Identifies some of the issues involved when folktales cross cultural boundaries in children's books and considers who owns stories, specifically folktales. Examines examples of the literature that generate conflict between cultural responsibility and artistic freedom and presents a sample of Internet discussions on the subject. (Author/LRW)

This second article in a two-part series on picture book folktales focuses on the balance between the tradition from which a text is drawn and the one that it is entering. Topics discussed include folktale selection; cultural authority; cultural variations in storytelling criteria; illustration authenticity; and oral tradition. (Contains three…

Argues for the importance of authenticity in children's picture-book folktales. The need for source notes, authors' and publishers' responsibility to provide them, and librarians' responsibility to consider them when selecting, using, and reviewing folktales are stressed. Source acknowledgment practices are explained, and examples with…