Indonesian Children’s Favorite Stories
FABLES, MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES
Indonesian Children’s Favorite Stories
FABLES, MYTHS AND FAIRY TALES
Text by Joan Suyenaga
Illustrations by Salim Martowiredjo
TUTTLE Publishing
Tokyo | Rutland, Vermont | Singapore
The children of Indonesia occupy a vast archipelago stretching from the northern tip of Sumatra to the border of west Papua. Representing more than 300 ethnic groups, they share an incredibly rich heritage of stories and dreams. Although Kancil, the mousedeer, is indigenous only to parts of Sumatra and the neighboring Malay Peninsula, stories about this clever trickster are known by children throughout the archipelago and are amongst the most famous stories in the islands. Also popular are stories where an agile mind outwits brute strength and greed, where the truth of the spoken word becomes reality, and where dreams come true because one’s heart is true. Children live the lives of the princesses, princes, woodcarvers, and wandering teachers of these stories. They save their villages, rule as wise kings, outsmart giants and ferocious beasts, and win their true love, in their imagination. Through these fantasies they learn that real magic lies in the values of honesty, determination, cleverness, patience, and bravery.
—Joan Suyenaga
To my mother, who taught me “the world is yours.”
—Joan Suyenaga
For all children, the inheritors of the world.
—Salim Martowiredjo
Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
www.tuttlepublishing.com
Text © 2019 Joan Suyenaga
Illustrations © 2019 Salim Martowiredjo
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress in Process
ISBN 978-1-4629-0632-1
24 23 22 21 20 19
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1908EP
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