The Making of Butterflies: An Adaptation of a Folktale
Discover the origins of the folktale adapted in 'The Making of Butterflies', written by Zora Neale Hurston and collected in Florida in 1927 and 1928. Learn why this story is so important!
Ibram X. Kendi
Partner • #GirlDad • Scholar @BU_Tweets • Dir @AntiracismCtr • @NationalBook Award Winner • #1 NYT Bestselling Author • MacArthur Fellow • Surviving Cancer 🐍
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THE MAKING OF BUTTERFLIES, my newest board book adapted from a folktale Zora Neale Hurston collected and wrote, comes out tomorrow. Where did this folktale come from, and why is it important? A thread 🦋 1/ https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/chCuaayfNR
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023 -
A folktale is a story, created by people of one culture, that is typically passed through word of mouth. Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, collected folktales in Florida in 1927 and 1928. 2/ https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/SFR3CGPKi3
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023 -
Hurston shared 70 of these folktales in her 1935 anthology, MULES AND MEN. Contextualizing the tales, she narrated the settings, storytellers and their views about the tales, writing the tales how they were told: in Ebonics, or African American English. 3/https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/xAj5z9oBbd
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023 -
Hurston visited a lumber camp in Polk County, Florida. In the late 1920s, Black people worked long hours in dangerous conditions in these camps and told folktales to pass the time. 4/ https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/GA8YCK0fNz
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023 -
Cliff Ulmer shares how gopher tortoises were created by mistake. Floyd Thomas says sometimes the Creator isn’t satisfied with what is created and makes changes. He then tells Hurston, Ulmer & others an alluring tale about how butterflies were created. 5/https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/IIgdgDOw3A
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023 -
Read the board book with a little one to discover how butterflies came to be! This folktale and others not only entertained but preserved culture. I’m excited to bring this beautiful tale to our children. Order THE MAKING OF BUTTERFLIES. 🦋 6/ https://t.co/3qL7HWLf4V pic.twitter.com/NlgMZzVUvu
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) March 6, 2023