Margaret Read MacDonald

Author of Bat's Big Game

64+ Works 3,623 Members 264 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Margaret Read MacDonald holds a Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and teaches courses in storytelling for adults and children in the Seattle area. A former board director of the National Storytelling Association, she works as a children's librarian with the King County Library System

Includes the names: R. Margaret MacDonald, Margaret Read MacDonal, Margaret Read McDonald, Margaret Read MacDonald, Margaret Read Macdonald

Image credit: Margaret Read Macdonald

Works by Margaret Read MacDonald

Popular Recent

Bat's Big Game (2008) 760 copies, 8 reviews

The Storyteller's Start-Up Book: Finding, Learning, Performing and Using Folktales (1993) 213 copies, 3 reviews

Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About (1992) 188 copies, 4 reviews

Mabela the Clever (2000) 174 copies, 16 reviews

The Squeaky Door (2006) 151 copies, 12 reviews

The Girl Who Wore Too Much (2005) 147 copies, 22 reviews

Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!: A Palestinian Folktale (2006) 131 copies, 28 reviews

Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale (2005) 131 copies, 7 reviews

How Many Donkeys?: An Arabic Counting Tale (2009) 93 copies, 6 reviews

Conejito: A Folktale from Panama (2006) 88 copies, 14 reviews

Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese Folktale (2006) 85 copies, 19 reviews

Three-Minute Tales (2005) 76 copies

Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale (2010) 75 copies, 16 reviews

The Farmyard Jamboree (2006) 74 copies, 1 review

Earth Care (1999) 72 copies, 1 review

Little Rooster's Diamond Button (2007) 70 copies, 8 reviews

Shake-It-Up Tales! (2000) 68 copies, 1 review

Twenty Tellable Tales: Audience Participation Folktales for the Beginning Storyteller (1986) 67 copies, 2 reviews

The Boy from the Dragon Palace (2011) 65 copies, 18 reviews

Old Woman Who Lived In a Vinegar Bottle (2005) 61 copies, 8 reviews

The Skit Book: 101 Skits from Kids (1990) 56 copies, 1 review

A hen, a chick, and a string guitar : inspired by a Chilean folk tale (2005) 55 copies, 2 reviews

The Old Woman and Her Pig: An Appalachian Folktale (2007) 55 copies, 13 reviews

Pickin' Peas (1998) 55 copies, 4 reviews

The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog: A Folktale from Great Britain (2007) 51 copies, 4 reviews

Surf War!: A Folktale from the Marshall Islands (2009) 43 copies, 15 reviews

Tuck-Me-In Tales (1996) 42 copies, 2 reviews

Give Up, Gecko! (2013) 36 copies, 12 reviews

Parents' Guide to Storytelling (1995) 32 copies

Tough Tug (2018) 29 copies, 2 reviews

Teeny Weeny Bop (2006) 29 copies, 2 reviews

Five Minute Tales: More Stories to Read and Tell When Time is Short (2007) 28 copies

Folklore of World Holidays (1992) 27 copies

Slop!: A Welsh Folktale (1997) 25 copies, 2 reviews

When the Lights Go Out: Twenty Scary Tales to Tell (1988) 24 copies, 1 review

Storytellers Sourcebook: A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children (1982) 23 copies

Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand (1994) 22 copies, 1 review

Ghost Stories from the Pacific Northwest (American Storytelling) (1995) 21 copies, 1 review

The Round Book: Rounds Kids Love to Sing (1999) 20 copies

Leave, Bees! (2007) 18 copies

Look Back and See: Twenty Lively Tales for Gentle Tellers (1991) 17 copies

Party Croc!: A Folktale from Zimbabwe (2015) 16 copies, 3 reviews

The Singing Top: Tales from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei (2008) 13 copies

Tom Thumb (The Oryx Multicultural Folktale Series) (1993) 11 copies

Booksharing: One Hundred One Programs to Use With Preschoolers (1988) 11 copies, 1 review

Bookplay: 101 Creative Themes to Share With Young Children (1995) 11 copies

Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling (2013) 10 copies

Ten Traditional Tellers (2006) 8 copies

Celebrate the World: Twenty Tellable Folktales for Multicultural Festivals (1994) 7 copies, 2 reviews

Storyteller's Sampler: Tales from Tellers Around the World (2015) 6 copies, 1 review

Traditional Storytelling Today: An International Sourcebook (1999) 6 copies

Tell the World: Storytelling Across Language Barriers (2007) 5 copies

The Wishing Foxes (2017) 5 copies, 1 review

Fat cat and friends (2006) 4 copies

Kindness Tales: World Folktales to Talk About (2021) 3 copies

Cockroach Party (2006) 2 copies

Lograr la paz 1 copy

Cockroach party; folktales to sing, dance, & act out 1 copy

Scipio, Indiana: Threads from the Past (1988) 1 copy

[Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk about] [Author: MacDonald, Margaret Read] [July, 2005] (2005) 1 copy

Girl Who Wore Too Much 1 copy

Singing Top: Tales From Malaysia, Singapore, And Brunei 1 copy

Bye Bye Big! (2017) 1 copy

语感启蒙：经典英文儿歌图画书第二辑(套装共7册双语修订点读版) (2016) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Brazilian Folktales (2006) — Editor — 15 copies

From the Winds of Manguito/Desde Los Vientos de Manguito: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish/Cuentos Folkloricos de… (2004) — Editor — 11 copies

Lao Folktales (2008) — Editor — 9 copies

Tagged

animals (129) Arabic (17) bats (60) bedtime (22) cat (23) cats (26) children (22) children's (24) children's books (18) counting (22) fairy tales (17) fantasy (19) farm (23) fiction (55) folklore (111) folktale (159) folktales (126) Halloween (23) hardcover (26) mice (23) mouse (19) multicultural (36) music (31) non-fiction (34) Palestine (17) peace (34) picture book (200) read (20) read aloud (19) reference (19) repetition (19) short stories (19) soccer (35) sports (39) stories (21) storytelling (136) teamwork (24) Thailand (22) to-read (29) traditional literature (62)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1940-01-21
Gender: female
Nationality: USA
Education: University of Washington (MLS)
University of Hawaii (Master of Educational Communications)
Indiana University (PhD|Folklore)
Occupations: storyteller
folklorist
author of children's books
librarian

Members

Reviews

Teeny Weeny Bop by Margaret Read MacDonald

I do like MacDonald's adaptations, and I do appreciate her notes on sources at the end. This is certainly a funny tale. But I'm getting tired of picking on foolish people; it seems unkind. And I despise the artwork here.

Flagged

Cheryl_in_CC_NV | 1 other review | Oct 18, 2024 |

The Wishing Foxes by Margaret Read MacDonald

I like many versions of the Toads & Diamonds story, but this one just didn't work well for me. Read [b:The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South|803982|The Talking Eggs A Folktale from the American South|Robert D. San Souci|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348472682l/803982._SX50_.jpg|789941] instead.

However, ignore the campaign from the reviewers who have all copied each other to give it one star because Bess looks sexualized. No she doesn't, and I wonder what is wrong with those adults who think that she does....… (more)

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Cheryl_in_CC_NV | Oct 18, 2024 |

Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!: A Palestinian Folktale by Margaret Read MacDonald

MacDonald does know how to (respectfully) adapt folk tales; I'm glad to read everything that I can find by her. This would be so much fun to share at story-time... even better if you have a small enough group of children ages about 4-6 and can discuss the lesson, maybe by making predictions at key points during the story. It would be fun to share with a family even if the children are older, too. Lively, funny, with bright & creative illustrations.

Good author's note, too. I will look for [b:Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales|986131|Speak, Bird, Speak Again Palestinian Arab Folktales|Ibrahim Muhawi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347807338l/986131._SX50_.jpg|971625] and [b:13 Danish Tales|15862470|13 Danish Tales|Mary C. Hatch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1346226800l/15862470._SX50_.jpg|21612304].… (more)

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Cheryl_in_CC_NV | 27 other reviews | Oct 18, 2024 |

The Old Woman and Her Pig: An Appalachian Folktale by Margaret Read Macdonald

Too scattered, imo. Only three critters in the chain. Theme of the little boy distracting. Illustrations of the woman's bosom were so odd I couldn't un-see them. Consider [b:One Fine Day|958211|One Fine Day|Nonny Hogrogian|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348473914l/958211._SX50_.jpg|1941049] instead for the pattern, which imo is the reason to hear/ read this story.

I will look for other versions. I already didn't like [b:The Old Woman and Her Pig|2652578|The Old Woman and Her Pig|Eric A. Kimmel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1245707738l/2652578._SX50_.jpg|2677321] despite the fact that I usually do like [a:Eric A. Kimmel|2602|Eric A. Kimmel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507394162p2/2602.jpg].… (more)

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Cheryl_in_CC_NV | 12 other reviews | Oct 18, 2024 |

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