie, and the three essays contained within have to do with the truths expressed, paradoxically, through made up worlds. Here, Yolen switches from talking mainly about fairy tales to fantasies and the magical elements of stories.

The title of essay six, “The Mask on the Lapel,” refers to the 18th century custom in Venice by which a person’s identity could be in disguise by the presence of a small mask on the wearer’s lapel. Although viewers could ascertain the person’s identity, since their face wasn’t concealed, all onlookers suspended their disbelief so that in an alternate identity he or she could explore the world. Similarly, although readers know fantasy stories to be elaborate “lies” because they break with known reality, the same stories are able to authentically capture aspects of the human condition. Yolen says that fantasy stories are not Life Actual, but Life in Truth.

A crucial element, according to Yolen, that must be present in fantasy stories in order to speak to human truths, is that the protagonist must face tough choices. She explores this element in essay seven, “Tough Magic.” Characters must sacrifice, must know their actions have deep consequences, in order for the full power of the story to materialize, and for the greatest impact on the reader.

The last essay in Part II, “Here There Be Dragons,” deals with the logic that must be present in fantasy. Although seemingly a paradox, Yolen maintains that the laws created in a fantastic world must be strictly followed, and that there must be a logical progression of events and detailed facts in order for the truths to emerge from the tale.

The two essays in Part III, which is entitled Wild Child, Feral Child, are discussions of the phenomenon of human language. In the first of the two essays in this section, “The Gift of Tongues,” Yolen argues that language sets us apart from other animals and that children who are deprived of language in their early years have exceedingly limited, if any, verbal skills. Although stories about children being raised by animals are beloved, including for example, Romulus, Mowgli and Tarzan, in actuality children must hear human language. The tradition of oral language must take place for children.

This language, when encouraged and nurtured, will sprout from children’s tongues in the form of questions and wonderment. If their minds are not nurtured, and the ancestral heritage not passed down in the form of stories to answer their questions, then children are little more than “An Inlet for Apple Pie,” as this essay is entitled.

Part IV, Touchstones, is comprised of the six new essays Yolen included for the second edition of Touch Magic. The tone of this section is more humorous, perhaps because they are not pieces of a dissertation. Though willing to poke fun at herself, Yolen continues to delve into stories with a laser-like precision.

In “Story in 10 Fits,” a product of “literitis,” essay eleven lists ten things a story is not: “story is not a moral,” “story is not a display of wit,” and “story is not a lie,” are just three examples. In her explanations of each thing a story is not, Yolen touches on aspects present in other essays, such as the need for metaphor and the power a story can have on lives.

After having told us what a story is not, Yolen gives readers her top five examples of great fantasy stories in this essay, “Touchstones.” They are: Peter Rabbit, The Golden Key, The Jungle Books, The Thirteen Clocks, and Charlotte’s Web.

In her thirteenth essay, “Fabling to the Near Night,” Yolen names some worst examples of popular children’s fantasies and literary tales, including Mary Poppins, and Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby. Although the reasons for including them in this list vary, such as the presence of racism and cultural close-mindedness, Yolen does not promote censorship. Instead, she advocates a critical reading of all tales, so that the consequences of children reading prejudiced or stereotypical works is used to an advantage.

Yolen departs from her earlier sentiments about the infallible goodness of fairy tales on children in essay fourteen, “Killing the Other.” She examines three in which the morality is not inherent, “Puss n’ Boots,” “Rumplestiltskin,” and “Rapunzel.” To combat the possible negative effects of these stories, she advocates reading all stories “below the surface.”

In “An Experiential Act,” special importance is given to science fiction/fantasy books that use time travel to explore history, especially when the protagonist asks contemporary questions of the historical characters. In this way, children can connect to the past.

The last essay of the book, “Throwing Shadows,” once again emphasizes the importance of metaphor and symbolic language in our lives, so that we can learn from characters who may not be exactly like us. Yolen ends the book with a theme started at the beginning: let humanity be comforted and connected by tales.

Analysis

The strengths of this book are many. The depths to which Yolen probes folklore for answers to humanity’s questions gives the genre, which may be cast off by some as fluffy and unimportant or violent and damaging, validation of the complexity and deepness of folktales as a resource for children. The sociological, psychological, emotional, intellectual, historical, and personal impacts fairy tales and fantasy stories may have on children is thoroughly examined.

Though few, there are some weaknesses in this volume. First, some of Yolen’s essays are predicated on versions of fairy tales the reader may not be familiar with. While this reviewer is familiar with a Rapunzel story, the one Yolen uses in “Killing the Other” is different; and some of the impact was lost.

One other omission is the lack of analysis of non-European folktales. While she does mention different staple folk characters from around the world, such as “Africa’s Trickster Hare,” the analyses are on Western-world tales. To remedy this, perhaps Yolen would be willing to write a companion volume analyzing tales from other parts of the world. Her expertise in folklore would draw more attention to tales many may not be familiar with.

Yolen’s Style

This book is quite dense. Yolen offers many theories and ways of looking at fairy tales and fantasy stories. Because of this, it may be best to read the volume in several sittings.

Her authoritative voice crosses over into self-importance at times. Given that Yolen believes fairy and fantasy tales are crucial to humanity, and that she herself writes them, one may see aspects of this book as “tooting her own horn.” Still, her ideas are useful, and this book is indispensable for anyone wanting to learn about folktales as a whole.

It must be mentioned that Yolen got many of her ideas from other authors and lists them at the end in the “Books for Further Reading” section. Under each essay title sources are listed. There are no in-text references so it is difficult to determine which are Yolen’s ideas, unless the reader is familiar with every book listed in the “Further Reading” section.

For Librarians

Touch Magic is not a manual for strategies about sharing fairy and fantasy stories. It does not introduce activities, or give book lists or lesson plans. Rather, this slight volume is all about theory, and may serve to strengthen the librarian’s purpose for sharing folklore in the library. The librarian may be more willing to use fairy tales in story times, reader’s advisory or programs, especially in light of Yolen’s observation that today’s children are not being exposed to enough folklore.

Collection development may be impacted also, since librarians may pay more attention to acquiring folk and fantasy tales after reading Touch Magic. This book itself would be an excellent reference tool when a librarian deals with Requests for Reconsideration of Materials, especially when the parent or school board feels the presence of violence in the tales is unnecessary. Because of Yolen’s authority on the subjects of fairy tales and fantasy stories, this book can act as a reaffirmation of the genres, even if they contain some violent content.

With all of the emerging material and formats librarians must be familiar with, Touch Magic returns one to the basics: folktales, our need for heroes, and the importance of having a collective bank of stories from which to draw.


Works Cited
Yolen, Jane. Touch Magic Description. http://janeyolen.com/blurbs/touchm.html. Accessed April 14, 2008.